Conclusion: Beyond Humanism and into the Field?

Abstract

In this book, we have argued that social scientists interested in the relational ties that connect humans and animals must attempt to include other species in their work. We have noted that capturing animals’ perspectives can, and probably will, be difficult and sometimes impossible, but that this should not be taken as reason enough to simply omit them. The omission of other creatures from social science is to silence them. We have argued against this silencing on theoretical, political and methodological grounds while remaining mindful that our project is shot through with indeterminacy and risk—the equivalent of being on a trapeze without a safety net (Barthes, quoted in Wood, 2016). We have considered what a posthuman or multi-species methodology might be and discussed how ethnography and its adaptations, particularly creative and arts-based techniques, help us adopt a less reductive, humanist positioning that better accounts for animal perspectives or “voices” in our research. We are cautiously optimistic about the potential of our project.