Animals as Companions. Animal-Human Relationships: Between Liveliness and Normalization.

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Kerstin Jürgens
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 443785427

Animals form part of modern society. They are fought off as intruders in people’s homes and exhibited in zoos to be marveled at. They are bred, slaughtered, and eaten – or treated like family members and intimate friends. These companion animals, commonly called "pets", are now found in every second German household. They receive exclusive treatment, are named and loved. In Germany, a rapidly growing consumer and service market has been established to provide for these animals, and billions are spent on their care annually. Despite the obvious social relevance of companion animals, sociology has thus far only selectively dealt with them. The research has focused on certain animal species and mostly presupposes the status of animals as companions. However, exactly what constitutes the special nature of these interspecies relationships and why certain animals achieve companion status remain unclear.This project will close these research gaps via a qualitative survey design. Owners of different animal species will be accompanied through different phases of the relationship and questioned on their motives in acquiring the animal, how they structure their lives, and how they interpret their relationship. To capture the factors that influence companion relationships as well as their dynamics of change, the project will also investigate animal-related service settings and the role of artifacts. In this area, triadic configurations between living beings and objects emerge that can provide information about the extent to which the motifs of animal husbandry are in conflict with concrete methods of dealing with the animals: Purchasing animals is representative of people’s need for something original and natural. At the same time, however, tendencies in normalizing husbandry methods and standardizing forms of the relationship in addition to the increasing reification of animals cannot be ignored. With its focus, this project will advance toward the core of sociological debates on hybrid interspecies relationships and, in contrast to research on artificial objects and their effects, will be able to provide empirical findings on essential elements of liveliness.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants