Is extermination to be the legacy of Mary Gilbert’s cat?

Once imported to Australia as rodent controllers, cats are now regarded as responsible for a second wave of mammal extinction across the continent. Utilising the Foucauldian concept of biopolitics, we investigate critically the institutional field of cat regulation in Australia, exemplified by the W...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Organization (London, England) England), 2016-05, Vol.23 (3), p.387-406
Main Authors: Hillier, Jean, Byrne, Jason
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal human relations
Animals
Biopolitics
Cats
Extinction
Federal legislation
Law
Legal studies
Political power
Regulation
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Once imported to Australia as rodent controllers, cats are now regarded as responsible for a second wave of mammal extinction across the continent. Utilising the Foucauldian concept of biopolitics, we investigate critically the institutional field of cat regulation in Australia, exemplified by the Western Australian Cat Act 2011 and the Federal Environment Minister’s 10-year campaign to eradicate feral cats. Analysis of the biopolitical dispositif of ferality, and its elements of knowledge, subjectivation and objectivation and power processes, illustrates the dispositions through which what might be regarded as felicide has become organisational practice. We propose alternative practices emphasising the productive potentialities of biopolitics.
ISSN:1350-5084
1461-7323
DOI:10.1177/1350508416629455