The Changing Valuation of Dogs

In recent decades, the United States has witnessed profound changes in the sociocultural valuation of dogs, variously described as humanization, sentimentalization, or sacralization. A broad look at this “sacralization” of dogs in the United States reveals that this changing valuation has altered do...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sociological forum (Randolph, N.J.) N.J.), 2020-12, Vol.35 (4), p.1183-1205
Main Authors: Stoltz, Dustin S, Justin Van Ness, Bjerre, Mette Evelyn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dogs
Economic change
Humanization
Sociocultural factors
Valuation
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:In recent decades, the United States has witnessed profound changes in the sociocultural valuation of dogs, variously described as humanization, sentimentalization, or sacralization. A broad look at this “sacralization” of dogs in the United States reveals that this changing valuation has altered dogs’ place within economic processes. In particular, these changes parallel Viviana Zelizer’s work on the changing valuation of children a century ago. In this article, we further specify Zelizer’s insights by arguing that these accompanying economic transformations are best understood as shifting of a dogs’ place within budgetary units: from objects for human consumption to fellow actors humans consume with and around.
ISSN:0884-8971
1573-7861
DOI:10.1111/socf.12643