Al di là dell’opposizione tra “malessere concettuale” e “cattiva coscienza”.Sul disagio dell’antropologia contemporanea di fronte al maltrattamento degli animali

In this paper I propose a critical examination of the ways in which theintersections between violence, suffering and domination in some of the main newdirections of the anthropological study of the relationships between humans and otheranimals, notably Ingold's approach, Descola’s theory of “schemas of the practice”, andmultispecies ethnography. Apparently, and despite the emphasis given to the sentienceand forms of agency of non-human animals, as well as to their being active coparticipants,together with humans, in the construction of social networks and thehabitats that bind both, these intersections do not occupy a prominent place in theseapproaches, both from the point of view of their theoretical framework and from that ofthe ethnographic descriptions. The elusive place that the intersections between violence,suffering and domination occupies in contemporary approaches to humans/ other animalsrelationships has an important consequence in the the lack of a mutually constructiveconfrontation with animal advocacy’s movements and with the ethical and politicaltheories to which these movements are inspired. It seems desirable and urgent to considertoday the issues of suffering and violence inflicted on non-human animals assuming acareful listening posture at positions other than one’s own. Such pluralism, to be adoptedboth on the level of scientific debate and on that of dialogue between different ethicaloptions, is pointed to by some important proposals developed both in other fields ofcontemporary anthropology and in the reflection on future prospects for the developmentof an “ecological justice”