The first systematic application of Marx's value theory to animal labour within the context of capitalist food systems
In the 20th century, capitalist animal agriculture emerged with a twofold mission: to ruthlessly exploit animals for their labour time and enlarge human food supplies. The results of this process are clear. Animal-sourced foods have expanded exponentially. And simultaneously, hundreds of billions of animals confront humans and machines in brutal, antagonistic relations shaped by domination and resistance.
Building on Karl Marxs value theory, Dinesh Joseph Wadiwel argues that factory farms and industrial fisheries are not merely an example of unchecked human supremacism. Nor a result of the victory of market forces. But a combination of both. In Animals and Capital Wadiwel untangles this contemporary handshake between hierarchical anthropocentrism and capitalism.
The first systematic application of Marxs value theory to animal labour within the context of capitalist food systems
Dinesh Joseph Wadiwel is Associate Professor in Socio-Legal Studies and Human Rights at the University of Sydney. His research interests include theories of violence, critical animal studies and disability rights. He is author of The War against Animals (Brill, 2015) and is co-editor, with Matthew Chrulew of Foucault and Animals (Brill, 2016). He has a background working within civil society organisations, including in anti-poverty and disability rights roles.
