Becoming With, in Life and Death

  • Hannah Kuemmerle University of Aberdeen

Abstract


Abstract: Based on a life-long relationship between trust and domination of human and horse, this essay is a personal reflection on how perceptions and relationships shape the way we (as humans and non-humans in shared relationships) deal with implemented mercy deaths. What can we learn from our non-human companions when it comes to the decision of putting them down? This essay explores, on one hand, the relation between domination and compassion as a way of dealing with an animal’s life and death. On the other hand it investigates trust and correspondence beyond borders of human exceptionalism as a different, more open way of becoming with each other, focussing on the transformative potential of co-responding relationships.

Author Biography

Hannah Kuemmerle, University of Aberdeen

MSc People and the Environment Student

Department of Anthropology

University of Aberdeen

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2218/unfamiliar.v5i1-2.1204
The Unfamiliar 5 (1-2) Humans and the Environment / Walking Threads
Published
31-Dec-2015
How to Cite
Kuemmerle, H. (2015). Becoming With, in Life and Death. The Unfamiliar, 5(1-2). https://doi.org/10.2218/unfamiliar.v5i1-2.1204
Issue
Vol 5 No 1-2 (2015): Humans and the Environment / Walking Threads
Section
ESSAYS

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