Emily Stone
Department: Sociology, Philosophy and Anthropology
Discipline: Sociology and Philosophy
Research Centre/Unit: Anthrozoology
Project Summary
The Cat is Nature’s Beauty: Ethnography of More-Than-Human Interrelatedness Within the UK Cat Fancy
As a liminal species, the domestic cat occupies multiple niches and spaces, ranging from ‘feral’ living completely independent from human maintenance to pampered housebound companion. We have a long history of living alongside cats and over the last 150 years we have created an expanding variety of cat ‘breeds’. Through a 12-month ethnography at cat shows across the United Kingdom, I will investigate the human–animal interactions and social dimensions within pedigree cat breeding and showing. As an underexplored area, this research will uncover the perspectives of breeders and exhibiters, as well as the entanglements and relationships between all stakeholders, including human–cat intersubjectivity and the role of animal agency. Furthermore, I am interested in investigating the discourse that surrounds the perpetuation and celebration of socially constructed animal breeds for aesthetic traits and the breed mythologies that are ascribed to them with the desire to reveal the implications to our perception and relationships with nonhuman animals. My main research methodology includes extensive participant observation at animal shows and within the domestic breeding sphere. I will also conduct semi-structured interviews with key participants involved with the cat fancy across the United Kingdom.
Supervisory Team
First supervisor - Dr. Tom Rice
Second supervisor - Prof. Staffan Müller-Wille
