![Dr Rhoda Wilkie Dr Rhoda Wilkie](/img/200x200/staffpages/assets/images/default-profile-picture.jpg)
MA, PhD
Senior Lecturer
- About
-
- Email Address
- r.m.wilkie@abdn.ac.uk
- Telephone Number
- +44 (0)1224 274353
- Office Address
F.23 Edward Wright Building Department of Sociology School of Social Science University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, AB24 3QY
- School/Department
- School of Social Science
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
-
School Ethics Officer
Library Representative for Sociology
Personal Tutor
- External Memberships
-
Journal Activities
On the Editorial Board of Society and Animals (2006-)
Professional Activities
Founding member and convenor of the British Sociological Association Animal/Human Studies Group (i.e. 2006 - present). For more information see: http://www.britsoc.co.uk/specialisms/AHSG.htm
A member of the European Encyclopedia of Animal Welfare Advisory Board: http://eeaw.univie.ac.at/about/
- Research
-
Research Overview
My main research interest is human-animal interaction, especially within interspecies work contexts.
I am currently researching the emergence and upscaling of a novel type of food animal production in Europe and North America: edible insects and invertebrate farming. I am also interested in the pragmatic experiences, attitudes and husbandry practices of 'minilivestock' farmers.
My doctoral thesis (2002) explored the experiences, attitudes and feelings of agricultural workers (e.g. farmers, stockpeople, auctioneers, vets and slaughter workers), and hobby farmers, who worked with commercial and rare breeds of livestock as part of their everyday lives. This research addressed an underexplored and little understood area in contemporary life. It also highlighted the multifaceted, gendered and ambiguous nature of people's practical relations with livestock, which provided an opportunity to gain fresh insights into longstanding debates about the production, and slaughter, of food animals in modern industrialised societies. This work was published in 2010 in the Temple University Press Book Series, Animals, Culture, and Society, edited by Arnold Arluke and Clinton Sanders.
Livestock/Deadstock: Working with Farm Animals from Birth to Slaughter gained two book awards post-publication:
- Winner of the British Sociological Association's Philip Abrams Memorial Prize in April 2011; the prize is awarded for the 'best first sole-authored book within the discipline of Sociology'.
- Award for Distinguished Scholarship in the Animals and Society Section of the American Sociological Association, 2011
- For more information about Livestock/Deadstock see: http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1908_reg.html
Finally, the 'animal turn' taking place in the social sciences has raised interesting questions as to how, and to what extent, human-animal scholarship might inform, challenge and potentially revise 'mainstream' sociology. Moreover, sociological perspectives also have the potential to inform the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of Human-Animal Studies (HAS). This two-way disciplinary exchange not only provides an opportunity to reflect on key theoretical, methodological and empirical challenges facing those involved in this innovative area of research, it also opens up the possibility of increasingly 'animalising sociology' and 'sociologising HAS'.
- Teaching
-
Teaching Responsibilities
(2023-2024)
Social Research Methods (SO3524)
Ten Sociological Studies (SO3568)
Research Project 1 (SO4068)
Research Project 2 (SO4568)
Animals and Society (SO4548)
Advanced Qualitative Methods in Social Science (SL5011)
Course Coordinator: Animals and Society, Social Research Methods and Research Project 1 & 2
- Publications
-
Page 1 of 2 Results 1 to 10 of 17
How Prevalent are Invertebrates in Human-Animal Scholarship?: Scoping Study of Anthrozoös and Society & Animals
Society & Animals, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 656–677Contributions to Journals: ArticlesIntroduction to the Silent Majority: Invertebrates in Human-Animal Studies
Society and Animals, vol. 27, no. 7, pp. 653-655Contributions to Journals: Review articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-00001903
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
A sociology of multi-species relations
Journal of Sociology, vol. 54, no. 4, pp. 463-466Contributions to Journals: Editorials- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783318816214
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
'Minilivestock' Farming: Who is Farming Edible Insects in Europe and North America?
Journal of Sociology, vol. 54, no. 4, pp. 520-537Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783318815304
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/11335/1/JOS_Final_version_Invertebrate_farming_Wilkie_29_Oct_2018_.pdf
- [OPEN ACCESS] http://aura.abdn.ac.uk/bitstream/2164/11335/2/5_Tables_Final_version_JOS_Invertebrate_farming_Wilkie_29_Oct_2018_.pdf
Animals as Sentient Commodities
The Oxford Handbook of Animal Studies. Kalof, L. (ed.). Oxford University Press, pp. 279-301, 23 pagesChapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199927142.013.16
Academic "Dirty Work": Mapping Scholarly Labor in a Tainted Mixed-Species Field
Society & Animals, vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 211-230Contributions to Journals: ArticlesMultispecies Scholarship and Encounters: Changing Assumptions at the Human-Animal Nexus
Sociology, vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 323-339Contributions to Journals: ArticlesAnimalising Social Life: An Introduction
Miscellanea Anthropologica et Sociologica, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 13-25Contributions to Journals: ArticlesGeorge Herbert Mead on humans and other animals: social relations after human-animal studies
Sociological Research Online, vol. 18, no. 4, 19Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.5153/sro.3191
Livestock/deadstock: working with farm animals from birth to slaughter
Temple University Press, Philadelphia. 234 pagesBooks and Reports: Books