Designing Cattle : The Social Practice of Constructing Breeds

• This paper explores how cattle breeds are constructed through social practice-which we conceptually develop as "designing" cattle. We show how breed varieties are designed, informed by the social, material and moral embeddedness of cattle breeding associations' visions of the future and how they draw on science and technology in their breeding strategies. Based on an analysis of the trade magazines of three different breeding associations, we illustrate how breeding associations are working to establish four different varieties of Swedish Mountain Cattle (SMC). We conclude that the concept of designing cattle enables us to unpack how breeds are socially constructed and institutionally stabilized through sociotechnical imaginaries.

Ämnesord

LANTBRUKSVETENSKAPER  -- Bioteknologi med applikationer på växter och djur -- Genetik och förädling inom lantbruksvetenskap (hsv//swe)

AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES  -- Agricultural Biotechnology -- Genetics and Breeding in Agricultural Sciences (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Annan samhällsvetenskap -- Övrig annan samhällsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Other Social Sciences -- Other Social Sciences not elsewhere specified (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

breeding

cattle

human-animal interaction

rare breeds

science and technology studies (STS)

sociotechnical imaginaries

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)