The antagonisms of animal geographies politics in the context of more-than-human geographies: views from Spain

Abstract

The animal geographies literature is an important expression of hybrid geographies, and one, this article contends, that can provide a framework for understanding human-animal relations in place/space. It is argued that animal cultures can present different simultaneous expressions within the same (human) space. There are three cornerstones to animal geographies: space, species, and individuality, and with each generating different transgressive animal cultures and politics. This is the case with mythical and symbolic wild species, which have lives of their own that transcend conventional spatial and temporal dimensions. It is also the case with (creative) arts-animal culture(s) where the animal is individualized and does not belong to classical categories of wild, rural or city animals but instead to a new, and more sophisticated, animal arts. This argument, which is about the antagonistic politics of animal geographies in relation to more-than-human geographies, is developed by considering three examples: (1) symbolic species of animal geographies (lynx, wolf, etc.); (2) the position of different human and non-human agents in relation to changes in Spanish Law of Natural Heritage (SLNH); and (3) the cultural and artistic patrimony of the fighting bull.