D. Bavington

Dean Bavington’s latest publication is a co-authored book chapter entitled “Fishing for Biomass” with long-time collaborator Sajay Samuel of Penn State University.  This paper is Chapter 8 of Gorgeous Beasts: Animal Bodies in Historical Perspective, the latest book in the Animalibus: Of Animals and Cultures series from Penn State University Press, edited by Joan B. Landes, Paula Young Lee, and Paul Youngquist.

In their chapter, Dean and Sajay explore how cod and cod fishermen have been fundamentally changed through scientific management and alternative ways fish and fishermen can be understood outside the managerial frame.

Here is the description of the book from the publisher’s website:

Gorgeous Beasts takes a fresh look at the place of animals in history and art. Refusing the traditional subordination of animals to humans, the essays gathered here examine a rich variety of ways animals contribute to culture: as living things, as scientific specimens, as food, weapons, tropes, and occasions for thought and creativity. History and culture set the terms for this inquiry. As history changes, so do the ways animals participate in culture. Gorgeous Beasts offers a series of discontinuous but probing studies of the forms their participation takes.

This collection presents the work of a wide range of scholars, critics, and thinkers from diverse disciplines: philosophy, literature, history, geography, economics, art history, cultural studies, and the visual arts. By approaching animals from such different perspectives, these essays broaden the scope of animal studies to include specialists and nonspecialists alike, inviting readers from all backgrounds to consider the place of animals in history and art. Combining provocative critical insights with arresting visual imagery, Gorgeous Beasts advances a challenging new appreciation of animals as co-inhabitants and co-creators of culture.

Aside from the editors, the contributors are Dean Bavington, Ron Broglio, Mark Dion, Erica Fudge, Cecilia Novero, Harriet Ritvo, Nigel Rothfels, Sajay Samuel, and Pierre Serna.