Interspecies
Discuss the notion of 'Interspecies' in general
Links:
On art: Interspecies Art
On culture: Culture
On design: Interspecies Design
In teaching: Interspecies Design Studio
Key Issues
The need to extend beyond species and - especially - beyond animals.
Relationship to all oppression, as discussed in the Intersectionality discourse.
Alexis, Nekeisha Alayna. ‘Beyond Compare: Intersectionality and Interspeciesism for Co-Liberation with Other Animals’. In The Routledge Handbook of Animal Ethics, edited by Bob Fischer, 502. New York: Routledge, 2020.
Thus, the challenge in interspecies approaches is not only to acknowledge the relatedness of all species or beings but also to see them in a way that does not a priori preferences some (humans) over the others.
Definition
Interspecies refers to relationships between forms of biosocial life and their political effects.
Livingston, Julie, and Jasbir K. Puar. ‘Interspecies’. Social Text 29, no. 1 (106) (2011): 3–14. https://doi.org/10/b8587n.
This concept makes sense as a deliberate contrast and a way of resisting the hegemonic and anthropocentric interpretations of what is important. In this, it is in parallel to interracial, international, etc.
Interspecies focuses on life and emphasises the life in common. It focus on politics accepts conflicting as well as mutualistic interests and does not presume an overarching benefit. In this, it is process-oriented and encourages inclusion, solidarity and empowerment.
In ecology:
- interspecific interactions = community
- intraspecific interactions = population
Andel, Jelte van, and James Aronson, eds. Restoration Ecology: The New Frontier. Malden: Blackwell, 2006.
Limitations
There are significant limitations to the notion of interspecies anything. This is to do that speciation is a particular historical event more clearly associated with protists and protozoans, after the Great Oxygenation Event. Archaea and bacteria do not really have species, or at least there is a strong argument that they do not because they trade genes horizontally so much. Cf. Quammen, Dorian Sagan, Lynn Margulis the idea of 'superorganism' (Lamza).
Interspecies prioritises species, why not other taxa or groups? Maybe genes? Biologically, one could refer to different entities of natural selection. Politically, one could refer to traditions, powerful groups, law and, therefore, politics.
Disambiguation
Some researchers use the terms 'interspeciality' and 'interspeciecism' to refer to the capabilities of bio-technologies and the production of hybrid beings that emerge from reproductive technologies, molecular science, genomics, genetics, transplant medicine, nanoscience and robotic surgery.
Interspecies Communities
Goodale, Eben, Guy Beauchamp, and Graeme D. Ruxton. Mixed-Species Groups of Animals: Behavior, Community Structure, and Conservation. London: Academic Press, 2017.
Interspecies Solidarity
Interspecies Solidarity:
- an idea
- a goal
- a process
- an ethical commitment
- a political project that
Interspecies solidarity "can help foster better conditions for animals, improve people’s work lives, and interweave human and animal well-being".
Interactions of multiple species can lead to 'interspecies work'. (here the focus is on sentient species)
Coulter, Kendra. Animals, Work, and the Promise of Interspecies Solidarity. Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.
Interspecies Justice
Interspecies deliberation is an extension of notions such as interspecies dialogue.
Meijer, Eva. When Animals Speak: Toward an Interspecies Democracy. New York: New York University Press, 2019.
Vink, Janneke. The Open Society and Its Animals. The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020.
Issues:
- animals and different humans
- animals and future humans
- different types of animals
- beyond animals
Interspecies Information Systems
Linden, Dirk van der. ‘Interspecies Information Systems’. Requirements Engineering, 2021. https://doi.org/10/gmmvps.
In a common understanding: an information system is a socio-technical system that include humans, technology, information, and actions humans take based on that information.
In interspecies information system human and animals are actors and stakeholders. NB: the typical focus is on animals.
Zoosemiotics
Zoosemiotics looks at interspecific communication and language.
Martinelli, Dario. A Critical Companion to Zoosemiotics. Dordrecht: Springer, 2010.
Interspecies Cooperation
Cf.
- Solidarity
- interspecies mutualism
- coevolution
There is quite a bit on microbial interspecies interaction and cooperation (that is if one can call them species).
Mueller, Natalie G., and John C. Willman. ‘Domestication as the Evolution of Interspecies Cooperative Breeding’. Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 2024, e22042. https://doi.org/10/gt5qp7.
Sueur, Cédric, and Michael A. Huffman. ‘Co-Cultures: Exploring Interspecies Culture Among Humans and Other Animals’. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 2024. https://doi.org/10/gt5qqm.
Melis, Alicia P., and Dirk Semmann. ‘How Is Human Cooperation Different?’ Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365, no. 1553 (2010): 2663–74. https://doi.org/10/dd5dv6.
Sachs, Joel L., Ulrich G. Mueller, Thomas P. Wilcox, and James J. Bull. ‘The Evolution of Cooperation’. The Quarterly Review of Biology 79, no. 2 (2004): 135–60. https://doi.org/10/d62463.
"Human-wildlife cooperation occurs when a human (Homo sapiens) and a wild, free-living, non-human animal actively coordinate their behaviour to achieve a common, mutually beneficial outcome"
Cram, Dominic L., Jessica E. M. van der Wal, Natalie Uomini, Mauricio Cantor, Anap I. Afan, Mairenn C. Attwood, Jenny Amphaeris, et al. ‘The Ecology and Evolution of Human-Wildlife Cooperation’. People and Nature 4, no. 4 (2022): 841–55. https://doi.org/10/mjtg.
Wal, Jessica E. M. van der, Claire N. Spottiswoode, Natalie T. Uomini, Mauricio Cantor, Fábio G. Daura-Jorge, Anap I. Afan, Mairenn C. Attwood, et al. ‘Safeguarding Human–Wildlife Cooperation’. Conservation Letters 15, no. 4 (2022): e12886. https://doi.org/10/gt5q4t.
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