Richard Twine (sociologist)

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Richard Twine (born 1974) is a British sociologist whose research addresses environmental sociology as well as gender, human/animal and science studies. [1] He is noted for his "foundational" work in critical animal studies. [2] He is a reader in sociology in the Department of History, Geography & Social Sciences at Edge Hill University, where he is the co-director of the Centre for Human-Animal Studies. He is also the chair of the Research Advisory Committee of The Vegan Society. [1] [3]

Contents

Career

Twine studied for a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Psychology at the University of Stirling, graduating in 1995, and then went on to study for a Master of Arts in Sociology at the University of Essex, which he completed in 1996. He was awarded his PhD in Sociology from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2002. [4] His thesis, supervised by Gail Hawkes and Sue Scott and examined by Anne Witz, was entitled Ecofeminism and the 'New' Sociologies - A Collaboration Against Dualism. [5]

After completing his studies, Twine spent a decade at Lancaster University, where he was based within the ESRC Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics. [1] While at Lancaster, he published Animals as Biotechnology: Ethics, Sustainability and Critical Animal Studies as part of the Earthscan Science in Society Series. [6] This was "the first book fully dedicated to" critical animal studies. [2] It offered, in the words of one reviewer, "an impressive analysis of the biotech and meat industries from an unapologetically pro-animal perspective". [7]

After finishing at Lancaster, Twine worked briefly at the University of Glasgow [8] and the UCL Institute of Education. [1] He published the collection The Rise of Critical Animal Studies: From the Margins to the Centre, co-edited with Nik Taylor, with Routledge in 2014. [9] The same year, he joined Edge Hill University. [10] He also published a paper in Societies [11] in which he drew upon Sara Ahmed's notion of a feminist killjoy, coining the idea of a "vegan killjoy". [12] Twine argues that, in a culture in which meat-eating is the norm, a vegan can, by their mere presence, challenge anthropocentric attitudes and practices, affecting the enjoyment that others have in eating animal products. [11] This, Twine claims, can serve as "critical deconstructive work". [11] The idea of the vegan killjoy has been widely deployed in vegan studies and related fields. [12] His book The Climate Crisis and Other Animals, published by Sydney University Press, [3] and his co-edited collection Violence and Harm in the Animal Industrial Complex: Human-Animal Entanglements [13] were both released in 2024.

As of 2024, Twine is a reader in sociology in the Department of History, Geography & Social Sciences at Edge Hill [4] and co-director of the university's Centre for Human-Animal Studies. [3]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Dr Richard Twine (Chair of RAC)". The Vegan Society . Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  2. 1 2 Nocella, Anthony J.; Sorenson, John; Socha, Kim; Matsuoka, Atsuko (2014). "The Emergence of Critical Animal Studies: The Rise of Intersectional Animal Liberation". Counterpoints. 448: xix–xxxvi. JSTOR   42982374.
  3. 1 2 3 "Q&A with Richard Twine, Author of The Climate Crisis and Other Animals". Sydney University Press. 3 April 2024. Retrieved 22 April 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Dr Richard Twine". Edge Hill University. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  5. ↑ "Publications". Richardtwine.com. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  6. ↑ Reviews:
  7. ↑ Lynch, Joseph J. (2012). "Animals as Biotechnology: Ethics, Sustainability and Critical Animal Studies". Journal of Animal Ethics . 2 (2): 232–4. doi:10.5406/janimalethics.2.2.0232.
  8. ↑ Taylor, Nik; Twine, Richard, eds. (2014). "Contributors". The Rise of Critical Animal Studies: From the Margins to the Centre. Routledge. pp. xvi–xix.
  9. ↑ Reviews:
  10. ↑ "Richard Twine". ORCID . Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  11. 1 2 3 Twine, Richard (2014). "Vegan Killjoys at the Table—Contesting Happiness and Negotiating Relationships with Food Practices". Societies . 4 (4): 263–39. doi: 10.3390/soc4040623 .
  12. 1 2 See, for example:
  13. ↑ https://www.routledge.com/Violence-and-Harm-in-the-Animal-Industrial-Complex-Human-Animal-Entanglements/Hunnicutt-Twine-Mentor/p/book/9781032579788
External audio
Nuvola apps arts.svg "Episode 19: Vegan Killjoys at the Table with Richard Twine"
Twine discusses the concept of vegan killjoys with Siobhan O'Sullivan (2016)
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