Animal Cruelty, Human Violence, and the Animal-Industrial Complex

Piers Beirne is emeritus professor of sociology and legal studies at the University of Southern Maine. Among his books are Murdering Animals (2018); Hogarth’s Art of Animal Cruelty (2015); Confronting Animal Abuse (2009); Issues in Green Criminology (2007, edited with Nigel South); and Inventing Criminology (1997).

'From confronting animal cruelty to interrogating the unsayable, Piers Beirne brings his authoritative voice and enviably rigorous scholarship to neglected questions about the species intersectionality of violence, exploitation and abuse.' Nigel South, University of Essex, UK'Beirne's new book builds upon his earlier path-breaking work and provides further impetus for refining non-speciesist scholarship and praxis. Through incisive critique, analysis, and engaging prose, he dismantles the very concept of animal cruelty.' Amy Fitzgerald, University of Windsor, Canada'In this book Piers Beirne puts forth his most searing indictment to date of criminology’s blindness, eschewal and ignorance of humans’ domination and abuse of nonhuman animals. Clear, cogent, convincing—and brutally honest!' Avi Brisman, Eastern Kentucky University, US'What a powerful read! In this book, Piers Beirne, the founder of non-speciesist criminology, continues his decades-long effort to make us see and reflect on the many ways in which we abuse non-human animals. An essential state-of-the-art contribution for anyone interested in a multispecies world with less suffering.' David Goyes, University of Oslo, Norway'In this ambitious and thought-provoking work, Piers Beirne draws on decades of pioneering scholarship to challenge the taken-for-granted utility of the framework of animal cruelty and to advance a compelling vision of non-speciesist criminology.' Richard Twine, Edge Hill University, UK'Beirne’s book is compelling, provocative and unsettling in the very best ways – a radical animal-centric challenge for our times. It will transform our knowledge of the barriers to multi-species justice.'Annie Potts, University of Canterbury, Aotearoa/New Zealand

• 1. Introduction 2. Non-Speciesist Animal Turn in Criminology 3. Approaching Animal Cruelty: Psycho-Social and Animal Rights Perspectives 4. Animal-Industrial Complex and the Fiction of Animal Cruelty Law 5. Death and Disease in the Animal-Industrial Complex 6. Animals, Women and Verbal Violence: A Non-Speciesist Etymology of the Unsayable 7. LGBTQIA2S+ and Interspecies Sex: Queer Theory and Ethical Debates 8. Afterword