Social and Cultural History (HAS)

Social and cultural history explores the cultural constitution of societal live. In all human societies this live includes animals. To incorporate animals in its investigations, social and cultural history draws on insights from the interdisciplinary field of human-animal studies. As socio-cultural historical human-animal studies, it hopes to gain new perspectives on human history through investigating human-animal relations in a way that takes the formative contribution of animals in societies serious. Increasingly, however, such analyses places animals also at their center. Thus, approaching animals as historical agents not only ushers in a reevaluation of animal-human history – the change in perspective also promises new insights into historical research at large. As animal history, social and cultural history describes the course of history as it was actively influenced by animals.

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