Dr Rhoda Wilkie

Dr Rhoda Wilkie
Dr Rhoda Wilkie
Dr Rhoda Wilkie

MA, PhD

Senior Lecturer

About
Email Address
r.m.wilkie@abdn.ac.uk
Telephone Number
+44 (0)1224 274353
Office Address

F.23 Edward Wright Building Department of Sociology School of Social Science University of Aberdeen Aberdeen, AB24 3QY

School/Department
School of Social Science

Memberships and Affiliations

Internal Memberships

School Ethics Officer

Library Representative for Sociology

Personal Tutor

External Memberships

Journal Activities

On the Editorial Board of Society and Animals (2006-)

Professional Activities

Founding member and convenor of the British Sociological Association Animal/Human Studies Group (i.e.  2006 - present).  For more information see:  http://www.britsoc.co.uk/specialisms/AHSG.htm

A member of the European Encyclopedia of Animal Welfare Advisory Board:  http://eeaw.univie.ac.at/about/

 

 

Research

Research Overview

My main research interest is human-animal interaction, especially within interspecies work contexts.

I am currently researching the emergence and upscaling of a novel type of food animal production in Europe and North America: edible insects and invertebrate farming. I am also interested in the pragmatic experiences, attitudes and husbandry practices of 'minilivestock' farmers.

My doctoral thesis (2002) explored the experiences, attitudes and feelings of agricultural workers (e.g. farmers, stockpeople, auctioneers, vets and slaughter workers), and hobby farmers, who worked with commercial and rare breeds of livestock as part of their everyday lives. This research addressed an underexplored and little understood area in contemporary life. It also highlighted the multifaceted, gendered and ambiguous nature of people's practical relations with livestock, which provided an opportunity to gain fresh insights into longstanding debates about the production, and slaughter, of food animals in modern industrialised societies. This work was published in 2010 in the Temple University Press Book Series, Animals, Culture, and Society, edited by Arnold Arluke and Clinton Sanders. 

Livestock/Deadstock: Working with Farm Animals from Birth to Slaughter gained two book awards post-publication:

  • Winner of the British Sociological Association's Philip Abrams Memorial Prize in April 2011; the prize is awarded for the 'best first sole-authored book within the discipline of Sociology'.
  • Award for Distinguished Scholarship in the Animals and Society Section of the American Sociological Association, 2011
  • For more information about Livestock/Deadstock see: http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1908_reg.html

Finally, the 'animal turn' taking place in the social sciences has raised interesting questions as to how, and to what extent, human-animal scholarship might inform, challenge and potentially revise 'mainstream' sociology. Moreover, sociological perspectives also have the potential to inform the burgeoning interdisciplinary field of Human-Animal Studies (HAS). This two-way disciplinary exchange not only provides an opportunity to reflect on key theoretical, methodological and empirical challenges facing those involved in this innovative area of research, it also opens up the possibility of increasingly 'animalising sociology' and 'sociologising HAS'.

Teaching

Teaching Responsibilities

(2023-2024)

Social Research Methods (SO3524)

Ten Sociological Studies (SO3568)

Research Project 1 (SO4068)

Research Project 2 (SO4568)

Animals and Society (SO4548) 

Advanced Qualitative Methods in Social Science (SL5011)

Course Coordinator: Animals and Society, Social Research Methods and Research Project 1 & 2 

Publications

Page 2 of 2 Results 11 to 17 of 17

  • Animals and Society: Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences

    Wilkie, R. M. (ed.), Inglis, D. (ed.)
    Vol. 1-5, Routledge, London. 2032 pages
    Books and Reports: Scholarly Editions
  • Sentient Commodities: A Sociological Exploration of Human-Food Animal Interaction

    Wilkie, R. M.
    Working Papers: Working Papers
  • Nature: Perceiving the 'Natural' Inside and Outside of Social Scientific Boundaries

    Inglis, D., Bone, J. D., Wilkie, R. M.
    Nature: Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences. Inglis, D., Bone, J., Wilkie, R. (eds.). Routledge, pp. 1-26, 26 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Sentient commodities and productive paradoxes: the ambiguous nature of human-livestock relations in Northeast Scotland

    Wilkie, R. M.
    Journal of Rural Studies, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 213-230
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
  • Nature: Critical Concepts in the Social Sciences

    Inglis, D. (ed.), Bone, J. D. (ed.), Wilkie, R. M. (ed.)
    Routledge, London, United Kingdom
    Books and Reports: Books
  • Calf Exports at Brightlingsea

    McLeod, R.
    Protest Politics: Cause Groups and Campaigns. Ridley, F., Jordon, G. (eds.). Oxford University Press, pp. 37-49, 12 pages
    Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings: Chapters
  • Calf Exports at Brightlingsea

    McLeod, R.
    Parliamentary Affairs, vol. 51, no. 3, pp. 345-57
    Contributions to Journals: Articles
Show 10 | 25 | 50 | 100 results per page

Refine

Books and Reports

Chapters in Books, Reports and Conference Proceedings

Contributions to Journals

Working Papers