Abstract

This paper bridges critical conversations regarding animal exploitation and racialized violence that have been occurring throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. We apply Claire Jean Kim’s analysis of taxonomies of power to help make sense of the interwoven multispecies catastrophes of racialized animalization and animalized racialization, such as the violence experienced by various species of nonhuman animals, as well as East Asians and other People of Colour in the West, whether in public spaces, in media, on farms, or inside industrial animal slaughterhouses or meatpacking plants. We conclude by arguing that Kim’s ethics of mutual avowal provides a productive way for social movements to recognize the connectedness of our struggles; thus, Kim’s scholarship helps us challenge the multiple dimensions of oppressive powers that have been expressed and experienced in the COVID-19 crisis.

Keywords: animality, race, power, pandemic

How to Cite:

Chang, D. & Corman, L., (2021) “Multispecies Disposability: Taxonomies of Power in a Global Pandemic”, Animal Studies Journal 10(1), 57-79. doi: https://doi.org/10.14453/asj.v10i1.5