Die Produktion von Tieren

Überlegungen zu einer Geschichte landwirtschaftlicher Tierhaltung in Deutschland

Abstract

Current discussions of the conditions in industrialized farming, particularly those of animal husbandry, are often polemical and fixate on deficiencies. The story of how animal farming developed has so far largely remained untold, although it is precisely the historical perspective that could add depth to the discussion. This article makes the case for a social history of animal farming in Europe in the twentieth century. This history took place on two levels;
on the farm and in society at large. Industrialized animal farming produced economic and socio-cultural transformations and thus allows an understanding of the changing human-animal relationships. What happened on the farm between animals, humans and technology is closely entangled with how society conceptualized farm animals: It led to a politico-economic reality that in turn shaped human imagination. This article attempts to write a history of animal production by shedding light on cattle farming in the 1970s in both German states.