Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book strongly underlines the essential importance of environmental, social and temporal contextualization in the process of coming to terms with animal agency. It explores the different ways in which animal agency is manifested in human-animal relations. The book examines how humans and animal populations have formed interspecies communities, in which a group of animals display agency by affecting the whole community, including human societies. These interspecies communities are susceptible to conflict, but also to cooperation and mutual learning. The book addresses how animal agency has been interpreted and represented in social and political terms, including oral traditions, literature and the mass media. Finally, it ends with an epilogue, in which renowned animal historian Harriet Ritvo provides concluding remarks about the discussion on animal agency.