Project Two: Structural Functionalism
This project will consider the structure and functioning of the modern agricultural system, and the part that animals play within this structure. In coming to understand the way industrial farming functions, and the position animals occupy as part of this system, we should aim to apprehend the way in which animals are regarded, that is, their status, and whether holding them in such a regard is necessary in order to maintain and ensure the proper functioning of the overall system. Through the structural functionalist framework, we see modern agriculture – such as industrial farms and slaughter facilities – as systems comprised of many individual, though connected, components. Here, animals exist as units …show more content…
Specifically, we ought to seek out the design features, and the underpinning motivations behind such designs, of factory farms and slaughterhouses. Moreover, slaughterhouse operational procedures should be investigated. For instance, this project would collate how the individual operations within the systems of factory farms and abattoirs take place, including allocated times for particular tasks and any specific descriptions of how animals are to be handled throughout different procedures. Given the industrialised nature of modern animal agriculture, the project should take note of the tools that are features of it. For instance, within the systematic steps of turning pigs into bacon, the animals are typically lifted by their back legs using chains and lowered into tanks filled with scalding water, in order to facilitate the removal of hair from the pig. This often occurs with the pig fully conscious, which, obviously, results in a tremendous amount of suffering for the burnt pig (Singer 1995: 150-151). Here, by coming to understand how such processing systems work, we are able to ascertain how the animals involved must be viewed and managed. The required information for such can be gathered from sources such as manufacturers, who typically focus on the functionality of …show more content…
In doing so, we will be able to understand the motivations people have for consuming animal products, such as meat, by shedding light on the way such products are viewed by the consumer. For instance, people can be said to purchase Harley Davidson motorcycles for the symbolic meanings attached to them, which are often meanings of rebellion, freedom, and masculinity. In other words, people do not go out and buy a Harley due to its ability to take their kids to school, transport shopping, or promote their safe commuting. They are desired given the symbolic meanings associated with them, which in turn, seems to bestow a like status upon their riders. Thus, products seem to transmit a particular status to the possessor (Veblen 1899). Through this paradigm, we can examine whether similar things are taking place in the consumption of animal products. Here, it has already been posited by some thinkers that meat symbolises masculinity (Adams 2015), and power – that stems from an ability to dominate other animals and the natural environment – as well as being symbolic of nutrition and vitality (Fiddes
This project will consider the structure and functioning of the modern agricultural system, and the part that animals play within this structure. In coming to understand the way industrial farming functions, and the position animals occupy as part of this system, we should aim to apprehend the way in which animals are regarded, that is, their status, and whether holding them in such a regard is necessary in order to maintain and ensure the proper functioning of the overall system. Through the structural functionalist framework, we see modern agriculture – such as industrial farms and slaughter facilities – as systems comprised of many individual, though connected, components. Here, animals exist as units …show more content…
Specifically, we ought to seek out the design features, and the underpinning motivations behind such designs, of factory farms and slaughterhouses. Moreover, slaughterhouse operational procedures should be investigated. For instance, this project would collate how the individual operations within the systems of factory farms and abattoirs take place, including allocated times for particular tasks and any specific descriptions of how animals are to be handled throughout different procedures. Given the industrialised nature of modern animal agriculture, the project should take note of the tools that are features of it. For instance, within the systematic steps of turning pigs into bacon, the animals are typically lifted by their back legs using chains and lowered into tanks filled with scalding water, in order to facilitate the removal of hair from the pig. This often occurs with the pig fully conscious, which, obviously, results in a tremendous amount of suffering for the burnt pig (Singer 1995: 150-151). Here, by coming to understand how such processing systems work, we are able to ascertain how the animals involved must be viewed and managed. The required information for such can be gathered from sources such as manufacturers, who typically focus on the functionality of …show more content…
In doing so, we will be able to understand the motivations people have for consuming animal products, such as meat, by shedding light on the way such products are viewed by the consumer. For instance, people can be said to purchase Harley Davidson motorcycles for the symbolic meanings attached to them, which are often meanings of rebellion, freedom, and masculinity. In other words, people do not go out and buy a Harley due to its ability to take their kids to school, transport shopping, or promote their safe commuting. They are desired given the symbolic meanings associated with them, which in turn, seems to bestow a like status upon their riders. Thus, products seem to transmit a particular status to the possessor (Veblen 1899). Through this paradigm, we can examine whether similar things are taking place in the consumption of animal products. Here, it has already been posited by some thinkers that meat symbolises masculinity (Adams 2015), and power – that stems from an ability to dominate other animals and the natural environment – as well as being symbolic of nutrition and vitality (Fiddes