Making a killing : the political economy of animal rights /

Torres (sociology, St. Lawrence Univ.) uses Marxism, anarchism, and social ecology to criticize the use and abuse of animals in capitalist society. His simple, straightforward text reviews much leftist literature on animal rights while avoiding repetition of standards like Peter Singer's The Way We Eat (CH, Feb'07, 44-3235) and Tom Regan's Animal Rights, Human Wrongs (CH, Oct'04, 42-0879). Torres is most effective examining the multiple roles of animals in the production process--as laborers, commodities, and property. The text falls short, however, in declining to explore the ways consideration of animals may help us rethink the traditional categories of Marxist political economy. Torres includes critique of the current animal rights movement for being politically ineffective and overly commercialized but offers relatively tame solutions. While mentioning connections between animal rights and broader ecological issues and touching on some of the overlap between human and animal exploitation, he does not elaborate on potential coalition building. The book may be a useful introduction to political economy, ethics, and animal rights for undergraduates but is unlikely to break new ground for those already familiar with animal rights literature. Summing Up: Recommended. General readers and all undergraduate students. C.E. Rasmussen University of Delaware