Carley MacKay

I am first year doctoral student in the Geography department at York University. I completed my BA at Western University, receiving an Honours Specialization in Criminology. At Trent University, I received my MA in the program of Theory, Culture, and Politics. For my Masters Thesis, I focused on the relationship between the space of the animal laboratory and human-animal relations. I explored how, within this space, humans and animal engage in relations of power, whereby both human and animal exercise agency. The questions that I aim to investigate in my dissertation are as follows:

a) What kinds of spaces produce “humane/ethical meat”?
b) In what ways are SPCA approved factory farms different from non-approved farms?
c) Is it possible to consume animals in ethical ways?
d) If so, what does this look like and what kinds of environments enable the flourishing of this consumption?

Research interests: Animal geography, biopolitics, spaces of power, factory farms, “humane meat”, human-animal relations