printZoontology as a Field of Research:
a Sociological Perspective
Кaterniy I.V.
Dr. Sci. (Sociol.), Prof. of the Department of Sociology, MGIMO University; Leading Researcher, Institute of Sociology of FCTAS RAS, Moscow, Russia. yarkus@mail.ru
Morozov M.A.
Postgraduate Student, Department of Sociology, MGIMO University, Moscow, Russia. mikhail.mo@mail.ru
Кaterniy I.V., Morozov M.A. Zoontology as a Field of Research: a Sociological Perspective. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2025. No 10. P. 52-64
The paper examines development of the sociological perspective within animal studies, particularly focusing on issues of social zoontology, including the status, role and functions of animals in human society. From George H. Mead’s idea of the symbolic gap between animals and humans, sociology has evolved to a more sophisticated analysis of complex and diverse connections within interspecies communications. At the same time, the lack of clarity of the very concept of zoontology and embarrassing, inherently ambivalent position of animals “on the threshold” of human society make us talk about the permanent liminality of the ‘zoological structures’ of human sociality, resulting with a range of inconsistencies of social recognition. Ethical and legal patterns of humane zoontology are highlighted. The issues of ontological attribution, personhood (subjectivity) and normative strain in interspecies communications, including child and adolescent cruelty to animals during socialization, are analyzed in more detail.
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