Nothing else, mothers – conceptual and ethical perspectives on motherhood in pig farming

Autor(en)
Samuel Camenzind, Johanna Karg
Abstrakt

The economic value of the multifunctional body of sows cannot be overestimated. The female body plays a key role in the production process in pig breeding and farming. Traditional farming reduces motherhood to reproduction, motherhood is valued with the parameters quantity and quality of healthy piglets in the modern farm system. But with the increasing critique of crate stalls in Europe and the new conditions sows are held under, a new norm of the ideal of porcine motherhood appeared in breeding standards. Additionally to healthy piglets nestbuilding, interaction with the piglets, careful walking and lying down, and friendly behaviour towards the farmer are mentioned as normative standards, sows should meet. In this contribution the changing concept and new standard of motherhood is analysed first. Because motherhood has to be understood as a ‘thick ethical concept’ with descriptive and normative aspect, we ask secondly, what role does motherhood play from a moral point of view, particularly in the context of animal ethics?

Organisation(en)
Institut für Philosophie
Externe Organisation(en)
Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien
Seiten
277
Anzahl der Seiten
281
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3920/978-90-8686-939-8
Publikationsdatum
2022
Peer-reviewed
Ja
ÖFOS 2012
402015 Tierproduktion, 504014 Gender Studies, 106060 Tierethik, 402016 Tierschutz
Link zum Portal
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/de/publications/927e10ff-ca23-4606-bcf6-80972bce187c