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What It Means to be Human by Joanna Bourke

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What It Means to be Human by Joanna Bourke

Avoiding the impenetrable prose often found in academic books, this deeply scholarly work is lively and challenging in equal measure, and rewarding throughout. --Boston Globe
In this fascinating account, Joanna Bourke addresses the profound question of what it means to be human rather than animal. How are people excluded from political personhood? How does one become entitled to rights? The distinction between the two concepts is a blurred line, permanently under construction. If the Earnest Englishwoman had been capable of looking 100 years into the future, she might have wondered about the human status of chimeras, or the ethics of stem cell research. Political disclosures and scientific advances have been relocating the human-animal border at an alarming speed. In this meticulously researched, illuminating book, Bourke explores the legacy of more than two centuries, and looks forward into what the future might hold for humans, women, and animals.

Joanna Bourke is a history professor at Birkbeck University of London and the Global Innovations Chair at Newcastle University in Australia. She has written several works, including An Intimate History of Killing, Fear: A Cultural History, The Saga of Pain: From Prayer to Painkillers, and Wounding the World: How Military Violence and War-Play are Invading Our Lives.

SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9781619021679
ISBN 10 1619021676
Title What It Means to be Human
Author Joanna Bourke
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Counterpoint
Year published 2013-07-23
Number of pages 480
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.