"Capital Accumulation and the Commodification of Animals", Research in Political Economy, Vol. 35 (2020), edited by Brett Clark brettclark@comcast.net and Tamar Diana Wilson, tamardiana@yahoo.com

Although vast amounts of scholarly writing have been produced concerning the dynamics of capitalism and environmental devastation, less attention has been paid to the depredation and exploitation of animals related to profit-making.

It is a truism to say that, capitalism commodifies anything it can in order to make a profit. That includes all aspects of nature and life (including human life). Non-human animals have been commodified in many ways including as livestock of various types (cows, pigs, chickens) on factory farms. Throughout the history of the spread of the world capitalist system, their exploitation and commodification has been intensified: some species have been hunted to extinction or near extinction for their fur (beaver, otter), for their ivory (elephants, rhinoceros), for their purported medicinal properties (pangolins). They have been used as work animals in a type of slave-like situation, including elephants in India, donkeys and horses throughout the world, camels in the Mid-East and dogs for pulling sleds. They are hunted as trophies and are part of the international trade in exotic animals, such as parrots, tigers, and bears. Although the exploitation of animals occurred in the ancient world, and most especially during the period of early states, the depredations accelerated after the beginning of what Jason W. Moore called the "Capitalocene", i.e. since the 16h century, which Immanuel Wallerstein identified as the beginning of agrarian capitalism and the birth of the world capitalist system.

This special issue calls for papers that address one or more of the following topics:

1. How hunters, in the interests of profit-making, decimated fur-bearing animals over historical time, both in Europe and in the Americas over historical time.
2. How hunters, also in the interests of profit-making, have led to the extinction of certain species of rhinoceros and to the immense decline of other species of rhinoceros and elephants in Africa since at least colonial times. And how bison in North America were hunted to near extinction in order to deprive Native Americans of their livelihood and make it easier to separate them from the lands on which they lived.
3. How trafficking in exotic animals (parrots, tigers, etc.) is related to the degradation of ecosystems and systematic cruelty toward living beings.
4. How the cruelty on factory farms is based on the commodification of animals and a lack of sensitivity to their well-being.
5. How mining and deforestation caused by factory farming has and is destroying the habitat for many non-human animals.
6. How cruel experiments on animals feed into the profit-making of pharmaceutical and other corporations.
7. How the animal entertainment industry, from circuses to sea worlds and beyond, produces mega-profits for various companies.
8. How these phenomena are related to efforts at capital accumulation, and related as well to the dehumanization and commodification of everything.

Submissions of full manuscripts to either editor are double-blind, peer-reviewed, and can be made up to December 15, 2019. Proposals before November 15, 2019, are desired. Word counts should be limited to 15,000. The Research is an annual hardback series published since 1977. Access at www.emeraldinsight.com/series/rpec