Cattle's Experiences of Colonialism. An Animal History of Southern Africa

This book is a rare and unique history of how colonialism in southern Africa impacted cattle's subjective historical experiences. It positions cattle as sentient, feeling beings in the narrative flow, and uses an animal-centered approach and diverse sources to investigate cattle’s felt experiences. The book explores major colonial impacts, including wagon labour, disease epidemics and veterinary infrastructure, the development of industrial slaughterhouses, and the expansion of modern breeding.

Author Michael Glover spent 30 days with a herd of free-living Nguni cattle in the semi-arid Karoo desert, cattle who were not trapped in animal agriculture systems but who instead could express their autonomy as far as possible. In this way he could write more sensitively about cattle experiences, and could be more attuned to cattle’s ways of being. This immersive experience revealed to him deep social bonds, emotional lives, and sensory experiences of cattle, as well as their intelligence, memory, and strategies for cooperation and regulated social cohesion.

This book is based on Michael Glover's PhD research. It was published by Brill in the Afrika-Studiecentrum Series, Volume: 45.