Doctoral Dissertation Research: How U.S. and E.U. Science Is Producing Both Meat and Animal Welfare

Since about the mid-1990s, animal welfare has been an increasing focus of farm animal science research in the US and the European Union, due in large part to public concern expressed over the treatment of farm animals. The US and EU governments are supporting multi-million dollar/euro programs that will play major roles in establishing national and international welfare standards. A complicating factor within farm animal science in both locations is the current lack of precise definition or measurement standards for welfare. This project will examine three programs (two under the US Department of Agriculture and one European Union-sponsored) that are all engaged, at varying levels, with a more recent research paradigm that attempts to measure animals' subjective (i.e., having awareness of their experiences) welfare, and will use a combination of qualitative methods that include textual analysis of program documents and published scientific research, and triangulation of data from interviews of key research personnel and observation at research sites. Three objectives guide this project's design: 1) to compare the major characteristics of the US and EU research programs; 2) to examine in depth the manner in which knowledge of farm animals and their welfare is actively produced through the scientific spaces/settings, practices, and discourse of the programs and their published research; 3) to assess the implications for both the industry and for animal welfare of the varying research approaches identified within the US and EU programs. The project will develop data on the physical spaces/settings of the research and the experimental procedures, examining the data for relationships between particular spaces and practices and particular constructions of the animals' (subjective) welfare. With regard to discourse, the project will use narrative analysis broadly following a grounded theory approach to identify and understand epistemological and ontological approaches to farm animal welfare science, researcher conceptions of farm animals' capacities for awareness of experience and the resulting definitions of good/poor welfare, and the discursive representation of welfare concepts within and outside the scientific community. It is expected that the study will point to the types of changes (e.g., to farming spaces, practices, etc.) the scientific research results indicate, how the results respond to societal concerns about farm animal welfare, and how the US/EU research programs interact with and influence one another. In comparing the US and EU research programs, this project will provide information about the ways in which welfare standards are determined in both locales. This information will be useful for policymakers and animal advocates in evaluating both these standards and the use and influence of public and private financial resources in responding to societal concerns about animal welfare. This project will also contribute to the understanding of the environments in which farm animal science takes place, the manner in which it is conducted, and the ways in which it is represented in scientific publications and beyond, thereby enhancing a critical understanding of the function of science in both animal agriculture and human-animal relations in Western society, and reflecting on the mutual influence between science and public opinion/policy. The outcome of the US and EU research has significant implications for many stakeholders ranging from institutions and corporations to the humans and animals whose lives are affected by their actions. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.