Reading Zoos in the Age of the Anthropocene

Spectatorship

This section is focused on one of the main characteristics of the zoo, namely the importance of spectatorship. Following  John Berger’s foundational essay “Why Look at Animals?” the included studies think about what it means to be a spectator of animals. What kind of looking is facilitated in the zoo and for what purpose? How is the act of viewing related to human-animal binaries and are there possibilities to transform traditional methods of spectatorship in the zoo?