Agro-Industrial Complexes: Theorizing the Human Domination of Nonhuman Lives in the United States

In this thesis, I offer an analysis of the industrial expansion of animal agriculture over the course of the last century in the United States and explore the reasons behind the dramatic increase in the consumption of animal products during the same time period. De-centering anthropocentric perspectives and engaging with canonical critical theorists, the thesis focuses on the animals' experience during the production process to expose the interconnected workings of relations of power, labor, and violence in the animal agriculture industry. In the first chapter, I critically examine living conditions for nonhuman animals in the food industry under late capitalism. I turn to two theoretical approaches to understand these developments: Michel Foucault’s concepts of biopower and disciplinary power, as well as Karl Marx’s theory of alienation. By synthesizing these perspectives, I argue that the capitalist system commodifies not merely the labor but also the biological existence of farmed animals, turning their life cycles into products and subjecting them to profound degrees of control and exploitation. Then, I turn to the political, economic, and ideological mechanisms behind the increase in animal consumption in the United States over the last century, which corresponds to these changes in productive processes. Turning to Antonio Gramsci’s concept of hegemony, this chapter illuminates the ways in which hegemonic power and capitalist interests function to construct animal consumption as a normative practice, especially via the relationship between corporate farms and state institutions, such as through nutritional guidelines and advertisements. Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of habitus helps us understand how consumers ascribe meaning to their purchasing patterns, demonstrating how the effectiveness of ideological structures is largely achieved through the habitual practices of daily life. I conclude the thesis by offering a critical perspective to leverage in organizing strategies that transcend regulatory changes and foster a radical shift in the nature of food production, laying the groundwork for an era of an empathetic and sustainable coexistence with our fellow earthlings.