FROM HUMANS TO DANDELIONS, HIPPOS, AND COCKROACHES: WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE INVOLVED IN AFFECTIVE INTERCONNECTIONS OF THE KAZAKHSTANI ZOO ASSEMBLAGE?

Abstract

Keeping nonhuman animals in captivity has a long history, is performed in various forms, and can be viewed from different perspectives. This work concentrates on the contemporary zoological parks most of which represent themselves as conservational, scientific, educational, and recreational institutes. At the same time, I hypothesize that zoological parks are the co-products of capitalism and hierarchical structures where different living species are differently prioritized. Moreover, some of the bodies at the zoo can be either silenced based on their place in the hierarchy and the degree of their dependence or choose to be silent. I also view zoological parks as socially constructed institutions that are managed and constructed under the human perceptions and constructs of nature and nonhuman animals. To examine these issues, I present the zoos as assemblages whose biotic and abiotic bodies create a whole variety of affective interconnections. This thesis is based on my ethnographic fieldwork at the Karagandy zoological park where I conducted observations and in-depth interviews. The main question that I raise in my thesis is: How different elements of the Karagandy zoo assemblage interact with each other, support the lives of nonhuman animals, create emotional bonds, contradictions, and hierarchies? Thus, throughout my work, I bring up a range of questions covering the interconnections between human and nonhuman worlds, animal conservation, animal and working welfare, and the value of someone’s life. By accompanying my chapters with small ethnographic stories and examples I try to give the voice to nonhuman animals living in captivity and different silenced beings at the zoological park