The Dreaded Comparison: Human and Animal Slavery

Considered a seminal book in the fields of Bioethics and Human-Animal Studies, and a classic in the field of humane thought, Marjorie Spiegel's The Dreaded Comparison makes a significant contribution to our efforts to understand the roots of individual and societal violence, tying current cultural practices to the legacy of human bondage, and introducing new and diverse audiences to the history of slavery and institutionalized racism in the United States. Spanning history, psychology, and current events-- and ground-breaking for its thesis which presents the first in-depth exploration of the similarities between the violence humans have wrought against other humans, and our culture's treatment of non-human animals-- The Dreaded Comparison has contributed to subsequent explorations by other scholars, historians, legal scholars, law professors and educators in diverse fields to view and further define the modern system of animal exploitation in terms of the model and legacy of human slavery. The Dreaded Comparison also contributed substantially to broadening the philosophical foundation of the modern discourse about animals beyond its traditionally more limited scope, instilling a far more inclusive and historically-grounded understanding of the critical issues Spiegel sensitively explores in this book. Highly acclaimed and widely reviewed-- Gordon Parks declared that "The Dreaded Comparison should be placed in schoolrooms across the universe," and civil rights attorney William Kunstler wrote that he "was heavily influenced by Marjorie Spiegels powerful tour de force" -- The Dreaded Comparison has been adopted as required reading in colleges, universities, law curriculum, and high schools throughout the nation. Now in its third edition, The Dreaded Comparison has also been excerpted in college textbooks in the fields of Philosophy and Human-Animal Studies, and excerpted as a cover story in national journals.