Entanglements:
Journal of Posthumanities
E-ISSN: 3107-488X

(Article)
Human, Horse, Habitat: A Posthumanist Exploration Of Animal Labour In the Urbanisation Of Delhi
Authored By — Mariam Fatima

Abstract

This article explores the horse's silent but salient role in Delhi's urbanisation, thereby reimagining humananimal relationships in the city. Horses have been integral to the urban economies of the Global South by providing valuable labour in the informal construction industry. Their activities shape the neighbourhood's development and the city's look. Humans and horses have a history of co-habitation and co-evolution, which resonates with Haraway's concept of companion species, mainly because the communities raising and working with the horses have been in the same business for generations. However, these horses in the construction industry are ignored in the planning process. Their work is absent from the livestock census, but their presence in the city is prominent. This allows us to question our imagination of the city, which is not just anthropocentric and capitalistic, based on design and planning; instead, there is an intricate interplay between humans and non-human forces that results in shaping the urban environment. Urban Political Ecology acts as a posthumanist approach that decenters anthropocentrism and emphasises incorporating the role of 'non-human' elements like plants and animals within the urban landscape to understand it better.

Keywords

Human, Horse, Habitat, A Posthumanist Exploration, Animal Labour,

Read/Download Full Article