Author: Kartik
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Quarantine Ecologies: The Spectacular Return of Animals
Kartik Chugh As the world is reeling from the effects of the pandemic, a barrage of writing has recently emerged linking COVID-19 to the ‘healing’ of Earth. Lockdown measures of confinement have birthed novel ecologies of abandonment which have altered the rhythms and mobilities of both humans and non-humans. The absence of humans has led…
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Animal Geographies II: A Geographical Perspective
Kartik Chugh In my previous article, I provided a brief introduction to the distinct, lively, and innovative field of Animal Geography. I portrayed how new considerations about how we imagine animals in modern society emerge when we shift the focus towards animals and think of them as subjective participants and active agents who play an…
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The Case Against Animal Rights
Kartik Chugh The coronavirus might have been invisible but that there would be a pandemic was not unforeseen. The simple narrative that the virus emerged in animals and jumped the species barrier to reach humans, helps sidestep the realm of human responsibility. At the center of this outbreak is not just the animal, but the…
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Animal Geographies I: A brief overview
Kartik Chugh “Coronavirus: Industrial animal farming has caused most new infectious diseases and risks more pandemics, experts warn.” – The Independent (May 2020) “From Hamsters to Baboons: The Animals Helping Scientists Understand the Coronavirus.” – Scientific American (May 2020) “The wild animals at risk in lockdown” BBC (May 2020) These three recent headlines show some…
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Entangled Spaces: Lime Swallowtail in my Urban Garden
Kartik Chugh Spending almost all the time at home in the past month and a half, I’ve learned to appreciate my surroundings better. I’m finding little joys in watching birds landing on my terrace to quench their thirst, a troop of macaques negotiating the urban infrastructure, and occasional butterflies that stop by my urban garden.…
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Animal Capital in the Automobile Industry
Kartik Chugh Introduction As the world is taking a break from its usual routine, many of us have found interesting ways to utilize our time. Of late, I have developed a keen interest in advertisements. In my free time, I’ve scrolled through hundreds of commercials in an attempt to understand how they communicate a product…
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In Times of a Pandemic: (Re)thinking Relationships with Earth Others
Kartik Chugh It was the last week of 2019 when health authorities in China notified the world about a novel virus outbreak in their communities. An increasingly growing number of people were developing a dry cough and fever before getting pneumonia. Doctors named this disease COVID-19 (or Coronavirus Disease 2019) which was caused by a…
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It takes Two to Tango
Kartik Chugh For thousands of years, humans and other animal species have accompanied each other with a strong bond. Human-animal relationship has been prevalent in the course of human history and is rooted in our co-evolution. The companion species which were not part of the same ecological niche became a part of an evolutionary process…