Living Near Here, or How Sociologists Study Animals. An introduction to the category

Abstract

This article serves as an introductory text to a special issue dedicated to the sociological study of animals and the practices of human and non-human species coexistence. The author traces the transformation of the status of pets in modern society: from a utilitarian and pragmatic attitude to a culture of care, emotional attachment, and anthropomorphization. Through the lens of personal autoethnographic reflections and a review analysis of the issue’s articles (which address tactics of avoiding communication during dog walking, ethical dilemmas of killing animals in food and scientific practices, and the experience of relocating with pets), the role of animals as significant actors shaping the social environment and everyday life is explored. Drawing on multispecies studies theory and the concepts of the ethics of care (D. Haraway, A. Mol, J. Law), the author problematizes anthropocentrism, demonstrates the inevitability of moral compromises, and argues that a comprehensive sociological description is impossible without taking into account «living side by side» and incorporating the researcher’s own position into ethical reflection.  

For citation: Rogozin, D. (2026) Living near here, or how sociologists study animals. Russia’s Directions. Vol. 4. No. 3. P. 69–79.

Additional Info

Submitted: July 28, 2026

Copyright: © Auhtors, 2026

Distribution: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)