Animal Welfare, Science & Activism

Between 2016 and 2021, Kirchhelle conducted research on the remarkable biography of Ruth Harrison, one of Britain’s foremost animal welfare campaigners, as well as the wider world of activism, science, and politics she inhabited. 

In 1964, Ruth Harrison’s bestseller Animal Machines triggered a gear change in modern animal protection by popularising the term ‘factory farming’ alongside a new way of thinking about animal welfare. Based on unprecedented access to Harrison's personal papers, Kirchhelle's historical research reconstructed the writing process behind Animal Machines and the societal and scientific ripple effects caused by its publication. It also explored Harrison’s avant-garde upbringing, Quakerism, and how animal welfare debates were linked to concerns about the wider ethical and environmental trajectories of post-war Britain. 

Published in 2021 with Palgrave Macmillan, the resulting monograph Bearing Witness: Ruth Harrison and British Farm Animal Welfare (1920-2000) breaks the myth of Harrison as a one-hit wonder. The book reconstructs Harrison’s 46 years of campaigning and the rapid transformation of welfare politics, science, and marketing during this time. In doing so, it casts light on the interlinked and frequently uneasy histories of post-war British animal welfare activism, science, and legislation.  

Awards:

Short-listed for the 2023 History of Science Society Margaret Rossiter History of Women in Science Prize.