This pioneering overview of how social relations were con- structed as interspecies relations offers the reader a starting point for bringing these encounters into a historical narrative that unfolds over the course of several centuries of Portuguese South American colonial life. In showing the decisive impor- tance of non-human animals in the development of Brazilian society, this volume provides a point of departure for the con- struction of an international corpus of knowledge in the fields of environmental history and human-animal studies, adding complexity to existing narratives and throwing new light on the role of Latin American societies within the global picture. Brazil, the largest country in South America, is home to some of the planet's richest fauna, is ranked as one of the world's largest meat producers (beef, chicken and pork) and also has a huge population of pets, estimated at 54.2 million dogs, 39.8 million birds and 23.9 million cats, according to a 2018 sur- vey. Non-human animals have always been there, domesti- cated or wild, alongside their human counterparts. These sets of relationships configure what is still a less-understood part of Brazilian history. In its six chapters, this book considers the exotic wildlife diet base adopted by European explorers; the uses of animals for medicinal purposes; intense hunting and whaling activities; and the introduction of domesticated anim- als from Europe and other Portuguese colonies, focusing on the decisive contributions of cattle, horses and mules in the oc- cupation and colonisation of the extensive Brazilian territory, and the precarious system of meat supply in the-then capital, Rio de Janeiro, in the nineteenth century.

The city of Pompeii, or Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompeiorum, the stage of the action that takes place here, is seen by the author from the perspective of its integration in the macro-economic system of the Roman Empire. The characters that take the centre stage here are slaves, freed slaves and free citizens of low social status, distinguished from others by the place they occupy within relations of oppression and exploitation. In the pages that follow, the author brings the popular Pompeian soul to life, through its manifestations of love, sexuality, anguish and sadness. The work examines particular linguistic expression of popular Latin and, most specifically, through the graffiti written on the walls of a Roman colonial city, rendered there for the attention of the local community.

This volume brings together studies from various disciplines of the social sciences and humanities ( anthropology, sociology, cultural studies, history and literary theory) that shed light on the equestrian world as a historically gendered and highly dynamic field of contemporary sport and culture. From high level international dressage and jumping, polo and the turf, to the rodeo world of the Americas and popular forms of equestrian sport and culture, we are introduced to a range of issues that are played out at local and global, national and international levels. Students and scholars of gender, culture and sport will find much of interest in this original look at contemporary issues such as "engendered" (women's and men's) identities/subjectivities as equestrians, representations of girls, horses and the world of adventure in juvenile fiction; the current "feminization" of particular equestrian activities (and where boys and men stand in relation to this); how broad forms of social inequality and stratification play themselves out within gendered equestrian contexts; men and women and their relation to horses within the framework of current discussions on the relation of animals to humans (which may include not only love and care, but also exploitation and violence), among others. Singular contributions show how equestrian activities contribute to historical and current constructions of embodied "femininities" and "masculinities", reflecting a world that has been moving "beyond the binaries" while continuing to be enmeshed in their persistent and contradictory legacy.