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Episode 30: Privilege & Inequality in Animals
“We see privilege popping up across the tree of life, not just in humans. When there are these legacies of exclusion within human societies, there needs to be some structural change to be able to address these issues.”
Dr. Jennifer Smith is a behavioral ecologist and an assistant professor of biology at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Guest Jenn Smith says that human concepts of intergenerational wealth and inequality occur also in the behaviors of animals. Privilege itself isn’t new–but it’s novel and shocking to learn that humans aren’t the only species who pass along tangible assets to certain individuals in subsequent generations and consciously exclude others. Applying the term “privilege” to the animal kingdom shines a new light on animal culture–and our own.
How to Find Out More About Jenn Smith’s Work
For the original version of Jenn Smith’s scientific paper, look here in the journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. For a less scientific take, see this piece in the New York Times.
For a bigger perspective on similarities in humans and other non-human animals, read the book, “Wildhood: The Epic Journey from Adolescence to Adulthood in Humans and Other Animals.” It was written by one of Jenn’s co-authors, Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, and by Kathryn Bowers. You can buy it from an independent bookstore near you or order it from The Shape of the World’s favorite one in Chicago, 57th Street Books.
In addition to privilege, Jenn studies differences in cooperation between males and females in mammals and studies leadership in social mammals. To learn more about Jenn’s full body of professional work and interests, visit her lab’s website. (If you poke around there and look at the team page, you’ll find more cool photos.) Jenn’s scientific publications can all be found on Google Scholar.
Follow Jenn on Twitter: @JennSmithSocBeh
Additional Note: The Shape of the World’s interview with Jenn Smith was conducted in spring of 2022. Although Jenn was a biology professor at Mills College in Oakland at the time of that interview, from now on, if you want to take classes with Jenn or have her be an advisor for your PhD, you’ll find her in a new position in the biology department at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. (We just wanted to make that clear in case you get incredibly inspired by what you hear in the episode.)
A California ground squirrel mother and her young offspring greet each other in a friendly exchange at Jenn Smith’s long-term behavioral ecology field project Briones Regional Park in the San Francisco Bay Area. .
[Photo by Jenn Smith]
Spotted hyenas forming a coalition at the Maasai Mara Reserve in Kenya, East Africa. Individual hyenas inherit their social rank from their mother. The young pups learn where they are in the pecking order through associative learning (also called classical conditioning.) The young don’t innately know whether they’re supposed to eat first or last; they have to be taught. The social rank of each individual influences their destiny, privileging some over others.
[Photo by Kate Yoshida]
For sea otters, the family unit consists solely of a single mother and a single pup.
[Photo by Michael L. Baird]
For sea otters, the family unit consists solely of a single mother and a single pup.
[Photo by Michael L. Baird]
Eelgrass and other seagrasses are imperiled worldwide. They’re important as a food source for sea turtles; they filter harmful pollution and bacteria from the water; and the habitat they create serves as a nursery for many fish and crustaceans.
[Photo by Evie Fachon]
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By Jill Riddell
4.9
4141 ratings
“We see privilege popping up across the tree of life, not just in humans. When there are these legacies of exclusion within human societies, there needs to be some structural change to be able to address these issues.”
Dr. Jennifer Smith is a behavioral ecologist and an assistant professor of biology at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
Guest Jenn Smith says that human concepts of intergenerational wealth and inequality occur also in the behaviors of animals. Privilege itself isn’t new–but it’s novel and shocking to learn that humans aren’t the only species who pass along tangible assets to certain individuals in subsequent generations and consciously exclude others. Applying the term “privilege” to the animal kingdom shines a new light on animal culture–and our own.
How to Find Out More About Jenn Smith’s Work
For the original version of Jenn Smith’s scientific paper, look here in the journal of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. For a less scientific take, see this piece in the New York Times.
For a bigger perspective on similarities in humans and other non-human animals, read the book, “Wildhood: The Epic Journey from Adolescence to Adulthood in Humans and Other Animals.” It was written by one of Jenn’s co-authors, Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, and by Kathryn Bowers. You can buy it from an independent bookstore near you or order it from The Shape of the World’s favorite one in Chicago, 57th Street Books.
In addition to privilege, Jenn studies differences in cooperation between males and females in mammals and studies leadership in social mammals. To learn more about Jenn’s full body of professional work and interests, visit her lab’s website. (If you poke around there and look at the team page, you’ll find more cool photos.) Jenn’s scientific publications can all be found on Google Scholar.
Follow Jenn on Twitter: @JennSmithSocBeh
Additional Note: The Shape of the World’s interview with Jenn Smith was conducted in spring of 2022. Although Jenn was a biology professor at Mills College in Oakland at the time of that interview, from now on, if you want to take classes with Jenn or have her be an advisor for your PhD, you’ll find her in a new position in the biology department at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. (We just wanted to make that clear in case you get incredibly inspired by what you hear in the episode.)
A California ground squirrel mother and her young offspring greet each other in a friendly exchange at Jenn Smith’s long-term behavioral ecology field project Briones Regional Park in the San Francisco Bay Area. .
[Photo by Jenn Smith]
Spotted hyenas forming a coalition at the Maasai Mara Reserve in Kenya, East Africa. Individual hyenas inherit their social rank from their mother. The young pups learn where they are in the pecking order through associative learning (also called classical conditioning.) The young don’t innately know whether they’re supposed to eat first or last; they have to be taught. The social rank of each individual influences their destiny, privileging some over others.
[Photo by Kate Yoshida]
For sea otters, the family unit consists solely of a single mother and a single pup.
[Photo by Michael L. Baird]
For sea otters, the family unit consists solely of a single mother and a single pup.
[Photo by Michael L. Baird]
Eelgrass and other seagrasses are imperiled worldwide. They’re important as a food source for sea turtles; they filter harmful pollution and bacteria from the water; and the habitat they create serves as a nursery for many fish and crustaceans.
[Photo by Evie Fachon]