The following is excerpted from Living Factories: Biotechnology and the Unique Nature of Capitalism by Kenneth Fish.
A second important difference is that monitoring and regulatory activities in the labour process devoted to transgenic animals are exceptionally concerned with the well-being of the technologies beyond their physical health. The Canadian Council on Animal Care suggests in a policy statement that “in the interest of well-being, a social environment is desired for each animal which will allow basic social contacts and positive social relations” (CCAC 1990). Ted Benton (1993) suggests that this distinctive sociality of animals has already shaped labour processes centred around the transformation of animal life into food. And Nexia concurred with respect to its spider-goat hybrids:
Goats are naturally playful and social animals; therefore Nexia uses group housing for its herds. We encourage their playfulness by providing them with toys that stimulate them both mentally and physically. These measures help keep the goats happy. Since happy, healthy goats are more productive and produce more milk, the environmental enrichment program is highly beneficial from both an ethical and economic perspective.
In short, a good social life makes for a happy factory and a happy factory is a productive one. A blurring of the boundary between life and technology typical of transgenic animals is perhaps no better indicated than by this emphasis on the sociality, playfulness, happiness, and well-being of industrial technologies.
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