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January 18, 2026Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie0 citationsOpen Access

Animal Segregation: The Biopolitics of Concentrated Pig Farming

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WBWillem Boterman

Key Points

  • The paper aims to analyze how animal segregation can enhance understanding of livestock geography and its biopolitical implications.
  • Applied spatial segregation measures to study distribution of pigs and humans in the Netherlands
  • Examined geographical processes in intensive pig farming
  • Investigated patterns of concentration and segregation in agro-industrial contexts
  • Increased concentration of pigs within and across regions
  • Rising segregation of pigs from humans
  • Segregation reflects broader biopolitics of containment and control in animal farming

Abstract

Abstract This paper explores the possibility to think through the concept of animal segregation to understand the more‐than‐human geographies of livestock animals. By redirecting the analytical tools for studying the spatial separation of humans to the segregation of animals, this paper contributes to understanding the geographical processes of concentration in the agro‐industrial complex and provokes critical thought of what this approach entails for studying lived space of the (more‐than‐) human. Applying spatial segregation measures to the distribution of pigs and humans in the Netherlands, this paper gauges the developments of intensive livestock farming in one of the world’s main hubs for production of animal proteins. It shows an increasing concentration of pigs within and across regions as well as rising segregation of pigs from humans. It suggests that segregation is part of a broader spatial biopolitics of containment and control, enabling and making acceptable the keeping and killing of animals.

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Cite This Study

Willem Boterman (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/696c7791eb60fb80d1395c72https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.70062
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