Zoo Renewal: White Flight and the Animal Ghetto

(Paperback)

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Why do we feel bad at the zoo In a fascinating counterhistory of American zoos in the 1960s and 1970s, Lisa Uddin revisits the familiar narrative of zoo reform, from naked cages to more naturalistic enclosures. She argues that reform belongs to the story of cities and feelings toward many of their human inhabitants. In "Zoo Renewal, " Uddin demon

Reviews

"Lisa Uddins highly original and compelling argument considers modern zoos as phenomena of urban, suburban, and exurban hopes and fears. The book makes clear that ever-more-ambitious plans to build a finally great zoo are deeply tied to our desires not for a better life for captive animals but for a better life for ourselves."Nigel Rothfels, author of Savages and Beasts: The Birth of the Modern Zoo

"[An] interesting, and perhaps surprising, perspective on urban and racial issues."Planning Magazine

"Zoo history is more than simply that-- it appears to also be a history of the human condition."CHOICE

"An important and thought-provoking contribution to thinking about the place of zoos in modern society."Environmental History

"Zoo Renewal makes an original, important contribution to the scholarship of zoo histories and human-animal studies as well as of the social and cultural history of urbanism, environmentalism and identity politics in twentieth-century American. It is highly recommended."Humanimalia

"Zoo Renewal offers a provocative, original reading of midcentury attempts to reform American zoos, reminding us that how we view animals inevitably reflects and reinforces how we view humans."Journal of American History

"Zoo Renewal is an important contribution to the growing critical historiography of zoos and, more broadly, postWorld War II leisure spaces in the United States and around the globe. Uddin's book adds a new dimension to what has become the standard historical understanding of zoos' relationship to race and empire."Buildings & Landscapes

Author Bio

Lisa Uddin is assistant professor of art history and visual culture studies at Whitman College.