I want to start this review by saying that Bird's-Eye Views is the first book from Vine Sanctuary press. If you don't already know, VINE sanctuary is a massive lgbtq founded and led sanctuary for animals who have been rescued from farming and other exploitation industries. They do a massive amount of work with a tight budget including everything from creating a very groundbreaking multi-species community where the sanctuary residents have much more agency than many rescues, rehabbing animals like roosters abused in cockfighting (that even rescues often incorrectly assume must be killed,) running programs for students and children, book clubs and talks, podcasts and other education efforts, lgbtq and anti-racist organizing, and many others. Despite all of this they don't have the social media reach or funding of many sanctuaries including those that are much smaller. Purchasing this book will support that sanctuary and their residents. Go and give them a follow in your socials as well.
All of that said, I write honest reviews and this is not an obligatory positive review. I've given 1 star to bad books by people I admire before and luckily didn't have to do that here! This book is fantastic.
Pattrice Jones has a long history in organizing, education, and writing. She has a knack for writing about a variety of things in accessible language. I had encountered her essays here and there in anthologies, but it was her book Oxen at the Intersection that made her one of my favorite authors. It was one of those books involving animal liberation that said all the things that I wish people would say more. As a result, when I saw that this book of essays was coming out and that it would include many that had not been accessible before, I was very excited.
This book has many essays about birds and other animals, but also includes topics like rent strikes, anti-war efforts, direct action and tactical discussion, climate change, anarchism, feminism, etc. I do really love that this book focuses so much on birds, though. A lot of animal lib/rights/rescue focuses on mammals because humans often relate to fellow mammals more than we do other species. This text focuses on birds in a way that really draws the reader in from a variety of entry points.
I was quite impressed by how varied these essays were- coming from expected discussions of animal liberation, anarcho/eco/feminism, and lgbtq organizing to topics like art, psychoanalysis, and philosophy. You can see how much pattrice understands and thinks about these issues and how she's able to deftly navigate each of these topics in a way that makes a ton of sense. I generally stick page flags throughout nonfiction books of any topic, but this is one of those books where I ended up putting flags on entire chapters because I was highlighting so many passages. There is something about the way pattrice writes that adds something new to the discourses around all of these topics.
I have a hard line rule about reading about and watching animal suffering. I generally do not do it anymore except for in very particular circumstances. Let me first be clear that this book is not full of graphic discussions of animal suffering, on the contrary. However in sections where it is discussed, this is one of the times that I did not skip over the sections. Pattrice discusses the experience of birds in a way that draws the reader into their minds and what it might be like to live their lives. It helps me feel not just completely overwhelmed and defeated by the suffering, but motivated to do and think more about it. Her descriptions for instance of what it must be like to be a battery hen will bring tears to my eyes, but then push me forward to the next evolution in thinking. I'm sure it also helps to know that the person writing it may be doing so while surrounded by many birds who were able to make it out thanks to the sanctuary.
Many articles really stuck out for me as saying something so important yet so needed in various discourses. There is an anarchist essay on the idea of property and communication within and across species that really got the gears turning in my head as did discussions of "natural anarchism" in more than human communities of other species. The discussions taking place around tactical divisions and false dichotomies of "welfarist" vs "abolitionist" (and the armchair authoritarian men often involved) has always been necessary and unfortunately continues to be so. There were multiple pieces that were about Queer love and solidarity that made my often pessimistic Queer heart grow three times it's size. I didn't expect to smile so much at times during this book. Some of the articles that were only published in other languages in the past were really good and I'm glad that they've been published here in English. Pattrice also navigates the difficult discussion of indigenous human beings and their effects on other animals who were there before humans arrived.* Along with all of these, I really enjoyed the "(non)human interest" stories (I don't know another name for the genre) that are peppered throughout the essays where we get to learn about the lives of individual sanctuary residents.
The only thing I would like to hear more about from this book, and part of it is because many of these essays are older, is even more expansion of gender politics. There is a lot of discussion of men being in charge of many exploitation industries which is overall been true throughout history especially of white men. However, particularly in countries like the USA, as (especially white) women break more and more glass ceilings only to join in furthering the same kinds of oppression, and as people of other marginalized groups do the same, I would like to see more complex analysis. I don't think we can merely say that these people are copying white patriarchy, there are intersections here that are complicated and I would love to hear interesting takes on those intersections of hierarchy and oppression coming together that I'm sure she has lots of thoughts on. That is not to say that things like whiteness are never acknowledged in this book, on the contrary. Combatting white supremacy is a core tenet of this text. I'm addressing specifically eco-feminist essays, especially ones from decades ago.
The way pattrice wraps up the book really touched me. She acknowledges how reckoning with all of these things discussed in the book can feel so incredibly defeating. Everything feels so big, so horrifying, so.... Inevitable. It can often feel like we shouldn't even try anymore. The author acknowledges this feeling well, but also reminds us why it's important to keep going. After all, any good anarchist knows that it's not the final destination that we're striving for, but the consistent and everlasting journey towards liberation.
* With the exception of humans in Africa where we all originated, those we call indigenous humans were the first to arrive in that location. They were not the first animals to exist there. In some of these cases, the arrival of humans led to the endangering or even extinction of species. When followed up later by European Colonialism, you get something a million times larger and more devastating for indigenous humans and tons more species. We must also think about indigenous species in discussions of who deserves space and stay away from forcing indigenous humans into a monolith of a single people who all resemble white people's notions of a modern day environmentalistwith indigenous heritage.
This was also posted to my goodreads.
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