The international demand for donkeys has increased sharply in recent years, motivated by China’s growing interest in producing ejiao (a traditional medicine made from donkey skin) and, in a smaller proportion, donkey meat. Since the Chinese donkey population dropped by 75.4% in the past 25 years, the country has searched for supply in the international market, mainly in Africa and South America. Aiming to understand the participation of Brazil in this scenario, this paper presents and discusses official data on donkey slaughter and donkey meat and skin exports in Brazil from 2002 to 2019. After the recent news reports of donkey trade-related mistreatment in the Brazilian Northeast, the issue has attracted attention from public authorities, the media, and civil society, but it lacked a quantitative description that could give a tangible dimension to the situation. The interpretation of these data is made with the collaboration of qualitative research methods, emphasizing some aspects of human-animal relations.

Resumo O objetivo deste trabalho é interpretar sociologicamente os discursos do Banco Mundial no campo das lutas cognitivas pela construção do saber e das prescrições legítimas para o desenvolvimento rural. Tais discursos foram buscados em cinco relatórios do banco dedicados ao tema entre 1995 e 2015, os quais evidenciam um deslocamento do lugar da agricultura para o rural. No período em análise, os documentos iniciais visam construir uma visão alargada dos espaços rurais, numa abordagem territorializada que estimula a diversificação econômica e a participação coletiva. Num segundo momento, a ênfase desloca-se em direção ao fortalecimento da agricultura e à necessidade de elevação da produtividade agrícola para garantia da segurança alimentar da população mundial; essa posição é reforçada num terceiro momento, quando o banco associa a agricultura às mudanças climáticas. O estudo destaca que as prescrições sobre o desenvolvimento rural empreendidas pela instituição estão calcadas nos recursos universais de cálculo e previsibilidade próprios da ciência moderna. Disso decorre a avaliação e a modelagem das trocas materiais e simbólicas tomadas como legítimas nos territórios rurais - ações que incorrem sobre as práticas da população rural e demandam a docilização dos corpos para novos controles institucionais e de mercado na relação com o meio ambiente. A eficácia da reforma do discurso do banco sobre desenvolvimento rural em países emergentes também se articula com a fluidez dos espaços de dominação e exercício do poder em escala global.

To better understand and manage the population of donkeys and mules, it is essential to know information about its size. In developing countries, these animals are often used as working animals, mainly by poor populations in agricultural and livestock labor, but their use is decreasing in Brazil. Brazilian official data regarding donkeys and mules started to be measured at the agricultural census of 1960 and, from that time, eight agricultural censuses were published. But until the writing of this paper, no scientific paper was dedicated to the analysis of the results of the official agricultural censuses on the population of donkeys and mules in Brazil. Thus, we aim to compile and analyze the official Brazilian data from 1960 until 2017 to enhance the actions of stakeholders, researchers, and decision-makers concerned with Brazilian donkeys and mules.

The presence of free-roaming donkeys on Brazilian Northeastern roads has significant welfare and safety implications for both humans and animals. Working donkeys have played an important historical role in regional development and are considered a cultural symbol of the Brazilian Northeast, as manifested in popular songs, tales, and other arts. Their replacement with motorized vehicles and machines has, however, led to their underuse and their proliferation as free-roaming animals. They are, therefore, reputed for their involvement in road accidents. Aside from this narrative, there is no documentation of social representations of free-roaming donkeys in Brazil. The aim of this paper is, therefore, to identify, document, and analyze social representations of free-roaming donkeys through an exploratory study based on 99 interviews conducted in Brazil. These representations were grouped and organized in a four-quadrant matrix that highlights human and nonhuman agencies. Our results show that donkey abandonment is not always perceived as an intentionally negative human attitude; donkey agency and structural and political-cultural causes are also related.

Philippe Descola est l’anthropologue français le plus commenté actuellement. Considéré comme le successeur de Claude Lévi-Strauss, il vient de prendre sa retraite du Collège de France en 2019, où il a occupé la chaire d’Anthropologie de la Nature depuis 2000. Auteur d’une œuvre importante qui, au-delà du seul champ de l’anthropologie, nourrit la réflexion de l’ensemble des sciences sociales, il accorde une place centrale aux animaux non-humains dans ses écrits. Critique du dualisme nature-culture, il propose un cadre analytique des différentes manières dont sont conceptualisées les relations entre les êtres.