Whiteness, Animality, and Zoological Withcraft: An Introduction to Aph Ko and Syl Ko from the Global South

https://doi.org/10.25058/20112742.n45.03

Berenice Vargas García
Escuela Nacional de Antropología e Historia (ENAH) / Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Iztapalapa (UAM-I)

Abstract:

Where is the animal issue entangled with race?, how are white-mestizo supremacism and whiteness entangled with speciesism?, how to analytically address those tangles? The hints to respond to those questions can be found in the notion of zoological witchcraft, formulated by Afro-American thinker Aph Ko and fed by the ongoing dialogue and exchange with her sister Syl Ko. This article aims to do an initial approach to her proposal, through a reading from the Global South and a multi-dimensional approach of oppression, aiming to trigger curiosity leading to inquire on other conceptual tools that help problematizing whiteness —and its insidious quite strength— in contexts different to the ones considered by the authors.

Keywords: whiteness, white supremacy, animality, speciesism, racism.