Pet Families. Ways of Interpreting New Ways of Living Together

Abstract

This article explores characteristic ways of living in young, urban, middle-class sectors. After a survey, twenty-seven in-depth interviews and a review of 4.000 profiles on social networks and dating apps, our hypothesis is that the pet family is a subjectivation device linking affective, economic, environmental, and architectural practices involving the prioritization of friendship, changing partners, ambivalence towards maternity/paternity and living in small apartments. It also implies an ontological relocation of the pet, from helper/guardian to relative/roommate/intimate friend. We also propose the notion of the eco-family as a subjectivation device that incorporates ecological habits into ways of life. These ways of living together go beyond the concept of family, showing what the current norm is.