「不獨具人類」的英國近代農業改良文化下的牛羊育種：從貝克威爾與新萊斯特羊談起

The More-than-Human History of Livestock Breeding in the Age of Agricultural Improvement in Modern Britain: Starting with the Legend of Robert Bakewell and His New Leicester Sheep

英國農業發展史上，牛羊育種別具重大意義。原因在於傳統以人及其技術為中心的敘事中，育種乃為18世紀以降農業改良的重要一環，並協同其他農業技術，被認為關鍵促成了英國近代的農業革命。在這敘事中，羅伯特•貝克威爾（Robert Bakewell, 1725-1795）之傳奇與其所培育出的新萊斯特羊（New Leicester Sheep）又被視為英國成功育種經驗之標誌性象徵。本文指出，若欲充分解釋農改時期牛羊之生的多重意義、多樣存在，乃至求致一個更為貼近現實的農業生產解釋，吾人實需超越傳統以貝克威爾為中心的英雄史觀，重建一個具有多元行動者及藉由物質與符號所交織共構的異質網絡關係以理解。本文依序指出，英國近代牛羊之生，主要乃鑲嵌於由「人與其技術」、「啟蒙文化」、「國族論述與實踐」、「商業市場」、「自然環境」與「牛羊能動性」等相互扣連的繁複之網，並由之生成。換言之，牛羊品種並非僅是啟蒙文化下的人類創造物、國族主義的象徵物、市場法則下的商品、自然環境的共構成員，以及具有行動力的生物體，而是這一切社會╱自然因素所交織而成的複合體；因其所處之網絡相對位置，不同牛羊群體也獲取不同之存在形式。英國近代育種潮流雖則指向了對於生物體更為積極之治理，但是本文透過一個「不獨具人類」的關係性理解，指出此段昌盛農改時期的牲畜培育史，終究並非一部人類支配史，而是眾多「人」與「非人」元素組裝下的產物，而此時牛羊育種上的成就，部分亦來自此時多數農人對於環境與動物能動性之考量與回應。未來對於英國近代農業的重探，不論考量產能，或是兼納萬物共榮之價值，皆須採納一個兼具「非人」元素的衡量框架。

Livestock breeding is regarded as a foundational biotechnology in agricultural history, one which, alongside other innovations in eighteenth-century agricultural improvement, contributed significantly to the“Agricultural Revolution”in modern Britain. In this view, Robert Bakewell and his New Leicester Sheep have frequently been celebrated as exemplars of British agricultural improvement in the form of human intellect and technological advances. This article seeks to establish a more realistic estimation of the economic contribution of cattle and sheep breeding, and their diverse modes of existence and multi-layered meanings in Britain, by going beyond this heroic and techno-centered view of history. In its place, the article adopts a“more-than-human”material-semiotic approach that takes seriously the agencies of“non-human”actors. It inscribes the lives of cattle and sheep in modern Britain within an assemblage made up of major actants such as humans and their technologies, the culture of Enlightenment, agricultural patriotism, the commercial market, and the natural environment. In other words, cattle and sheep breeds were not simply the products of Enlightenment, the symbols of British Patriotism, merchandise in the markets, constitutive players in the natural environment, and agents in history in themselves, but the combination of all these, whose forms of life depended on their relative place within the assemblage.
While modern livestock breeding undoubtedly reflects greater human intervention in animal life, this article shows that breeding practices were far from solely human-driven; rather, they were co-constituted by multiple“human”and“non-human”actants, with many advancements made possible through careful human observation of animal agencies and responses to natural environments. In conclusion, the article argues that a more-than-human analytical frame is essential for accurately assessing both the economic impact of various breeding practices to the British economy and the value of multispecies co-flourishing in the Anthropocene.