Abstract

Erin McKenna, preeminent pragmatist and ecofeminist, urges us to rethink our relationships, our connections to wild and domesticated animals. In _The Task of Utopia_ (2001), she articulates a process model of utopian thought, evoking utopian literature to distinguish this pragmatist feminist model from other models of utopia. In subsequent books, _Pets, People, and Pragmatism_ (2013) and _Living with Animals_ (2021), McKenna argues that there is a continuity between human beings and other living creatures, and that the careful understanding of the needs and predilections of these other creatures can help us to create ameliorative relationships with animals and the land. Hence, McKenna suggests that utopian visions and attentive perception (into the lives of other living beings) can help us to imagine new ameliorative ways to live with flora and fauna—to reimagine our bonds and ties. In this paper, I seize upon McKenna’s pragmatist feminist utopian thought and tie this together with sharp-eyed ecofeminism, hoping to engage in the (re)imagining of bonds and ties that suture us to other living organisms.