Bouncing back? Kangaroo-human resistance in contemporary Australia.

This article examines how human and animal agencies shape the complex socio-ecological lifeworlds of kangaroos in contemporary Australia, where they simultaneously function as cultural icons, native wildlife, problematic pests, and sources of commercial meat. It highlights kangaroos’ resistance to Western colonial scientific classification, domestication, and population control, emphasizing their biological, behavioral, and symbolic defiance that complicates efforts to manage and commodify them. The article also explores the contested politics surrounding kangaroo meat consumption, noting its limited popularity due to sensory qualities and cultural perceptions, alongside growing animal welfare concerns. Ultimately, it argues that kangaroos’ multifaceted existence resists singular categorization, revealing tensions within capitalist-colonial regimes that produce non-human animals as “killable” and raising critical questions about multispecies justice and ethical relations.