NEEDS, MODES OF LIFE, AND WELFARE-ORIENTED FORMATION IN VETERINARY AND ANIMAL SCIENCES: A MARXIST AND ACTIVITY-THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR ROLES ACROSS THE TRAINING–WORK–RESEARCH CONTINUUM

Federico  De la Colina Flores; Heriberto Rodríguez Frausto; Tzitzi de la Colina García; Paúl Alexis   De la Colina Flores

doi:10.29121/JISSI.v2.i1.2026.33

Authors

Federico De la Colina Flores Universidad Autonoma De Zacatecas, Unidad Academica De Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Zacatecas, Mexico Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8890-2863
Heriberto Rodrígguez Frausto Universsidad Autonoma De Zacatecas, Unidad Academica De Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, Zacatecas, Mexico Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9608-5843
Tzitzi De la Colina García Colegio Edison A.C, Departamento De Administration Docente, Guadalupe, Zacatecas, Mexico Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8502-3903
Paul Alexis de la Colina Flores Colegio Edison A.C, Departamento De Administration Docente, Guadalupe, Zacatecas, Mexico Author https://orcid.org/0009-0000-1666-1469

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29121/JISSI.v2.i1.2026.33

Keywords:

Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, Marxism, Needs, Motivation, One Health, One Welfare, Veterinary Education, Competence, Community Orientation, Democratic Professionalism

Abstract

Veterinary and animal sciences (including animal husbandry) intervene directly in modes of life: the historically developed patterns through which humans and animals reproduce existence, organize cooperation, and sustain welfare at the human–animal–ecosystem interface. This article proposes a Marxist and cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) framework for conceptualizing (i) the chain of satisfaction through which needs become motives and activities, (ii) three interdependent dimensions of needs (material, psychological, spiritual), and (iii) the differentiated formation and social function of undergraduate and graduate students, practicing professionals, and researchers. The argument is anchored in welfare as a public and democratic good: veterinary and animal science work is legitimate insofar as it enlarges the real capacities of communities—human and nonhuman—to live well, with accountable attention to equity, participation, and ecological limits. We translate the framework into implications for competence-oriented curricula and research training, emphasizing communication, production, and decision-making as core competency dimensions, and positioning learners as progressively responsible contributors to community welfare infrastructures rather than merely recipients of technical content.

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