Animal Politics: Justice, Power, and the State

12 november 09:30 – 13 november 17:00 at the International School of Philosophy (Dodeweg 8, 3832 RD Leusden)

With Will Kymlicka, Lori Gruen, Robert Garner, Laura Wright, Steven Wise and many others

The focus in animal ethics has long been on the moral standing of sentient individuals. It was argued that because nonhuman animals have interests strong enough to lay a claim on others, they deserve certain inviolable rights, similar to how this works in the human case. In recent years, political philosophers have used the idea of moral animal rights as a starting point for thinking about political rights. It is argued that interests of nonhuman animals should be taken into account in liberal democracies for reasons of equality, democracy, or justice. The political approach to animal rights provides us with a new perspective on nonhuman animals and human-animal relations. Conceptualizing groups of animals as social or political groups can clarify rights and duties beyond the micro-level. Using political concepts, such as citizenship or democracy, in relation to nonhuman animals, also brings to light their agency in human-animal relations, and shows us how they co-shape what we usually perceive as the product of human activity. Examining existing ideas about human social justice in relation to other animals can help us to get a better grasp on structural similarities, for example with regard to stereotyping and silencing, and differences. These insights can also contribute to interspecies solidarity. The new perspective also raises many questions, with regard to nonhuman animal agency, power relations, justice, and democracy.

More info: https://www.isvw.nl/activiteit/animal-politics/

Lori Gruen is the William Griffin Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and Environmental Studies at Wesleyan University where she also coordinates Wesleyan Animal Studies. Her work lies at the intersection of ethical theory and practice, with a particular focus on issues that impact those often overlooked in traditional ethical investigations, e.g. women, people of color, non-human animals. She has published extensively on topics in animal ethics, ecofeminism, and practical ethics more broadly and is currently thinking about intersections of race, gender, and species and, as always, about chimpanzees.

Will Kymlicka is Professor of Philosophy at Queen’s University in Canada and the Central European University in Hungary. He published a number of works on immigration and multiculturalism, among which Multicultural Citizenships: A Liberal Theory of Minority Rights. In collaboration with his partner Sue Donaldson he wrote the groundbreaking book Zoopolis, a Political Theory of Animal Rights, in which thought on multiculturalism and the formation of nations is applied to animals in a revolutionary way. 

Steve Wise is a legal scholar. His objective is for primates to be recognized as legal persons, including the now-famous chimpanzee Tommy. Having the status of a legal person would grant animals a right to liberty.

Laura Wright is Associate Professor and Department Head of English at Western Carolina University. She specialises in Vegan Studies. She is author of The Vegan Studies Project: Food, Animals and Gender in the Age of Terror. The book is billed as “the foundational text for the nascent field of vegan studies.” In her book, Wright examines the social and cultural discourses shaping society’s perceptions of veganism as an identity category and social practice.
Robert Garner is Professor in Political Theory at the University of Leicester. His publications include A Theory of Justice for Animals, Animal Ethics, and Animals, Politics, and Morality. His debate with animal abolitionist Gary Francione formed the basis for The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition or Regulation?