Realizing Interspecies Democracy
Sue Donaldson, Janneke Vink, Jean-Paul Gagnon
Abstract
Abstract Sue Donaldson, Janneke Vink, and Jean-Paul Gagnon discuss the problem of anthropocentric democratic theory and the preconditions needed to realize a (corrective) interspecies democracy. Donaldson proposes the formal involvement of nonhuman animals in political institutions—a revolutionary task; Vink argues for changes to the law that would cover nonhuman animals with inviolable political rights; and Gagnon advises a personal change to dietary choices (veganism) and ethical orientations (do no harm). Together, the three proposals point to a future position where humans can participate in a multispecies world in which nonhuman others are freed from our tyrannical grasp.
Topics & Concepts
DemocracyPoliticsAnthropocentrismEnvironmental ethicsHarmSociologyLaw and economicsPolitical scienceLawEpistemologyPhilosophyEnvironmental Philosophy and EthicsGeographies of human-animal interactionsReligion, Ecology, and Ethics