Nanshan Zhong and Guangqiao Zeng
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780198568193
- eISBN:
- 9780191718175
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198568193.003.0005
- Subject:
- Biology, Disease Ecology / Epidemiology
SARS originated from the Guangdong province of China where it emerged in the autumn of 2002. This chapter presents data that show that there may have been interspecies transmission between wild ...
More
SARS originated from the Guangdong province of China where it emerged in the autumn of 2002. This chapter presents data that show that there may have been interspecies transmission between wild animals (e.g., Himalayan Palm Civets) and human beings. It describes the ensuing public health measures that were implemented, the treatment of cases, and the development of an inactivated SARS vaccine.Less
SARS originated from the Guangdong province of China where it emerged in the autumn of 2002. This chapter presents data that show that there may have been interspecies transmission between wild animals (e.g., Himalayan Palm Civets) and human beings. It describes the ensuing public health measures that were implemented, the treatment of cases, and the development of an inactivated SARS vaccine.
Ulrike Heuer and Gerald Lang (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199599325
- eISBN:
- 9780191741500
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199599325.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
This book comprises eleven chapters which engage with, or take their point of departure from, the influential work in moral and political philosophy of Bernard Williams (1929–2003). Various themes of ...
More
This book comprises eleven chapters which engage with, or take their point of departure from, the influential work in moral and political philosophy of Bernard Williams (1929–2003). Various themes of Williams's work are explored and taken in new directions. The chapters are all concerned with Williams's work on the viability or wisdom of systematic moral theory, and his criticism, in particular, of moral theory's preoccupation with impartiality. Some chapters address Williams's work on moral luck, and his insistence that moral appraisals bear a disquieting sensitivity to various kinds of luck. One chapter makes further connections between moral luck and the ‘non-identity problem’ in reproductive ethics. Other chapters investigate Williams's defence of ‘internalism’ about reasons for action, which makes our reasons for action a function of our desires, projects, and psychological dispositions. One chapter attempts to plug a gap in Williams's theory which is created by Williams's deference to imagination, while another chapter connects these issues to Williams's accommodation of ‘thick’ ethical concepts as a source of knowledge and action-guidingness. A further chapter examines Williams's less-known work on the other central normative concept, ‘ought’. Another chapter takes a look at Williams's work on moral epistemology and intuitionism, comparing and contrasting his work with that of John McDowell, and Gerald Lang explores Williams's work on equality, discrimination, and interspecies relations in order to reach the conclusion, similar to Williams's, theory that ‘speciesism’ is very unlike racism or sexism.Less
This book comprises eleven chapters which engage with, or take their point of departure from, the influential work in moral and political philosophy of Bernard Williams (1929–2003). Various themes of Williams's work are explored and taken in new directions. The chapters are all concerned with Williams's work on the viability or wisdom of systematic moral theory, and his criticism, in particular, of moral theory's preoccupation with impartiality. Some chapters address Williams's work on moral luck, and his insistence that moral appraisals bear a disquieting sensitivity to various kinds of luck. One chapter makes further connections between moral luck and the ‘non-identity problem’ in reproductive ethics. Other chapters investigate Williams's defence of ‘internalism’ about reasons for action, which makes our reasons for action a function of our desires, projects, and psychological dispositions. One chapter attempts to plug a gap in Williams's theory which is created by Williams's deference to imagination, while another chapter connects these issues to Williams's accommodation of ‘thick’ ethical concepts as a source of knowledge and action-guidingness. A further chapter examines Williams's less-known work on the other central normative concept, ‘ought’. Another chapter takes a look at Williams's work on moral epistemology and intuitionism, comparing and contrasting his work with that of John McDowell, and Gerald Lang explores Williams's work on equality, discrimination, and interspecies relations in order to reach the conclusion, similar to Williams's, theory that ‘speciesism’ is very unlike racism or sexism.
Eva Meijer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479859351
- eISBN:
- 9781479815661
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479859351.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This book develops a theory of political animal voices in three steps. The first part focuses on language. Drawing on insights from recent studies in biology and ethology, it challenges a view of ...
More
This book develops a theory of political animal voices in three steps. The first part focuses on language. Drawing on insights from recent studies in biology and ethology, it challenges a view of language as exclusively human and argues that other animals speak. It also investigates the relation between developing common languages and creating common interspecies worlds. The second part of this book focuses on interspecies politics; it challenges an anthropocentric demarcation of the political and develops an alternative, which takes into account non-human animal agency and interspecies political relations. The third and final part of the book draws on the insights about language and politics developed in the first two parts to investigate how existing political practices and institutions can be extended to incorporate non-human animal political voices, and to explore new ways of interacting with other animals politically. In addition to the theoretical chapters, the author discusses two case studies. In the first, she draws on her experiences of learning how to live with a stray dog from Romania. In the second, she focuses on the goose-human conflict in the Netherlands.Less
This book develops a theory of political animal voices in three steps. The first part focuses on language. Drawing on insights from recent studies in biology and ethology, it challenges a view of language as exclusively human and argues that other animals speak. It also investigates the relation between developing common languages and creating common interspecies worlds. The second part of this book focuses on interspecies politics; it challenges an anthropocentric demarcation of the political and develops an alternative, which takes into account non-human animal agency and interspecies political relations. The third and final part of the book draws on the insights about language and politics developed in the first two parts to investigate how existing political practices and institutions can be extended to incorporate non-human animal political voices, and to explore new ways of interacting with other animals politically. In addition to the theoretical chapters, the author discusses two case studies. In the first, she draws on her experiences of learning how to live with a stray dog from Romania. In the second, she focuses on the goose-human conflict in the Netherlands.
Arthur S. Reber
- Published in print:
- 1996
- Published Online:
- January 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780195106589
- eISBN:
- 9780199871698
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195106589.003.0003
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
This chapter introduces the foundations of the evolutionary model and develops the formal theory. The model is based on the assumption of the primacy of the implicit and axioms derived from Wimsatt's ...
More
This chapter introduces the foundations of the evolutionary model and develops the formal theory. The model is based on the assumption of the primacy of the implicit and axioms derived from Wimsatt's model of “generative retrenchment” to make several rather surprising predictions about differences in implicit and explicit systems. Specifically, implicit functions should be more robust than explicit; emerge earlier in development; retain their effectiveness well into old age while consciously modulated functions wane; show relatively little in the way of individual-to-individual variation; be uncorrelated with intelligence; and show a pattern of cross-species commonality in basic operations. The existing literature on these topics is discussed.Less
This chapter introduces the foundations of the evolutionary model and develops the formal theory. The model is based on the assumption of the primacy of the implicit and axioms derived from Wimsatt's model of “generative retrenchment” to make several rather surprising predictions about differences in implicit and explicit systems. Specifically, implicit functions should be more robust than explicit; emerge earlier in development; retain their effectiveness well into old age while consciously modulated functions wane; show relatively little in the way of individual-to-individual variation; be uncorrelated with intelligence; and show a pattern of cross-species commonality in basic operations. The existing literature on these topics is discussed.
John Harris
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195325195
- eISBN:
- 9780199776412
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195325195.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, General
This chapter takes seriously the idea that in the future there will be no more human beings but that this is not one of the things that should concern us unless the creatures that replace us are ...
More
This chapter takes seriously the idea that in the future there will be no more human beings but that this is not one of the things that should concern us unless the creatures that replace us are worse than humans. I emphasize the continuity in evolution which shows us that not only are present‐day humans interspecies creatures, but also that objections to human–animal combinations, “humanimals” as I call them, are misconceived on any grounds other than those of safety. If the creatures that replace us are no longer human, then so long as they are better the loss of humanity will be well worth paying. One consequence will be that we should take the “human” out of human rights and possibly also the “dignity” out of human dignity. If we do this we will be true to Jonathan Glover's insight that what matters is that in the future there will be people and not at all what sort of people they will be so long as they are an improvement on what has gone before.Less
This chapter takes seriously the idea that in the future there will be no more human beings but that this is not one of the things that should concern us unless the creatures that replace us are worse than humans. I emphasize the continuity in evolution which shows us that not only are present‐day humans interspecies creatures, but also that objections to human–animal combinations, “humanimals” as I call them, are misconceived on any grounds other than those of safety. If the creatures that replace us are no longer human, then so long as they are better the loss of humanity will be well worth paying. One consequence will be that we should take the “human” out of human rights and possibly also the “dignity” out of human dignity. If we do this we will be true to Jonathan Glover's insight that what matters is that in the future there will be people and not at all what sort of people they will be so long as they are an improvement on what has gone before.
Eva Meijer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479859351
- eISBN:
- 9781479815661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479859351.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
This chapter investigates how we can conceptualize language games between animals of different species, specifically focusing on human/non-human animal relations, and the author explores the role ...
More
This chapter investigates how we can conceptualize language games between animals of different species, specifically focusing on human/non-human animal relations, and the author explores the role that language plays in constructing common worlds with other animals. The author first reflects on the relationship between language and world, using dog trainer and philosopher Vicki Hearne’s views about interspecies language games, and Heidegger’s views on the relation between world and language. She then turns to the embodied aspects of language, drawing on the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The following section focuses on understanding other animals and the role of empathy in this process. The second part of the chapter investigates how this works in practice. The author first conceptualizes ethologist Barbara Smuts’s experience of living with baboons as world-building practice. The chapter then turns to living and speaking with dogs, discussing language, habits, and building common worlds. Next, the author considers sharing households with other animals, and the role that material interventions can play in working towards understanding and improving conditions for other animals, including increasing their freedom. In the final section, the author further explores the relation between these different examples of interspecies world-building practices and freedom.Less
This chapter investigates how we can conceptualize language games between animals of different species, specifically focusing on human/non-human animal relations, and the author explores the role that language plays in constructing common worlds with other animals. The author first reflects on the relationship between language and world, using dog trainer and philosopher Vicki Hearne’s views about interspecies language games, and Heidegger’s views on the relation between world and language. She then turns to the embodied aspects of language, drawing on the work of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. The following section focuses on understanding other animals and the role of empathy in this process. The second part of the chapter investigates how this works in practice. The author first conceptualizes ethologist Barbara Smuts’s experience of living with baboons as world-building practice. The chapter then turns to living and speaking with dogs, discussing language, habits, and building common worlds. Next, the author considers sharing households with other animals, and the role that material interventions can play in working towards understanding and improving conditions for other animals, including increasing their freedom. In the final section, the author further explores the relation between these different examples of interspecies world-building practices and freedom.
Lisa Kemmerer
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199790678
- eISBN:
- 9780199919178
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199790678.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The second chapter explores animal-friendly teachings and practices in Vedic, Hindu, and Jain religious traditions through sacred texts and teachings and through the lives of religious exemplars, ...
More
The second chapter explores animal-friendly teachings and practices in Vedic, Hindu, and Jain religious traditions through sacred texts and teachings and through the lives of religious exemplars, including key topics such as the sacred power of the natural environment, ahimsa, reincarnation and karma, oneness, interspecies kinship, Vishnu's incarnations, and the historic Hindu tendency toward a diet devoid of flesh and eggs. This chapter also probes rich affiliations between Vedic/Hindu deities and nonhuman animals, including vehicles associated with gods and goddesses, Krishna's connection with cows, and the importance and power of serpents/snakes/nagas, the elephant-headed Ganesha, and the much-revered monkey Hanuman. Chapter 2 closes by demonstrating animal activism in Hindu religious traditions through the life and teachings of Gandhi, as well as the lives and work of two contemporary Hindu animal liberationists, Dharmesh Solanki and PETA's Anuradha Sawhney.Less
The second chapter explores animal-friendly teachings and practices in Vedic, Hindu, and Jain religious traditions through sacred texts and teachings and through the lives of religious exemplars, including key topics such as the sacred power of the natural environment, ahimsa, reincarnation and karma, oneness, interspecies kinship, Vishnu's incarnations, and the historic Hindu tendency toward a diet devoid of flesh and eggs. This chapter also probes rich affiliations between Vedic/Hindu deities and nonhuman animals, including vehicles associated with gods and goddesses, Krishna's connection with cows, and the importance and power of serpents/snakes/nagas, the elephant-headed Ganesha, and the much-revered monkey Hanuman. Chapter 2 closes by demonstrating animal activism in Hindu religious traditions through the life and teachings of Gandhi, as well as the lives and work of two contemporary Hindu animal liberationists, Dharmesh Solanki and PETA's Anuradha Sawhney.
Eva Meijer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479859351
- eISBN:
- 9781479815661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479859351.003.0013
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
The conclusion discusses thinking with other animals, arguing that we need to take their agency into account in writing about them. In the second half of the conclusion, the author draws general ...
More
The conclusion discusses thinking with other animals, arguing that we need to take their agency into account in writing about them. In the second half of the conclusion, the author draws general conclusions and offers recommendations for further research together with other animals.Less
The conclusion discusses thinking with other animals, arguing that we need to take their agency into account in writing about them. In the second half of the conclusion, the author draws general conclusions and offers recommendations for further research together with other animals.
Lesley A. Sharp
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780520299245
- eISBN:
- 9780520971059
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520299245.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
What are the moral challenges and consequences of animal research in academic laboratory settings? Animal Ethos considers how the inescapable needs of lab research necessitate interspecies encounters ...
More
What are the moral challenges and consequences of animal research in academic laboratory settings? Animal Ethos considers how the inescapable needs of lab research necessitate interspecies encounters that, in turn, engender unexpected moral responses among a range of associated personnel. Whereas much has been written about the codified, bioethical rules and regulations that inform proper lab behavior and decorum, Animal Ethos, as an in-depth, ethnographic project, probes the equally rich—yet poorly understood—realm of ordinary or everyday morality, where serendipitous, creative, and unorthodox thought and action evidence concerted efforts to transform animal laboratories into moral, scientific worlds. The work is grounded in efforts to integrate theory within medical anthropology (and, more particularly, on suffering and moral worth), animal studies, and science and technology studies (STS). Contrary to established scholarship that focuses exclusively on single professions (such as the researcher or technician), Animal Ethos tracks across the spectrum of the lab labor hierarchy by considering the experiences of researchers, animal technicians, and lab veterinarians. In turn, it offers comparative insights on animal activists. When taken together, this range of parties illuminates the moral complexities of experimental lab research. The affective qualities of interspecies intimacy, animal death, and species preference are of special analytical concern, as reflected in the themes of intimacy, sacrifice, and exceptionalism that anchor this work.Less
What are the moral challenges and consequences of animal research in academic laboratory settings? Animal Ethos considers how the inescapable needs of lab research necessitate interspecies encounters that, in turn, engender unexpected moral responses among a range of associated personnel. Whereas much has been written about the codified, bioethical rules and regulations that inform proper lab behavior and decorum, Animal Ethos, as an in-depth, ethnographic project, probes the equally rich—yet poorly understood—realm of ordinary or everyday morality, where serendipitous, creative, and unorthodox thought and action evidence concerted efforts to transform animal laboratories into moral, scientific worlds. The work is grounded in efforts to integrate theory within medical anthropology (and, more particularly, on suffering and moral worth), animal studies, and science and technology studies (STS). Contrary to established scholarship that focuses exclusively on single professions (such as the researcher or technician), Animal Ethos tracks across the spectrum of the lab labor hierarchy by considering the experiences of researchers, animal technicians, and lab veterinarians. In turn, it offers comparative insights on animal activists. When taken together, this range of parties illuminates the moral complexities of experimental lab research. The affective qualities of interspecies intimacy, animal death, and species preference are of special analytical concern, as reflected in the themes of intimacy, sacrifice, and exceptionalism that anchor this work.
Eva Meijer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479859351
- eISBN:
- 9781479815661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479859351.003.0007
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Chapter 5 draws on recent work in the so-called “political turn” in animal ethics, most notably Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka’s political theory of non-human animal rights, to discuss how these ...
More
Chapter 5 draws on recent work in the so-called “political turn” in animal ethics, most notably Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka’s political theory of non-human animal rights, to discuss how these concepts can guide relations between groups of non-human animals and human political communities. The author discusses their proposals for animal citizenship and sovereignty. In the second half of this chapter, the author explains problems with traditional interpretations of sovereignty that rely on claims made by the powerful to legitimize the territorial domination of others. In order to challenge human sovereignty, we should challenge human superiority on all levels, including existing political systems. However, existing institutions and systems also hold a promise for other animals, and, like citizenship, these concepts can bring into focus new forms of interacting with other animals and institutionalizing these relations. In the final section, the author turns to examples of new ways of relating to other animals that can function as beginnings for further reformulating laws and political practices.Less
Chapter 5 draws on recent work in the so-called “political turn” in animal ethics, most notably Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka’s political theory of non-human animal rights, to discuss how these concepts can guide relations between groups of non-human animals and human political communities. The author discusses their proposals for animal citizenship and sovereignty. In the second half of this chapter, the author explains problems with traditional interpretations of sovereignty that rely on claims made by the powerful to legitimize the territorial domination of others. In order to challenge human sovereignty, we should challenge human superiority on all levels, including existing political systems. However, existing institutions and systems also hold a promise for other animals, and, like citizenship, these concepts can bring into focus new forms of interacting with other animals and institutionalizing these relations. In the final section, the author turns to examples of new ways of relating to other animals that can function as beginnings for further reformulating laws and political practices.
Alan Mikhail
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199315277
- eISBN:
- 9780199369232
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199315277.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, Middle East History
Intense and intimate social and economic interactions between humans and canines were deemed a problem in early nineteenth-century Egypt. As this chapter makes clear, changing notions about the ...
More
Intense and intimate social and economic interactions between humans and canines were deemed a problem in early nineteenth-century Egypt. As this chapter makes clear, changing notions about the nature of disease and increased human population pressure in Egypt’s cities led to the distancing of dogs from human communities. Several large scale dog eradication campaigns and the removal of garbage—the primary source of canine sustenance—outside city walls greatly reduced urban dog populations and hence human interactions with dogs. The dogs that remained were subject to two contrasting phenomena. Most became targets of ever-increasing violence over the course of the nineteenth century. Far fewer began to develop affective bonds with humans. This massive sea change in the historic social and economic roles of dogs, and also in their physical surroundings, led to an evolutionary divergence among canine populations in Egypt.Less
Intense and intimate social and economic interactions between humans and canines were deemed a problem in early nineteenth-century Egypt. As this chapter makes clear, changing notions about the nature of disease and increased human population pressure in Egypt’s cities led to the distancing of dogs from human communities. Several large scale dog eradication campaigns and the removal of garbage—the primary source of canine sustenance—outside city walls greatly reduced urban dog populations and hence human interactions with dogs. The dogs that remained were subject to two contrasting phenomena. Most became targets of ever-increasing violence over the course of the nineteenth century. Far fewer began to develop affective bonds with humans. This massive sea change in the historic social and economic roles of dogs, and also in their physical surroundings, led to an evolutionary divergence among canine populations in Egypt.
Charlotte E. Blattner
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- August 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780190948313
- eISBN:
- 9780190948344
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780190948313.003.0012
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law
The final chapter takes a broad and comprehensive perspective, returning to the structural challenges of animal law in an era of globalization and the question of whether extraterritorial ...
More
The final chapter takes a broad and comprehensive perspective, returning to the structural challenges of animal law in an era of globalization and the question of whether extraterritorial jurisdiction can help tackle them. The author identifies the social and societal risks (as opposed to legal risks) that pose a real challenge to the law of jurisdiction and explains why we should not blindly advocate the blanket application of extraterritorial jurisdiction. But these dangers do not release us from the responsibility to protect animals in cross-border relations, as this would subject them to economic laissez-faire. The author uses insights from animal studies and postcolonial studies to describe the steps that must be taken to reconcile these conflicting demands. With these safety valves, the author concludes, extraterritorial animal law has the potential to evolve beyond adversity to multiculturalism, into a tool that facilitates cross-cultural sensibility, awareness of shared histories, and the elimination of oppression.Less
The final chapter takes a broad and comprehensive perspective, returning to the structural challenges of animal law in an era of globalization and the question of whether extraterritorial jurisdiction can help tackle them. The author identifies the social and societal risks (as opposed to legal risks) that pose a real challenge to the law of jurisdiction and explains why we should not blindly advocate the blanket application of extraterritorial jurisdiction. But these dangers do not release us from the responsibility to protect animals in cross-border relations, as this would subject them to economic laissez-faire. The author uses insights from animal studies and postcolonial studies to describe the steps that must be taken to reconcile these conflicting demands. With these safety valves, the author concludes, extraterritorial animal law has the potential to evolve beyond adversity to multiculturalism, into a tool that facilitates cross-cultural sensibility, awareness of shared histories, and the elimination of oppression.
Piers Locke and Jane Buckingham (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780199467228
- eISBN:
- 9780199087570
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199467228.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Indian History, Environmental History
The interconnected lives of humans and elephants have shaped landscapes, determined the destinies of empires, and stimulated new kinds of knowledge, skill, and practice. Their encounters have also ...
More
The interconnected lives of humans and elephants have shaped landscapes, determined the destinies of empires, and stimulated new kinds of knowledge, skill, and practice. Their encounters have also produced intimate forms of companionship, as well as conflict over space and resources. In South Asia, where many people live in close proximity to elephants, this interspecies relationship resonates with cultural significance. Such diverse, multifaceted, and frequently problematic relations between two kinds of intelligent social mammals have drawn the attention of multiple types of researchers and research. Interpreting this interspecies encounter, however, remains problematic, often producing disparate understandings that resist coherent integration. This volume seeks to remedy the problem of disciplinary commensurability by facilitating conversation across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Bringing together anthropologists, biologists, ecologists, geographers, historians, political scientists, and Sanskrit language specialists, this volume explores the social, historical, and ecological dimensions of human–elephant conflict and coexistence. It engages with both species as world-making subjects acting in ways that profoundly affect each other. This book not only helps us appreciate that we cannot understand elephant habitat and behaviour in isolation from the humans that help configure it, but also makes us realize that we cannot understand human political, economic, and social life without the elephants that shape and share the world with them. Refusing to study animal ecologies and human histories as exclusive phenomena, this book argues for an integrated approach to understanding and responding to the challenges of human–elephant relations.Less
The interconnected lives of humans and elephants have shaped landscapes, determined the destinies of empires, and stimulated new kinds of knowledge, skill, and practice. Their encounters have also produced intimate forms of companionship, as well as conflict over space and resources. In South Asia, where many people live in close proximity to elephants, this interspecies relationship resonates with cultural significance. Such diverse, multifaceted, and frequently problematic relations between two kinds of intelligent social mammals have drawn the attention of multiple types of researchers and research. Interpreting this interspecies encounter, however, remains problematic, often producing disparate understandings that resist coherent integration. This volume seeks to remedy the problem of disciplinary commensurability by facilitating conversation across the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Bringing together anthropologists, biologists, ecologists, geographers, historians, political scientists, and Sanskrit language specialists, this volume explores the social, historical, and ecological dimensions of human–elephant conflict and coexistence. It engages with both species as world-making subjects acting in ways that profoundly affect each other. This book not only helps us appreciate that we cannot understand elephant habitat and behaviour in isolation from the humans that help configure it, but also makes us realize that we cannot understand human political, economic, and social life without the elephants that shape and share the world with them. Refusing to study animal ecologies and human histories as exclusive phenomena, this book argues for an integrated approach to understanding and responding to the challenges of human–elephant relations.
Charlotte E. Blattner, Kendra Coulter, and Will Kymlicka (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- January 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198846192
- eISBN:
- 9780191881350
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198846192.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Political Theory
For centuries, animals have worked alongside humans in a wide variety of workplaces, yet they are rarely recognized as workers or accorded labour rights. Many animal rights advocates have argued that ...
More
For centuries, animals have worked alongside humans in a wide variety of workplaces, yet they are rarely recognized as workers or accorded labour rights. Many animal rights advocates have argued that using animals for their labour is inherently oppressive, and that animal labour should therefore be abolished. Recently, however, some people have argued that work can be a source of meaning, self-development, and social membership for animals, as it is for humans, and that our goal should be to create good work for animals, not to abolish work. In this volume, an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars explores the benefits and drawbacks of animal labour as a site for interspecies justice. What kind of work is good work for animals? What kinds of labour rights are appropriate for animal workers? Can animals consent to work? Would recognizing animals as ‘workers’ improve their legal and political status, or would it simply reinforce the perception that they are beasts of burden? Can a focus on labour help create bonds between the animal rights movement and other social justice movements? These and other questions are explored in depth. While the authors defend a range of views on these questions, their contributions make clear that the question of labour deserves a central place in any account of justice between humans and animals.Less
For centuries, animals have worked alongside humans in a wide variety of workplaces, yet they are rarely recognized as workers or accorded labour rights. Many animal rights advocates have argued that using animals for their labour is inherently oppressive, and that animal labour should therefore be abolished. Recently, however, some people have argued that work can be a source of meaning, self-development, and social membership for animals, as it is for humans, and that our goal should be to create good work for animals, not to abolish work. In this volume, an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars explores the benefits and drawbacks of animal labour as a site for interspecies justice. What kind of work is good work for animals? What kinds of labour rights are appropriate for animal workers? Can animals consent to work? Would recognizing animals as ‘workers’ improve their legal and political status, or would it simply reinforce the perception that they are beasts of burden? Can a focus on labour help create bonds between the animal rights movement and other social justice movements? These and other questions are explored in depth. While the authors defend a range of views on these questions, their contributions make clear that the question of labour deserves a central place in any account of justice between humans and animals.
Eva Meijer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479859351
- eISBN:
- 9781479815661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479859351.003.0005
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
In the first case study, the author develops the ideas about language and politics further by discussing her own personal experiences with Romanian stray dog Olli around three themes: language, ...
More
In the first case study, the author develops the ideas about language and politics further by discussing her own personal experiences with Romanian stray dog Olli around three themes: language, freedom, and politics. The author focuses on the first three months with Olli, in which a common language and habits were created and a certain level of freedom was established for him. The first section shows how their common language and habits came into existence. This created a common world, as well as a way to express that world, which changed both the dog and the human in question. The second section discusses learning to walk on the lead in relation to freedom and oppression in interspecies communities. The last section focuses on Olli’s political agency as a former stray dog, both on the micro- and macro-levels. By emphasizing Olli’s perspective and actions, this chapter also aims to explore ways to move beyond anthropocentrism in philosophy. The author learned to see the world through his eyes, and experienced the constraints dogs must live with in cities anew, because everything was new for him. Living together changed both of them.Less
In the first case study, the author develops the ideas about language and politics further by discussing her own personal experiences with Romanian stray dog Olli around three themes: language, freedom, and politics. The author focuses on the first three months with Olli, in which a common language and habits were created and a certain level of freedom was established for him. The first section shows how their common language and habits came into existence. This created a common world, as well as a way to express that world, which changed both the dog and the human in question. The second section discusses learning to walk on the lead in relation to freedom and oppression in interspecies communities. The last section focuses on Olli’s political agency as a former stray dog, both on the micro- and macro-levels. By emphasizing Olli’s perspective and actions, this chapter also aims to explore ways to move beyond anthropocentrism in philosophy. The author learned to see the world through his eyes, and experienced the constraints dogs must live with in cities anew, because everything was new for him. Living together changed both of them.
Eva Meijer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479859351
- eISBN:
- 9781479815661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479859351.003.0010
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
In Chapter 7, the author focuses on the role of non-human animals as agents of social and political change. This role is not usually acknowledged in theory or in animal activism, because non-human ...
More
In Chapter 7, the author focuses on the role of non-human animals as agents of social and political change. This role is not usually acknowledged in theory or in animal activism, because non-human animals are not seen as political actors or as agents of social change, even though they act politically and influence human political institutions and practices. This is problematic because it does not recognize non-human animal agency, and reinforces viewing them as mute, in contrast to human actors, which reaffirms anthropocentrism and unequal power relations. We therefore need to explore non-human animal activism and possibilities for interspecies political change. In this chapter, the author first discusses non-human animal acts of resistance, and investigates whether these acts can be seen as civil disobedience. She then turns to the relation between non-human animal oppression and the oppression of human groups via a discussion of intersectionality. This is followed by a discussion of the question of speaking for others, and options for assisting other animals as activists. The final section discusses how stray dog agency can function as a starting point for change.Less
In Chapter 7, the author focuses on the role of non-human animals as agents of social and political change. This role is not usually acknowledged in theory or in animal activism, because non-human animals are not seen as political actors or as agents of social change, even though they act politically and influence human political institutions and practices. This is problematic because it does not recognize non-human animal agency, and reinforces viewing them as mute, in contrast to human actors, which reaffirms anthropocentrism and unequal power relations. We therefore need to explore non-human animal activism and possibilities for interspecies political change. In this chapter, the author first discusses non-human animal acts of resistance, and investigates whether these acts can be seen as civil disobedience. She then turns to the relation between non-human animal oppression and the oppression of human groups via a discussion of intersectionality. This is followed by a discussion of the question of speaking for others, and options for assisting other animals as activists. The final section discusses how stray dog agency can function as a starting point for change.
Eva Meijer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479859351
- eISBN:
- 9781479815661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479859351.003.0011
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
Chapter 8 turns the focus from activism to political participation. Non-human animal political participation is often either not considered relevant, or not considered at all, by animal rights ...
More
Chapter 8 turns the focus from activism to political participation. Non-human animal political participation is often either not considered relevant, or not considered at all, by animal rights theorists. This is problematic, because the right to political participation—to co-shaping the rules under which one lives—is not just any right. Non-human animals are individuals with their own perspectives on life and their own idea of the good life, which cannot be reduced to species-specific templates. In this chapter, the author first discusses how and whether non-human animals can co-author the laws under which they live, and she explores the normative justifications for establishing an interspecies democracy. The second section investigates which non-human animals can or should be seen as part of a shared interspecies community with humans. The chapter concludes by exploring ways to improve democratic interaction with other animals, in which the author discusses Sue Donaldson’s proposals for enabling voice and space, and ends with two examples in which humans and other animals interact politically in order to investigate how democratic non-human animal participation can be improved: material deliberation with seagulls, and human-macaque greeting rituals as new forms of political interaction.Less
Chapter 8 turns the focus from activism to political participation. Non-human animal political participation is often either not considered relevant, or not considered at all, by animal rights theorists. This is problematic, because the right to political participation—to co-shaping the rules under which one lives—is not just any right. Non-human animals are individuals with their own perspectives on life and their own idea of the good life, which cannot be reduced to species-specific templates. In this chapter, the author first discusses how and whether non-human animals can co-author the laws under which they live, and she explores the normative justifications for establishing an interspecies democracy. The second section investigates which non-human animals can or should be seen as part of a shared interspecies community with humans. The chapter concludes by exploring ways to improve democratic interaction with other animals, in which the author discusses Sue Donaldson’s proposals for enabling voice and space, and ends with two examples in which humans and other animals interact politically in order to investigate how democratic non-human animal participation can be improved: material deliberation with seagulls, and human-macaque greeting rituals as new forms of political interaction.
Eva Meijer
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9781479859351
- eISBN:
- 9781479815661
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479859351.003.0012
- Subject:
- Sociology, Politics, Social Movements and Social Change
In the final chapter, the author discusses how deliberation between human and non-human animals already takes place and how it can be improved, using a systemic perspective on deliberative democracy. ...
More
In the final chapter, the author discusses how deliberation between human and non-human animals already takes place and how it can be improved, using a systemic perspective on deliberative democracy. The goal of this chapter is to bridge the distance between existing human/non-human animal dialogues at a micro-level, and human political systems. The author first discusses examples of dialogues between human and non-human animals in the animal studies literature. While these examples do justice to individual non-human animal agency, they do not challenge power relations and anthropocentrism at a macro-level. The second section of this chapter therefore turns the focus to deliberative theory. The author analyzes the relation between democratic inclusion and different forms of speech, focusing on non-human animal languages and the embodied and habitual character of political communication in order to incorporate non-human animal voices. In the third section, the author argues for taking into account the temporal, spatial, material, and relational dimensions of the interaction. Section four moves to translate these insights into existing democratic mechanisms by investigating the relevance of the systemic turn in deliberative democracy for incorporating non-human animal agency and interspecies encounters in existing democratic structures.Less
In the final chapter, the author discusses how deliberation between human and non-human animals already takes place and how it can be improved, using a systemic perspective on deliberative democracy. The goal of this chapter is to bridge the distance between existing human/non-human animal dialogues at a micro-level, and human political systems. The author first discusses examples of dialogues between human and non-human animals in the animal studies literature. While these examples do justice to individual non-human animal agency, they do not challenge power relations and anthropocentrism at a macro-level. The second section of this chapter therefore turns the focus to deliberative theory. The author analyzes the relation between democratic inclusion and different forms of speech, focusing on non-human animal languages and the embodied and habitual character of political communication in order to incorporate non-human animal voices. In the third section, the author argues for taking into account the temporal, spatial, material, and relational dimensions of the interaction. Section four moves to translate these insights into existing democratic mechanisms by investigating the relevance of the systemic turn in deliberative democracy for incorporating non-human animal agency and interspecies encounters in existing democratic structures.
Anna Wienhues
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781529208511
- eISBN:
- 9781529208559
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529208511.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
This chapter provides an overview of ecological justice. Although the term ecological justice suggests that its focus lies on holistic systems rather than individuals, its scholarly discussions range ...
More
This chapter provides an overview of ecological justice. Although the term ecological justice suggests that its focus lies on holistic systems rather than individuals, its scholarly discussions range from justice to individuals to justice to broader systems. The term 'interspecies justice' might imply a bidirectional justice relationship, but the book argues that it also should be seen to only focus on humans doing, or failing to do, justice to nonhuman beings; more accurately, individual nonhumans (and potentially also as groups) instead of attributing justice entitlements to species themselves. Even though the term ecological justice (sometimes referred to as ecojustice) has received slightly more attention than interspecies justice, the latter more accurately describes the author's relational and global understanding of the justice relationship between humans and nonhumans. In a nutshell, what is sought is an account of global distributive ecological justice to 'wild' living nonhuman beings.Less
This chapter provides an overview of ecological justice. Although the term ecological justice suggests that its focus lies on holistic systems rather than individuals, its scholarly discussions range from justice to individuals to justice to broader systems. The term 'interspecies justice' might imply a bidirectional justice relationship, but the book argues that it also should be seen to only focus on humans doing, or failing to do, justice to nonhuman beings; more accurately, individual nonhumans (and potentially also as groups) instead of attributing justice entitlements to species themselves. Even though the term ecological justice (sometimes referred to as ecojustice) has received slightly more attention than interspecies justice, the latter more accurately describes the author's relational and global understanding of the justice relationship between humans and nonhumans. In a nutshell, what is sought is an account of global distributive ecological justice to 'wild' living nonhuman beings.
Anna Wienhues and Anna Wienhues
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- May 2021
- ISBN:
- 9781529208511
- eISBN:
- 9781529208559
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781529208511.003.0003
- Subject:
- Political Science, Environmental Politics
This chapter analyses the question of how one can move from claims about moral considerability to claims about justice. Moral considerability is a necessary, but not sufficient, criterion for being a ...
More
This chapter analyses the question of how one can move from claims about moral considerability to claims about justice. Moral considerability is a necessary, but not sufficient, criterion for being a holder of entitlements of justice. Taking it as a premise that all living beings are morally considerable, the chapter proposes that a grounded justification for interspecies justice in terms of just biological conservation requires an additional four-step argumentative process as a method for including all wild living nonhuman beings in the community of justice. It claims that humans and wild nonhuman living beings constitute a community of justice which can be called a community of fate. Because moral considerability alone is not able to ground the more specific claim that duties of justice are owed to a certain entity, the theoretical move towards grounding a community of justice is a crucial feature of accounts of ecological justice.Less
This chapter analyses the question of how one can move from claims about moral considerability to claims about justice. Moral considerability is a necessary, but not sufficient, criterion for being a holder of entitlements of justice. Taking it as a premise that all living beings are morally considerable, the chapter proposes that a grounded justification for interspecies justice in terms of just biological conservation requires an additional four-step argumentative process as a method for including all wild living nonhuman beings in the community of justice. It claims that humans and wild nonhuman living beings constitute a community of justice which can be called a community of fate. Because moral considerability alone is not able to ground the more specific claim that duties of justice are owed to a certain entity, the theoretical move towards grounding a community of justice is a crucial feature of accounts of ecological justice.
