Dissertation projekt
Poster and Production Animals: Examining the Political Manifestations of Anthropocentric Empathy
Introduction
Critical animal theorists have begun to write at depth about the detrimental impact anthropocentrism and speciesism has on the moral standing and wellbeing of non-human animals. Far less critical study has been done on how anthropocentrism creates a disparity in which moral standing is distributed amongst different non-human animals, and in particular, how this process impacts those animals which are afforded a higher moral standing. In the political discussions on the management or welfare of animals, concepts such as “production animals” are part of anthropocentric preconditions in which moral standing can be distributed in society. While these “production animals” carry little to no moral standing, outside their function to be consumed by humans, other animals such as the polar bear, the wolf of Sweden, the mountain gorilla of central-west Africa, and other “poster animals” are afforded a high level of moral standing that at times spark heated political debates on the human-animal relationship.To some, the notoriety and political action over the “plight” of these “poster animals” may seem like part of a broader advancement towards addressing or recognizing animal wellbeing. However, these “poster animals” are in themselves recipients of a speciesist inflation of moral standing, whereby the determining variables within an anthropocentric system have deemed them worthy of greater moral consideration over other species. This project questions the idea that the political arguments and actions which take place within these “poster animal” debates are equipped to improve the condition of the animal in human society. Specifically, I will examine whether the mere existence of “poster animals” implies a risk that both proponents and opponents to animal protection will subscribe to a shared level of anthropocentrism that binds their debate to a trajectory that can only produce models of human-animal relations which remain ignorant to the well-being and political agency of the non-human. The conceptual framework used in this project will be framed by discussions from within critical theory and posthumanism. While the focus of this project is on the political dimensions of speciesism, it remains grounded in a broader study of the philosophical roots of exclusion, and thereby proposes to advance an understanding of how and why our emotive and empathetic limits manifest and are expressed within politics.
Department Researchers in this Project
 |
Koordinator/Projektledare
Kurtis
Boyer
(Doctoral candidate) |
