When Animals Speak: Toward an Interspecies Democracy

Author Eva Meijer is a researcher affiliated with the project Anthropocene Ethics: Taking Animal Agency Seriously; she is also chair of the Dutch Study Group for Animal Ethics. In this work of political philosophy, she presents a theory of language and politics based on the argument that non-human animals speak and act politically. The wide-ranging discussion touches on animal captivity, ethical treatment of animals, border conflicts, and interspecies democracy. In Part 1, she offers a critique of viewing language as exclusively human, then examines non-human animal languages. In Part 2, she criticizes the anthropocentric view of politics from the perspective of justice and power relations and argues for political non-human agency, giving the example of the goose-human conflict at Schiphol Airport. In Part 3, she reveals how existing political practices and institutions can be extended to incorporate non-human animal political voices and embrace non-human animals as agents of social and political change. Annotation ©2020 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
A groundbreaking argument for the political rights of animals In When Animals Speak, Eva Meijer develops a new, ground-breaking theory of language and politics, arguing that non-human animals speak&;and, most importantly, act&;politically. From geese and squid to worms and dogs, she highlights the importance of listening to animal voices, introducing ways to help us bridge the divide between the human and non-human world. Drawing on insights from science, philosophy, and politics, Meijer provides fascinating, real-world examples of animal communities who use their voices to speak, and act, in political ways. When Animals Speak encourages us to rethink our relations with other animals, showing that their voices should be taken into account as the starting point for a new interspecies democracy.