A political theory of animal rights - after Sue Donaldson & Will Kymlicka

Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka wrote a remarkable book of political philosophy called "Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights." In their work, they argue for a future where other animals are not only protected, but enabled to shape society as well. A future where nonhuman animals are recognized as political actors instead of moral patients for which humans decide. We'll explore some of these exciting ideas, along with some of the critiques the book has raised.
We've also got a short story that waits for you at the end, containing two hidden references. We wonder if you can guess them!
00:16 Part I - Non-human animals as political actors
13:25 Part II - Domestic, wild, and liminal animals
19:28 Part III - But are rights the right way?
22:14 Part IV - Some issues with Zoopolis
31:21 Part V - A view from a multispecies future
This video was made by just wondering….
Between March and August/September 2021 we are excited to be part of The New Fellowship: thenewnew.space/fellowship/
If you can, do support us, it will really help us with the production costs, as these videos take a lot of time to make!
/ justwondering
www.ko-fi.com/justwondering
Here’s our website to find out more about us: justwondering.io/
Full text, bibliography, and image descriptions right here on our website: www.justwondering.io/a-politi...
Twitter: / justwonderingyt
Facebook: / justwonderingyt
Credits:
Written by M. Martelli & Aron Nor
Recorded by M. Martelli & Aron Nor
Illustration & Art Direction by Mina Mimosa
Directed & Edited by Aron Nor
This video is the eighth in our series of ”Dictionary of thinkers and concepts”!
Everything is equally weird - on Graham Harman's philosophy - • Everything is equally ...
Making kin beyond babies - after Donna Haraway - • Making kin beyond babi...
The end of endings - with Timothy Morton’s philosophy - • The end of endings - w...
A Litany for Survival in Pandemic Times - after Audre Lorde - • A Litany for Survival ...
Animal & Disability Liberation - with Sunaura Taylor - • Animal & Disability Li...
Critical Pedagogy Beyond Humanism - after Paulo Freire - • Critical Pedagogy Beyo...
Indigenous Knowledges and the Teachings of Plants - after Robin Wall Kimmerer - • Indigenous Knowledges ...
Help us with translations with Amara: tinylink.net/Z8U2C
Tags: #animalrights, #politicalphilosophy, #zoopolis

[@user-cc8lb7kf8u]

Brilliant synopsis, thank you, more visioning please!

[@mateitudor]

Ugh, loved this so much. I'm going to watch it for 100 times. And thank you for the book recommendation.

[@justwondering]

We're really glad to hear!! We'll put the bibliography on the website too, soon. There are a few other texts in it that are worth checking out :)

[@veganioan]

Wow, mi-a luat ceva timp să încep să ascult... Îmi place mult de tot ce ați făcut!

[@leoo428]

What a great and inspiring video! Thank you just wondering for your great and philosophical content, keep up the good work. Never stop to make people question about the way how they are thinking...

[@Kleingisteren]

Thank you so much for this video, inspiring, made accessible and palatable and really helpful in straightening my thinking.

[@jessekos1859]

I'm little late to this one, I usually watch 'em right away :) A comrade just asked about resources on veganism, anarchy and specifically how to think through our relationship to domesticated animals. So 'Zoopolis' and yous was what I thought of (because though not specifically anarchist, I think this really is the forefront of animal rights and the way to go in the sense that it's aspiratonal, immediate, and open-ended) ^_^ I love the vision of the future you sketch here, and I'm really thankful for this beautiful video essay and all the other ones 💚

[@justwondering]

Sorry for the late reply, and thank you so so much! That's really nice to hear, and we're delighted to hear you liked the story! 💜 Sue Donaldson's & Will Kymlicka's work has contributed hugely to animal rights and politics. And, as you said, even though their work is not specifically anarchist, it's very promising. They address many issues in their writings and push animal rights further - thinking about how multispecies societies could look like.

[@luclem.6234]

Also the dual narration is so Deleuze& Guattari vibes, cute

[@triciacastelo]

Thank you for making this video!

[@triciacastelo]

I just watched this video again and cried at that beautiful end of re-imagining a future where we co-exist with animals. I'm doing an architecture project and want to include the concept of zoopolis, I was wondering if you know any spatial/concept references that has already attempted this? (either fiction, speculative or real life / where people have attempted to visualize or drawn out how things will work out in our built environment?)

[@archibaldpl9741]

Maybe it is worth paying attention to how animals communicate with each other, e.g. what communication between lions and antelopes in the savannas looks like...

[@luclem.6234]

I believe a really respectful way to give animals a place in human legal systems is by making treaties with them as nations. Darcy Lindberg talks about it in their books about Cree law, their thesis is online if you wanna look into it more :)

[@justwondering]

Thanks, we'll check it out, didn't know about it!

[@generalkermit6421]

i reloaded youtube like 5 times and i got this video on the front page all the times

[@justwondering]

strange, we're usually not getting so much attention form KZbin's algorithms

[@generalkermit6421]

@@justwondering lmao i just opened youtube and i just got the pedagogy vid in my recommendation and i saw your reply in my notifs. looks like yt wants me to watch you so badly xD

[@generalkermit6421]

@@justwondering anyways i subbed and liked nice vids!!! I usually dont sub to channels but this is an exception you could say

[@justwondering]

thank you!!

[@FelixTuxen]

I do not agree. But thank you for wondering.

[@builder_dahomey]

End the Anthropocentric bias.

[@miguelferminsg]

Sería posible en castellano subtitlos

[@justwondering]

🐢 Finally, we've uploaded the text of the video on our website! Full bibliography at the end of the webpage, check it out if you’re curious whom we cited and engaged with. Image descriptions are included. ✍️ Link 👉 www.justwondering.io/a-political-theory-of-animal-rights/

[@Doctor_Subtilis]

I don't like the characterization of the ecological approach at the beginning of the video, which seems more in line with utilitarian conservationism. I don't think it does justice to the diverse worldviews that are fundamentally entailed by ecological thought. For me it is about the continuity of living things, biological or otherwise, which make an ecological whole one. and engaging with individual life forms contextually and aesthetically rather than by transposed humanistic prescriptions that in my opinion seem to carry a hidden universalist ontology that runs the risk of modernizing, homogenizing the anthropological when it seeks to open it. Too vague to mean anything, I know. for example, on the issue of culling invasive animals, I view it as self defense. Anyways great content thanks for this.

[@justwondering]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! The video explains how the authors see how animals are treated through mainstream ecological approaches (they probably don’t mean to say this is how all ecological views work). The word itself is too broad and it might indeed contain some very interesting and useful worldviews for coexistence. Regarding invasiveness, the issue itself is very complicated and possibly situational - many species have become invasive due to colonialism/humans bringing them there so there is a responsibility to respond in light of this, we think. Besides, when humans expand development all over the world, other species might “become invasive” (be seen as such).

[@uwemuller1013]

Bullshit deluxe!🤣🤣🤣