Animal Activism and Interspecies Change

2019 ◽  
pp. 185-201
Author(s):  
Eva Meijer
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Stray Dog ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Animal Agency

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.

Estetyzacja polityki: między jednostkowym doświadczeniem… a upolitycznieniem wartości estetycznych

1970 ◽  
Vol 22 (297) ◽  
pp. 3-18
Author(s):  
Filip Pierzchalski
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Aesthetic Experience ◽  
Scientific Explanation ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Aesthetic Values

The aim of this paper is to conduct meta-analysis. The author will focus on explaining the multi-dimentional mechanism of aesthetisation of politics. In this understanding, the starting point for scientific explanation of the phenomenon of aesthetisation in public sphere is the mechanism of internalization, expression and sharing aesthetic values for individual and collective political actors. Therefore, aesthetic values in political practices will be defined as crucial factor of political change and meaningful element of shaping social structure. In this matter the article undertakes the following issues: the notion of aesthetic experience; aestethis values and their political functions of public sphere; the mechanism of politicization of aesthetic values.

Challenging the masters of the treaties: Emerging narratives of constituent power in the European Union

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-293 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARKUS PATBERG
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Normative Theory ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Constituent Power ◽  
Constitutional Politics ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Popular Initiative ◽  
The Eu

Abstract:There is a growing sense that if the EU is to avoid disintegration, it needs a constitutional renewal. However, a reform negotiated between executives will hardly revitalise the European project. In light of this, commentators have suggested that the EU needs a democratic refounding on popular initiative. But that is easier said than done. Shaping the EU has been an elite enterprise for decades and it is hard to imagine how things could be otherwise. In this article, I map four public narratives of constituent power in the EU to sketch out potential alternatives. Political actors increasingly call into question the conventional role of the states as the ‘masters of the treaties’ and construct alternative stories as to who should be in charge of EU constitutional politics, how the respective subject came to find itself in that position, and how it should invoke its founding authority in the future. These public narratives represent a promising starting point for a normative theory that outlines a viable and justifiable path for transforming the EU in a bottom-up mode.

‘Uurga shig’ – What is it like to be a lasso? Drawing figure–ground reversals between art and anthropology

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-428
Author(s):  
Hermione Spriggs
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Drawing Tool ◽  
Participatory Art ◽  
Object A ◽  
Wild Horse ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Interdisciplinary Exchange

How might a singular object, a herdsman’s lasso known as the ‘ uurga’, facilitate a fresh understanding of cosmology and human–animal relationships in nomadic Mongolia? ‘ Uurga shig’ re-evaluates the performance of an object as an agentive social participant and the role of drawing as an anthropologically relevant method, outlining the need for interdisciplinary exchange between the fields of participatory art and anthropology. With a starting point of Alfred Gell’s thesis of ‘Traps as artworks and artworks as traps’ (1996), the lasso presents an alternative point of view to the western ‘zoological framing’ criticized by Massumi (‘What animals teach us about politics’, 2014). Instead the uurga functions as a non-Euclidean drawing tool, a frame through which to better understand the fluid relationships underpinning human–animal codependency on the Mongolian steppe. From the line on a page to the ‘drawing through’ of a thread in a needle and the ‘drawing in’ of a wild horse in nomadic Mongolia, the author explores the application of drawing as an intimate method for analyzing moving relationships. With a focus on the drawn line as a connecting device that lends itself to figure–ground reversal, she extends the application of drawing as a prosthetic technology, one that might be used to catalyze a perspectival shift into the worlds of other animals.

scholarly journals Canine agents in two South African short stories

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathilda Slabbert
Keyword(s):  
Short Stories ◽  
South African ◽  
African Society ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Human Emotions ◽  
Animal Agency

This article explores the role of the figure of the dog in two contemporary South African short stories. It considers the metaphorical-cum-allegorical significance of the textual animal in these texts, asking how the writers use dogs as imaginative devices to draw attention to issues of gender, human emotions or psychoses, and the avowal or disavowal of (human and animal) agency. The aim is to engage with the writers’ evident wish both to comment on human-animal relationships and encounters in contemporary South African society, and to emphasise how these become effective, affective means of commenting on the continued inequities of post-apartheid society.

Spinoza and the Politics of Freedom

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dan Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Critical Study ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Social

Taking as its starting point the formative role of fear in Spinoza’s thought, this book argues that Spinoza’s vision of human freedom and power is realised socially and collectively. It presents a new critical study of the collectivist Spinoza, wherein we can become freer through desire, friendship, the imagination, and transforming the social institutions that structure a given community. A freedom for one and all, attuned to the vicissitudes of human life and the capabilities of each one of us to live up to the demands and constraints of our limited autonomy. It repositions Spinoza as the central thinker of desire and freedom, and demonstrates how the conflicts within his work inform contemporary theoretical discussions around democracy, populism and power. Spinoza’s politics and their development are analysed both philosophically and historically. The argument approaches Spinoza’s texts critically, presenting new findings from the Latin. It critically engages with diverse hermeneutic traditions in Spinoza studies, from continental readings of Spinoza’s ontology and politics to more analytical or historicist Anglophone approaches to his epistemology and metaphysics, alongside recent work sensitive to the socially useful roles of the imagination and the affects. The book sets out new concepts to work through with Spinoza like commonality, collectivity, unanimity and interdependence, and analyses existing debates around democracy, the multitude, slavery and autonomy. Its overarching claim is that freedom in Spinoza is a necessarily political endeavour, realised by individuals acting cooperatively, requiring the development of socio-political institutions and communal imaginings that can realise the common good.

Estetyzacja polityki: między jednostkowym doświadczeniem… a upolitycznieniem wartości estetycznych

1970 ◽  
Vol 22 (297) ◽  
pp. 3-18
Author(s):  
Filip Pierzchalski
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Aesthetic Experience ◽  
Scientific Explanation ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Aesthetic Values

The aim of this paper is to conduct meta-analysis. The author will focus on explaining the multi-dimentional mechanism of aesthetisation of politics. In this understanding, the starting point for scientific explanation of the phenomenon of aesthetisation in public sphere is the mechanism of internalization, expression and sharing aesthetic values for individual and collective political actors. Therefore, aesthetic values in political practices will be defined as crucial factor of political change and meaningful element of shaping social structure. In this matter the article undertakes the following issues: the notion of aesthetic experience; aestethis values and their political functions of public sphere; the mechanism of politicization of aesthetic values.

The ‘real’ and ‘dirty’ politics of the Northern Ireland peace process: a constructivist realist critique of idealism and conservative realism

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Peace Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Real ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Political Skills ◽  
Flexible Framework ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

The chapter argues that Idealist and Realist paradigms cannot explain the Northern Ireland peace process. Idealism underestimated communal antagonisms and failed to appreciate the difficult role played by politicians in achieving an elite compromise. Realists underestimated the possibilities of political change because they have a static, essentialist view of identity which underestimates the role of political elites. Constructivism provides a more flexible framework for analysing the ‘real’ politics by which the peace process was advanced. A Constructivist framework and theatrical metaphor are provide a more complex and nuanced understanding of politics. This approach takes into account the constraints and opportunities facing political actors and the consequent morality of the ‘political skills’ or deception and manipulation that were used to drive the peace process forward.

scholarly journals Under the Law: Legal Consciousness and Radical Environmental Activism

2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (04) ◽  
pp. 799-824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik D. Fritsvold
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Civil Disobedience ◽  
Environmental Movement ◽  
Law And Society ◽  
Legal Consciousness ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
The Law

A growing body of sociolegal scholarship focuses the study of law away from formal texts and legal institutions and toward the experiences and perceptions of “everyday” citizens. This study introduces seventeen “radical” environmentalists who engage a repertoire of tactics that includes some actions that involve relatively severe forms of illegality. This research seeks to investigate the role of civil disobedience and lawbreaking within the radical environmental movement and the corresponding legal consciousness of movement actors. Utilizing ethnographic fieldwork and content analysis, this analysis suggests that Ewick and Silbey's (1998) three‐tiered model of legal consciousness is an operative starting point, but could be enhanced through theoretical expansion. This study proposes a new category of legal consciousness—Under the Law—that views the law as the protector and defender of a social order that is fundamentally illegitimate. Under the Law is qualitatively different from existing conceptualizations of legal consciousness and reaffirms the mutually constitutive nature of law and society.

scholarly journals From Revolution to "Refolution" A Study of Hizb al Tahrir, Its Changes and Trajectories in the Democratic Context of Indonesia (2000-2009)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Mohammad Iqbal Ahnaf
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Political System ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
Democratic System ◽  
The Government ◽  
Strategic Balance

<p><b>Hizbut Tahrir Indonesia (HTI) is a part of an international network organization called Hizb al-Tahrir (HT). The organization is commonly portrayed as an "anti-system" movement that seeks to overthrow democracy and revives the past transnational rule of the khilafah (caliphate). This view is justified by the doctrine of HT that promotes a revolutionary strategy of non-participation and envisages a political change outside the parliamentary process of democracy. Based on this ideology, many see the future of HT in its role of radicalizing Muslims that eventually lead to violence.</b></p> <p>This study evaluates the consistency of HTI in following its revolutionary strategy of non-participation. It argues that HTI is undertaking a strategic shift from a total non-participation to a selective participation. It establishes a strategic balance between revolution and reform by taking part in the democratic system for stirring opposition toward the existing political system. HTI focuses on challenging the legitimacy of democracy while at the same time engages with the supporting institutions and actors of the democratic system. This strategy resembles the model of political change called by Oxford University's political scientist, Timothy Garton Ash, "refolution." It aims to overthrow the existing political system without overthrowing the political regime. It seeks entry into the system to covert key elements of power holders and to persuade them to undertake a fundamental change from democracy to an Islamic government based on shari'ah law.</p> <p>This change is inevitable for HTI to adjust itself to the democratic context of Indonesia that integrates the majority of Muslims in the democratic system. This presence of Muslim actors in the system has created a perception of political opportunity for Islamization that prevents HTI from confronting the existing political process. This stance betrays HTI's revolutionary doctrine that requires it to uncompromisingly undermine the legitimacy of the democratic system and propagate political detachment. However, HTI understands that opposition to the Muslim involvement in the democratic process can isolate it from its most potential allies.</p> <p>Based on this, this study calls attention to the trajectory of HT outside the box of violent and revolutionary activism. The above path is especially likely for HT that operates in the context of Muslim democracies. HTI offers an alternative strategy toviolent activism and the moderate trend of Islamist movements. Evidence shows HTI is building support bases for the establishment of a pro-shari'ah or anti-system politics, either in the form of starting a new party or in creating a coalition between the existing parties.</p> <p>To support this argument, this study analyzes the nature of HTI's activities and its attitude toward the democratic structure. It is primarily based on a content analysis of HTI's discourse and activities recorded in two of its main publications: Al-Islam weekly bulletin and Al-Wa'ie monthly magazine. These sources cover HTI's activism from 2000 to 2009.</p> <p>Methodologically, it follows references and activities relating to key elements of Indonesian democracy (such as state ideology, democracy, election, the government, House of Representative, and political parties) and elements of Muslim society that are part of the democratic system. Drawing on the theories of political change, the analysis is based on the scope of change and the degree of opposition it promotes. Cases are analysed on a scale of 1 to 3 that represents moderate, radical and extreme. The finding shows mixed attitudes with a significant portion of radical character. This confirms the character of "refolutionary" strategy: it focuses on challenging political system over political institutions and combines political participation with anti-democratic campaign.</p>

When Animals Speak

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Meijer
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Third ◽  
Political Relations ◽  
Stray Dog ◽  
Language And Politics ◽  
Human Animal ◽  
Human Conflict ◽  
Animal Agency

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.

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