Thinking about climate change as a process of ‘weathering’ reminds us of the profound and highly unequal consequences for all living things.
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Articles on Democracy Futures: Human and Non-Human
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If democracy were an animal, which one would it be? This short play, set in an Australian pub, explores this question to contrast ways we understand democracy and our roles within it.
We can draw inspiration from the successes of non-humans, learn from their group decision-making and gain insights from analogies. And with every extinction of a species we lose such possibilities.
Democracy must evolve in response to the threats we pose to the environment and to ourselves. We can learn from how other species make collective decisions, solve problems and survive.
Despite the popularity in other disciplines of inter-species thinking, it’s ignored in democracy research. Why is that? Why can we not conceive of democracy as anything other than uniquely human?
Should animals be treated like other forms of property such as land, machinery and “stocks”? What role do animals that are owned by humans play in the concept of global wealth?
To endow animals with human emotions has long been a scientific taboo. But if we do not, we risk missing something fundamental about both animals and us. – Frans De Waal Some time ago I began reading scientific…
The traditional point of view in western intellectual thought – and one which is reflected in our own day-to–day views – is that of human exceptionalism, or anthropocentrism: the belief that humans are…
Which is the greater deprivation for an animal: to live a good-quality life abbreviated at less than its natural term by painless slaughter for meat, or to never live at all? How much of an animal’s life…
Top contributors
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Senior lecturer in democracy studies, University of Canberra
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Assistant researcher, University of Sydney
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Research Fellow, University of Exeter, University of Exeter
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Director, Master of Human Rights, University of Sydney
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Professor in Sociology, University of Canterbury
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Honorary Fellow, CSIRO
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Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities Arts and Social Sciences, University of New England
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Lecturer in Gender and Cultural Studies, University of Sydney
