Doing Politics with Animals: An interview with Sue Donaldson

Abstract

In Animals and the Right to Politics, Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka challenge the widespread assumption that only humans can engage in politics and argue that non-human animals should be recognized as political subjects and as members of political communities entitled to collective self-determination. They connect recent work in political theory about agency and community with recent insights from biology and ethology about nonhuman animal cultures and societies to develop an embodied and situated idea of doing politics. The book explores not only the theoretical underpinnings of animal democracy, but also sketches how these insights could inform practical work in wildlife conservation projects, animal sanctuaries, and urban design.