Suggested Topics

Papers are welcomed on any area of animal liberation philosophy from any discipline, and presenters are encouraged to share theses or dissertation chapters. Because a major goal of the Institute for Critical Animal Studies is to foster philosophical, critical, and analytic thinking about animal liberation, papers that contribute to this project will be given priority (especially papers that address critical theory, political philosophy, social movement analysis, tactical analysis, feminist, activism and academia, Continental philosophy or post-colonial perspectives). We especially encourage contributions that engage animal liberation in disciplines and debates that have received little previous attention. The following are a few topic suggestions:

Animal Liberation/Rights Philosophy

• How is the speciesist self socially constructed? How is “human” identity socially constructed and how can it be deconstructed and reconstructed to overcome human alienation from and violence toward animals?

• What is the difference between animal rights, animal liberation and animal welfare? Do they all have a unique position in the aiding of more humanity towards non-human animals?
• The early history of the ALF in the US is murky, and people disagree as to how and when it began. The best source for this remains Ingrid Newkirk’s Free the Animals. What other documents exist to illuminate this early history? What new and important information can shed light on the history of the ALF in the US?

Underground Animal Liberation Movement

• How does the mass media code the ALF, and other underground animal liberation organizations? The reporting is largely unsympathetic and favors using the ecoterrorist label freely. Why do the media code them this way? Is this a problem for the ALF and other underground animal liberation organization? Does public opinion matter? Should they pay more attention to how their actions are being received in the public sphere? Or is direct action properly concerned only with its ability to cripple an exploitation industry?

• What relations has the ALF had in the past with aboveground organizations? How did the state challenge groups like PETA who assisted the ALF? What relation can and should the underground have with aboveground groups today?

• What is the relationship between the ALF and other social movements? Is the ALF a single-issue movement, or does it have a more systemic, radical critique of contemporary capitalist society? Is the ALF a “revolutionary” organization? Why or why not? What should be the ALF’s role vis a vis other social movements?

• Are there terrorists in the animal liberation movement? Who are they? How do you define terrorists? Is there counter measures to adopt against these people?

ELF and ALF

•What is the relation between the principles and practices of these two groups? What kinds of models for coalitional projects have activists in these groups offered us?

•What is the historical and political relationship between the ALF and the ELF? How was the ELF inspired by the ALF? How and in what cases have they worked together in joint actions?
Why are the antagonistic splits which have divided academic environmentalism from academic animal rights largely absent from the interactions of these two groups?
•What differences do or should exist in the liberation philosophies of the ALF and ELF given that the ELF represents the “interests” of the Earth rather than sentient animals?

Humane Education

• How is the field of education allowing or not allowing qualitative and quantitative examination of the ethics of animals to exist or even foster?

• How can the field of education become more diverse and inclusive to the philosophy of animal rights/animal liberation?

Animal Cognition and Animal Rights

• What is the relation between “animal minds” and animal rights? Should we insist that animals display advanced cognitive skills in order to receive ethical, legal, and political consideration (a la Steven Wise)? Or is it enough that animals are sentient beings? What are the promises and dangers of this approach for animal defense?

• Is the very notion of trying to unearth signs of human intelligence in animals a questionable anthropocentric project? Could an animal ethics and politics be developed that was grounded in an appreciation of radically different kinds of cognition and subjectivity? What would this approach be like?

Biotechnology and Animal Life

•With the rapid increase in biotechnologies over the past two decades, ranging from cloning to genetic engineering, animals have become subject to increasingly invasive forms of subjugation, manipulation, and experimentation. Should animal liberationists oppose the development of these new technologies or seek ways to democratize and transform them so that new technologies might be used to improve animal life? What promises does stem cell research hold for eliminating the “need” for animals in biomedical research?

Animals and the Law

•Although some legal scholars are confident that some higher order animals will gain minimal legal standing in the near future, others argue that purely legal solutions to animal rights will not be effective in the short term. How do the promises and failures of the legal system inform contemporary activist strategies? Are there ways to effect change for animals through legal channels, or have such strategies already been proven ineffective?

Alternative Traditions and Disciplines

•How might alternative philosophical traditions be brought to bear on issues within the struggle for animal liberation? Do Continental philosophers offer us any theoretical tools that might be of interest along these lines? Can a feminist care ethic shed new light on radical animal activism and theory?

•How might animal activism and ethics be joined with other radical democratic projects, such as those that have been formulated by thinkers including Laclau and Mouffe and Hardt and Negri?

•How can animal liberation learn from and incorporate methodologies from fields such as sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, and women’s studies?

•Steve Baker (The Postmodern Animal (1993), Picturing the Beast (2000)), Cary Wolfe (Animal Rites (2003), Zoontologies 2003)), and others recently have done some interesting work with applying postmodern theories and a cultural studies approach to animal issues. What is the origin and nature of this new approach? What are its advantages and limitations?

Social Movements

• What did Gandhi and King actually say about property destruction and violence? How relevant are their non-violent direct action struggles for developing sound tactics for animal liberation?

• Giving an analysis of the development of bridges if any between animal rights and other social movements?

• What is the relationship between the AL and other social movements? Is the AL a single-issue movement, or does it have a more systemic, radical critique of contemporary capitalist society?

• How is animal liberation a feminist movement? How does the work of Feminists for Animal Rights aid in the development of the animal liberation philosophy?
• How extreme is too extreme? When if ever is violence necessary? Who determines what violence is?

Culture, Art, and Music

•Is music an effective vehicle for developing social movements or oppositional consciousness? Or is it simply part of the overall cultural spectacle that inhibits critical thinking and political action? What examples support the idea that music influences people to act for social change? In what ways is “radical” music co-opted by the capitalist culture industry? What bands support and/or sing about animal rights and liberation?

•With the powerful artwork of Sue Coe and others, can one say that art is a vehicle for critical thinking and social change? What power is specific to an image compared to music, film, or other art forms?

•How does graffiti play a role if any in social change? Describe the work of the Billboard Liberation Front and how their philosophy and billboard deconstruction relate to animal liberation.

Policy, Repression, and Infiltration

• What is the nature and recent history of state repression of the modern animal rights movement and the ALF in particular?

Strategy

• What roles have violence and property destruction played in the modern history of liberation struggles? What implications does this have for animal liberation?

• Analyze the analogies in relationship between the Jewish anti-Nazi resistance movement and/or the Underground Railroad and the liberation of animals by open rescues and or the ALF.

• Develop an analysis of a classic of guerilla warfare such as Che Guevara on Guerilla Warfare as it relates to the situation and tactics of the militant animal rights movement aboveground and underground.

• Is the analogy between factory farming and the Holocaust sound? Consider this and analyze the PETA campaign as an attempt to argue the two evils are morally equivalent or comparable.