Rethinking Institutions for Animals

March 7, 2024 - March 8, 2024

DepartmenDepartment of Philosophy, University of Basel

    The Beastly Politics group at the University of Basel is organizing a two-day in person workshop on rethinking and reforming social institutions for sentient nonhuman animals on 7th & 8th of March 2024. The workshop’s topic is situated at the intersection of (animal) ethics and political philosophy.

    In the last decade, the animal ethics literature took a political turn, and focused, amongst other things, on political and other social institutions and how they should be changed to be more inclusive of animals. For the workshop, we invite submissions that discuss how social institutions (such as governments, the legal system, but also the media, economy and the education system) should be reformed to properly include animals and their interests.

    Confirmed speakers include Prof. Alasdair Cochrane (University of Sheffield), Prof. Steve Cooke (University of Leicester) and Dr. Friderike Spang (University of Lausanne).

     

    Speakers:

    Alasdair Cochrane
    University of Sheffield

    Steve Cooke
    University of Leicester

    Angela K. Martin
    University of Basel

    Friderike Spang
    University of Lausanne


    Organisers:

    Angela K. Martin
    University of Basel

    Emnée van den Brandeler
    (unaffiliated)

     

    Program

    Day 1 Thursday 07.03.24

    9:00 - 9:10 Welcome

    9:10-10:10 1. Institutional Virtues in the Zoopolis
    Steve Cooke

    Associate Professor of Political Theory, University of Leicester, UK

    10:10-11:10 2. The All-Affected Principle and (Its Democratic Extent of) Animals

    David Mathias Paaske

    PhD Student, Department of Philosophy, The Arctic University of Norway, Norway

    11:10-11:30 Coffee break

    11:30-12:30 3. Exploring the systematic dimension of speciesism: a perspective from political and social philosophy

    Sarah Zanaz

    PhD Student, Department of Philosophy, University of Strasbourg, France

    12:30-14:15 Lunch break

    Mandir, Schützenmattstrasse 2 CH-4051 Basel

    14:15-15:15 4. (Animal) Politics, Human Deliberation and Animal Representation

    Angela Martin

    SNSF PRIMA Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, University of Basel, Switzerland

    15:15-16:15 5. Animals and Deliberative Institutions: The case of mini-publics

    Friderike Spang

    SNSF Senior Researcher, Centre of Public Law, University of Lausanne, Switzerland

    16:15-16:45 Coffee break

    16:45 -17:45 6. Knowledge building is essential for the transition to just institutions for urban
    animals

    Ciska de Ruyver (Co-authors: Claire Diederich, Christel Moons, Karin Hannes)

    Researcher, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University de Namur, Belgium

    18:00 Dinner, Restaurant TBD

     

    Day 2 Friday 08.03.2024

    9:00-10:00 7. Animals, Innocence and the Institution of War
    Alasdair Cochrane

    Professor of Political Theory, Department of Politics and International Relations,

    University of Sheffield, UK

    10:00-11:00 8. Epistemic Responsibilities of Public Institutions in the Human-Animal
    Relationship

    Emnée van den Brandeler

    SNSF PRIMA PhD Student, Department of Philosophy, University of Basel, Switzerland

    11:00-11:20 Coffee break

    11:20-12:20 9. Animals, Institutions, and the problem of unwilling majorities

    Nico Müller

    Assistant / Postdoc, Department of Philosophy, University of Basel, Switzerlan

    12:20-14:00 Lunch break
    Restaurant TBD

    14:00-15:00 10. Reforming the legal system: Including and protecting animals’ interests

    Zorana Todorovic

    Research Associate, University of Belgrade, Serbi

    15:00-16:00 11. A bird in the hand is worth half in the courts: An account of animals’ legal invisibility
    Serrin Rutlegde-Prior

    Research Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University, Australia

    16:00-16:30 Coffee break

    16:30 -17:30 12. Rethinking the Legitimate Grounds for Dietary Guidance from Medical

    Professionals

    Brian A. Berkey (co-author: Keri Rosen)

    Associate Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics
    University of Pennsylvania, US

    18:00 Dinner

    CHOI Asian Garden, Feldbergstrasse 23, CH-4057