Anifesto: The Promise of Interspecies Solidarity

Abstract

In this concluding chapter, Coulter spotlights and further engages with the key findings of the book, particularly the commonalities and differences between people and animals’ work and work-lives, and the importance of contextualized and nuanced understanding. Building especially on feminist political economy and lessons from activism, she proposes that in addition to understanding human-animal work, we ought to respect and recognize it through changes to perceptions and practices. Coulter’s concept of interspecies solidarity is posited as essential to fostering better daily dynamics, labor relations, public policy, and multispecies visions and projects of social justice. The interconnectedness of human-animal wellbeing is emphasized, and the potential and need for humane jobs – jobs that are good for both people and animals – is introduced.

Notes

1. For good discussions of the Frankfurt School and animals, see also Christina Gerhardt, “Thinking With: Animals in Schopenhauer, Horkheimer, and Adorno.” In Critical Theory and Animal Liberation, ed. John Sanbonmatsu. Rowman … Littlefield, 2011: 137–146; Zipporah Weisberg, “The Trouble with Posthumanism: Bacteria Are People, Too.” In Critical Animal Studies: Thinking the Unthinkable, ed. John Sorenson. Toronto: Canadian Scholars’ Press, 2014, 93–116.