Book
The Human Animal Earthling Identity: Shared Values Unifying Human Rights, Animal Rights, and Environmental Movements
(2020)
Abstract
In an era of globalization, climate crisis, mass extinction, and widespread injustice, this book's lofty goal is unifying social movements across causes to gain needed strength and influence in their work against common powerful forces that undermine or exploit living beings. To serve as everyday allies, social movements should foster universal altruism -- encouraging each of us to widen our sphere of moral concern (not only to include all human groups but also all species), by considering other animals and nature as part of our 'in-group.'
To formulate the basis for a needed identity shift toward seeing ourselves more inclusively as ‘human animal earthlings,’ communication professor Dr. Carrie P. Freeman shares insights from interviewing leading global activists and identifies overlapping values common in the campaigns of 16 international social movement organizations that work on human rights, nonhuman animal protection, and/or environmental issues, including Amnesty International, Greenpeace, PETA, WWF, and the Nature Conservancy.
Freeman ultimately recommends a set of universal values (supporting life, fairness, responsibility, and unity) around which all social movements’ campaign messages can collectively cultivate respectful relations between us “human animal earthlings,” other animals, and the natural world we share.
In an age of environmental crisis, Freeman explains how animal rights ideology (respecting the rights of sentient beings) logically serves as an ethical bridge connecting the individual human rights we cherish to a more holistic valuing of the ecosystems we must prioritize -- especially recognizing the ecological and sociopolitical interdependence of species.
Author website for the book is at www.humananimalearthlings.com
Keywords
- animals,
- social justice,
- environmentalism,
- social movements,
- values,
- ethics,
- campaigns,
- identity
Disciplines
Publication Date
Winter 2020
Publisher
UGA Press
ISBN
0820358193
Publisher Statement
Book Website at UGA Press: https://ugapress.org/book/9780820358192/the-human-animal-earthling-identity/
Citation Information
Freeman, C. P. (2020). The Human Animal Earthling Identity: Shared Values Unifying Human Rights, Animal Rights, & Environmental Movements. Athens, GA: UGA Press.