Sustainable Development and Nonhuman Animals: Why Anthropocentric Concepts of Sustainability Are Outdated and Need to Be Extended

Boscardin, Livia; Bossert, Leonie

doi:10.5771/9783845258430-323

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…67 The reduction of non-human animals to natural capital ('living resources') and the exclusive validity for human beings reflects sustainable development's intrinsic anthropocentric nature. 68 This is also confirmed by the anthropocentric ontology of the SDGs, which are indeed exclusively designed to facilitate human progress. 69 However, an ecocentric approach can fuel the abandoning of the anthropocentric connotation of sustainable development and promote the extension of its scope to comprehend non-human animals as well.…”

Section: Exploring An Ecocentric and Anthropocentric Framework For Animal Welfare Inclusionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…71 In addition, Boscardin and Bossert have substantiated the inclusion of non-human animals in the scope of sustainable development by taking on a perspective of egalitarian sentientism, which means that moral value is not gradual and that there are not some beings with a higher moral value than others as such. 72 Remarkably, the Brundtland Report itself underpins this line of thinking as it recognizes that 'sustainable development does not only involve a moral obligation to future generations but also to other living beings'. 73 However, adjusting the scope ratione personae to include nonhuman animals and thus overcome the prevailing anthropocentrism in sustainable development would require a historic paradigm shift, as it goes against the view that humans are consumers and animals are merely resources.…”

Section: Exploring An Ecocentric and Anthropocentric Framework For Animal Welfare Inclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, excluding animal interests fundamentally contradicts the core element of intragenerational and intergenerational justice, because present and future generations' livelihood are undeniably significantly affected by the 'animal-industrial complex'. 178 Therefore, sustainable development can only be truly and completely achieved through an integration of non-human animals' interests. Peters contends that animal welfare improvement is both an end in itself and a means to reaching the objective of sustainable development.…”

Section: Mutual Benefits For Animal Welfare and Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Bringing animal welfare under the umbrella of sustainable development: A legal analysis

Verniers

2021

Rev Euro Comp Intl Enviro

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The quest of global animal welfare has been the subject of vigorous debate in legal scholarship. However, an entry point which the legal literature has so far failed to consider is sustainable development. To date, the uneasy relationship between sustainable development and animal welfare remains remarkably underexplored, and legal research investigating the interdependence of sustainable development and animal welfare is almost non-existent. This article proposes a new approach to global animal welfare law through sustainable development by examining four key questions: (i) does sustainable development currently addresses animal welfare; (ii) can sustainable development integrate animal welfare; (iii) if so, how could this be operationalized; and (iv) is sustainable development a suitable vehicle to advance animal welfare? The article shows that sustainable development is both conceptually and substantively an adequate candidate for animal welfare integration. Moreover, the article claims that the sustainable development approach to animal welfare is not only conducive for global animal welfare law but also allows for a strong entrenchment of animal welfare at the national level. In addition, the article argues that such integration is also beneficial for sustainable development itself. | INTRODUCTIONThe legal void of animal welfare at the international level has been elaborately examined in legal scholarship. 1 As a victim of globalization, animal welfare turned into a matter of global concern which would merit from international regulation. 2 This article will not reiterate the classic arguments underlying the quest for an international legal framework, as these are discussed at length elsewhere. 3 However, for the sake of clarity the leitmotiv in the existing literature concerns the need for a regulatory framework with a transboundary dimension to respond adequately to animal welfare as a global issue. 4 For now, the main sources of animal welfare law are limited to the national (e.g. domestic animal welfare legislation) 5 and regional (e.g. primary and secondary European Union[EU] legislation) level. By contrast, at the international level no legally binding instruments with a primary focus on animal welfare exist. 6

show abstract

Section: Exploring An Ecocentric and Anthropocentric Framework For Animal Welfare Inclusionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Exploring An Ecocentric and Anthropocentric Framework For Animal Welfare Inclusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mutual Benefits For Animal Welfare and Sustainable Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Bringing animal welfare under the umbrella of sustainable development: A legal analysis

Verniers

2021

Rev Euro Comp Intl Enviro

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Washington ([4], pp. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] refers to such sustainability orientation as the "old" sustainability that goes back to pre-history and the "Wisdom of the Elders" ([4], p. 8). This wisdom speaks of terms such as "harmony, balance, reverence, sacredness, spirituality, respect, care, witness, responsibility, custodianship, stewardship, beauty and even love" ( [4], p. 8) in relation to animals and nature including its abiotic components.…”

Section: Ecocentrism As a Starting Pointmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interspecies Sustainability to Ensure Animal Protection: Lessons from the Thoroughbred Racing Industry

Bergmann

2019

Sustainability

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

There is a disconnect between dominant conceptions of sustainability and the protection of animals arising from the anthropocentric orientation of most conceptualisations of sustainability, including sustainable development. Critiques of this disconnect are primarily based in the context of industrial animal agriculture and a general model of a species-inclusive conception of sustainability has yet to emerge. The original contribution of this article is two-fold: First, it develops a theoretical framework for interspecies sustainability. Second, it applies this to a case study of the thoroughbred racing industry. Interviews were conducted with thoroughbred industry and animal advocacy informants in the US, Australia and Great Britain. While industry informants claim thoroughbred welfare is seminal for industry sustainability, they adopt a market-oriented anthropocentric conception of sustainability and do not consider animal welfare a sustainability domain in its own right. Animal advocacy informants demonstrate a deeper understanding of welfare but some express discomfort about linking sustainability, welfare and racing. Eight analytical layers have been identified in the discourse in the interface of sustainability and animal protection, of which two have transformational potential to advance interspecies sustainability. Interspecies sustainability urgently needs to be advanced to ensure animal protection in the sustainability transition, and to not leave the defining of animal welfare and sustainability to animal industries.

show abstract

“…1 In order to accomplish the task of recognizing the human-non-human connection, there is a need for multidisciplinary models of how humans are integrated into ecological communities, which means communities consisting of human and non-human members. Our theoretical paper also joins in the aspiration in different fields of science to critically re-examine the concepts used in research and whether they could be 'stripped' of anthropocentric bias (Boscardin & Bossert, 2015). In our request we turn to socialization, one of the main concepts used in social and educational sciences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecosocialization – an Ecological Turn in the Process of Socialization

Keto

Foster

2020

International Studies in Sociology of Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Sustainable Development and Nonhuman Animals: Why Anthropocentric Concepts of Sustainability Are Outdated and Need to Be Extended

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Bringing animal welfare under the umbrella of sustainable development: A legal analysis

Bringing animal welfare under the umbrella of sustainable development: A legal analysis

Interspecies Sustainability to Ensure Animal Protection: Lessons from the Thoroughbred Racing Industry

Ecosocialization – an Ecological Turn in the Process of Socialization

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About