The Animal Turn
Animals are increasingly at the forefront of research questions – Not as shadows to human stories, or as beings we want to understand biologically, or for purely our benefit – but as beings who have histories, stories, and geographies of their own. Each season is set around themes with each episode unpacking a particular animal turn concept and its significance therein. Join Claudia Hirtenfelder as she delves into some of the most important ideas emerging out of this recent turn in scholarship, thinking, and being.
The Animal Turn
S2E7: Political Multispecies Communities with Sue Donaldson
After unpacking what constitutes a multispecies community, Sue Donaldson explains why it is important to consider how politics works to make sure that animals’ experiences, and what they are asking for, are heard.
Date recorded: 18 November 2020
Sue Donaldson is a writer and animal advocate. She is a research associate in the Dept. of Philosophy at Queen's University, Kingston, and co-convenor of the Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics research group. She is the author of 4 books, and dozens of articles, primarily focusing on animal rights and politics. Questions of political community, political agency, and doing democracy with animals are central to her current work, and her most recent publication is "Animal Agora: Animal Citizens and the Democratic Challenge" in Social Theory and Practice. Sue's writing is available at academia.edu and her email address is sld8@queensu.ca.
Claudia (Towne) Hirtenfelder is the founder and host of The Animal Turn. She is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project looking at the geographical and historical relationships between animals (specifically cows) and cities. Contact Claudia via email (towne@live.co.za) or follow her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne).
Featured: Farmed Animal Sanctuaries: The Heart of the Movement By Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka; Animal Agency in Community: A Political Multispecies Ethnography of VINE Sanctuary by Charlotte Blattner, Sue Donaldson, and Ryan Wilcox; Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power by Audre Lorde
Thank you to Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics (A.P.P.L.E) for sponsoring this podcast, Gordon Clarke (Instagram: @_con_sol_) for the bed music, and Jeremy John (Website) for the logo.
The Animal Turn is part of the iROAR, an Animals Podcasting Network and can also be found on A.P.P.L.E, Twitter, and
The Animal Turn is hosted and produced by Claudia Hirtenfelder and is part of the iROAR Network. It can also be found on A.P.P.L.E, Twitter, LinkedIn, You Tube, and Instagram Learn more about the show on our website.
