Abolitionism (animal rights)
| Abolitionism | |
|---|---|
| Description | The legal ownership of non-human animals should be abolished. |
| Proponents | Gary Francione Tom Regan |
| Subject | Animal rights, ethics, law, philosophy |
Abolitionism within the animal rights movement is the idea that focusing on animal welfare reform not only fails to challenge animal suffering, but may prolong it by making the exercise of property rights over animals appear acceptable. The abolitionists' objective is to secure a moral and legal paradigm shift, whereby animals are no longer regarded as things to be owned and used. This is contrasted with animal protectionism, the position that change can be achieved by incremental improvements in animal welfare.[1]
Gary Francione, professor of law at Rutgers School of Law-Newark, argues from the abolitionist perspective that animal rights groups who pursue welfare concerns, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, risk making the public feel comfortable about its use of animals. As a result, he calls such groups the "new welfarists."[2] The American philosopher Tom Regan writes that abolitionists want empty cages, not bigger ones.[3] The concept of abolition animal exploitation has often been analogized to the Atlantic slave trade of the 16th to 19th century. Those in favour of animal rights see strong parallels between the white western racists of the 18th century and human speciesists of the 21st century, with following the analogy some believe that the abolitionism of animal exploitation will come in the future just as the end of slavery came eventually, despite racism & slavery been taken for granted not too long before it was abolished. [4]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Francione, Gary and Garner, Robert. The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition Or Regulation?. Columbia University Press, 2010, p. 1ff.
- ^ Francione, Gary. Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement, Temple University Press, 1996, p. 32.
- Hall, Lee. "An Interview with Professor Gary L. Francione", Friends of Animals, accessed February 25, 2008.
- ^ Regan, Tom. Empty Cages. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2004, p. 61.
- Regan, Tom. "The Torch of Reason, The Sword of Justice", animalsvoice.com, accessed May 24, 2011.
- ^ [1]
[edit] Further reading
- Francione, Gary. "Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach", accessed February 26, 2011.
- Francione, Gary. Animals, Property, and the Law. Temple University Press, 1995.
- Regan, Tom. "On Achieving Abolitionist Goals", Animal Rights Zone, May 18, 2011, accessed May 24, 2011.
- Regan, Tom. The Case for Animal Rights. University of California Press, 1980.
