(Dis)ability and animality. Cripping animal ethics/activism (VIDEO)

Video from an event in the series More than Human Encounters. Organised by Crosstalks (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and Kaaitheater. March 2, 2021.

_{[screenshot from the video, showing a photo of a cow,
and a photo of an orangutang sitting on a logged tree facing a bulldozer]}

This is how it was announced on the Crosstalks/VUB website:

(DIS)ABILITY AND ANIMALITY. CRIPPING ANIMAL ETHICS/ACTIVISM (VIDEO)

Evening exploring the intersections between animal liberation and disability liberation. With Geertrui Cazaux, Agnes Trzak and others.

How do speciesism and ableism intersect and operate in relation to other -isms in a system of oppression? If certain abilities are the prerequisite to include other animals into the circle of moral consideration, what ethical and practical implications does this hold for humans who don’t possess these abilities? Do animal ethics or veganism need to be ‘cripped’? And what implications does this have for animal rights activism?

Geertrui Cazaux will discuss how other animals than humans resist their oppression by escaping, retaliating and other acts of everyday resistance. Centering other animals and sharing their stories helps us move away from a human saviorist framing and is an expression of solidarity with them. They are not voiceless and we are not their saviors but their allies. In this presentation, Geertrui Cazaux will document some stories of animal resistance.

Agnes Trzak’s lecture will expose the dangers of using the concept of ability to justify moral consideration amongst humans and beyond constructed species barriers. We will explore the question of what happens if we use cognitive and bodily ability as a criterium to base our moral considerations on and we will uncover how the construct of ‘humanness’ in a Eurocentric capitalist context is linked to (neurotypical) ability. Agnes Trzak will share an intimate story of her relationship with her animal companions, to illustrate the danger in granting less ‘humanness,’ less personhood, less agency, less value, to those disabled by society, be they human or non-human.

PROGRAM

20:00: Welcome
20:05: Geertrui Cazaux: ‘Stories of animal resistance. About human saviorism and not so-voiceless animals’
20:30: Online lecture by Agnes Trzak: ‘The Moment We (don’t) Compare Disability and Animality’
21:00-21:30: Q&A between Agnes Trzak, Anaïs Van Ertvelde and Olave Nduwanje

A Series of More-Than-Human Encounters, a collaboration of Crosstalks and Kaaitheater, seeks to situate human to more-than-human relations, and conditions of liberation and co-existence in a world that has been modelled in a context of imperialism, patriarchy and capitalism. 
 

WANT TO DELVE INTO THE THEME?
 

• Have a look at the lexicon for the series of More-Than-Human Encounters, a list of less evident terminology used in the lectures of the series.
• Watch the video based on the book by Sunaura Taylor, Beasts of Burden (Video by Just Wondering).

Biographies of all participants here: