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Do Political Parties Instrumentalize Animal Rights? A Comparison of Votes and Arguments in Two Parliamentary Debates

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Animals, Race, and Multiculturalism

Part of the book series: The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series ((PMAES))

Abstract

In this chapter, I examine the possible instrumental use of animal rights: situations where animal rights advocates support the cause not out of a desire to protect non-human animals, but to denigrate minorities. I compare the parliamentary debate on banning bullfights in Catalonia with the Dutch parliamentary debate on banning unstunned ritual slaughter. The analysis reveals that existing political cleavages predict the position of political parties and shows that tenets of an instrumental use are existent with some, but certainly not with all parties in favour of abolishing these traditions. I conclude by reflecting on the prospects of a further politicization of issues surrounding the protection of non-human animals in Western Europe.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Tweede Kamer, Stemmingen in verband met het voorstel van het lid Thieme tot wijziging van de gezondheids -en welzijnswet voor dieren in verband met het invoeren van verplicht voorafgaande bedwelming bij ritueel slachten (31571), 28 Juni 2011, TK 98-25.

  2. 2.

    Plataforma Prou, The Law, vol. 2012, http://www.prou.cat/english/index.php?c=proposta.php (Accessed 19/03/2012).

  3. 3.

    European Commission, Special Eurobarometer 442. Attitudes of Europeans Towards Animal Welfare. (Brussels: European Union, 2016).

  4. 4.

    See the websites of both organisations www.wakkerdier.nl and www.vier-pfoten.at, for more information on their origin, mission and achievements.

  5. 5.

    Simon Otjes, “The Hobbyhorse of the Party for the Animals”, Society & Animals 24, no. 4 (2016).

  6. 6.

    Cass R. Sunstein, “Introduction” in Cass R. Sunstein and Martha C. Nussbaum (eds.) Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions (Oxford University Press, 2004). 5.

  7. 7.

    Will Kymlicka and Sue Donaldson, “Animal Rights, Multiculturalism, and the Left”, Journal of Social Philosophy 45, no. 1 (2014). 124. See also Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka, Zoopolis: A Political Theory of Animal Rights (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011). 48.

  8. 8.

    Luís Cordeiro-Rodrigues, “Hidden and Unintended Racism and Speciesism in the Portuguese Animal Rights Movement: The Case of Bullfighting”, Theoria 62, no. 144 (2015). 13.

  9. 9.

    Ibid.

  10. 10.

    See for a similar argument Claire Jean Kim, Dangerous Crossings (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015).

  11. 11.

    Hanspeter Kriesi et al., Political Conflict in Western Europe, (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2012), Hanspeter Kriesi et al., West European Politics in the Age of Globalization, (Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2008).

  12. 12.

    Kriesi et al., West European Politics in the Age of Globalization, 6–7.

  13. 13.

    European Union, Council Regulation (Ec) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the Protection of Animals at the Time of Killing, (OJ L303, Brussels: 2009). Recital no. 13.

  14. 14.

    Ipsos Mori, Bullfighting in Spain, www.ipsos-mori.com/Assets/Docs/Polls/bullfighting-in-spain-topline.pdf (Accessed 20/09/2016).

  15. 15.

    Richard Gunther and José Ramón Montero, The Politics of Spain, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 75–77.

  16. 16.

    Parlament de Catalunya, “Diari De Sessions, Sessio Num. 67, 18 December 2009”, (Barcelona, 2009), Parlament de Catalunya, “Diari De Sessions, Sessio Num. 85, 28 July 2010”, (Barcelona, 2010).

  17. 17.

    F. Pallares and M. Keating, “Multi-Level Electoral Competition—Regional Elections and Party Systems in Spain”, European Urban and Regional Studies 10, no. 3 (2003).

  18. 18.

    Ibid. 240–243 B. Giordano and E. Roller, “Catalonia and the ‘Idea of Europe’—Competing Strategies and Discourses within Catalan Party Politics”, European Urban and Regional Studies 9, no. 2 (2002). 101–102.

  19. 19.

    Parlament de Catalunya, “Diari De Sessions, Sessio Num. 67, 18 December 2009”, 14.

  20. 20.

    Ibid. 16.

  21. 21.

    Cordeiro-Rodrigues, “Hidden and Unintended Racism and Speciesism in the Portuguese Animal Rights Movement: The Case of Bullfighting”, 15.

  22. 22.

    Parlament de Catalunya, “Diari De Sessions, Sessio Num. 85, 28 July 2010”, 4.

  23. 23.

    Parlament de Catalunya, “Diari De Sessions, Sessio Num. 67, 18 December 2009”, 6.

  24. 24.

    Parlament de Catalunya, “Diari De Sessions, Sessio Num. 85, 28 July 2010”, 8.

  25. 25.

    Ibid.

  26. 26.

    Ibid.

  27. 27.

    Parlament de Catalunya, “Diari De Sessions, Sessio Num. 67, 18 December 2009”, 9.

  28. 28.

    Georgina Dopico Black, “The Ban and the Bull: Cultural Studies, Animal Studies, and Spain”, Journal of Spanish Cultural Studies 11, no. 3–4 (2010), 235. “Bull Festitivities Revive Debate between Tradition and Animal Rights” http://www.catalannewsagency.com/news/society-science/bull-festivities-catalonia-revive-debate-between-tradition-and-animal-rights. (Accessed 28/08/2012).

  29. 29.

    R. B. Andeweg and Galen A. Irwin, Dutch Government and Politics, Comparative Government and Politics (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2005).

  30. 30.

    Tweede Kamer, “Bedwelming bij ritueel slachten, Behandeling wetsvoorstel 31571. 27 Februari 2011, Stuk 54-4”, (Den Haag: SDU, 2011), 18.

  31. 31.

    Ibid.

  32. 32.

    Ibid. 27.

  33. 33.

    Ibid. 13.

  34. 34.

    Ibid. 22.

  35. 35.

    Ibid. 18.

  36. 36.

    Tweede Kamer, “Bedwelming bij ritueel slachten. Behandeling Wetsvoorstel 31571. 22 Juni 2011, Stuk 96-16”, (Den Haag: SDU, 2011), 102.

  37. 37.

    Tweede Kamer, “Bedwelming bij ritueel slachten. Behandeling Wetsvoorstel 31571. 27 Februari 2011, Stuk 54-4”, 15.

  38. 38.

    Tweede Kamer, “Bedwelming bij ritueel slachten. Behandeling Wetsvoorstel 31571. 13 April 2011, Stuk 73-2”, (Den Haag: SDU, 2011), 22.

  39. 39.

    Staatsblad 2015, nr. 328. “Besluit verbod wilde dieren in circussen”, https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/besluiten/2015/08/28/besluit-verbod-wilde-dieren-in-circussen. (Accessed).

  40. 40.

    Piepvandaag.nl, “Tweede Kamer steunt verbod op wilde dieren in circussen”, https://www.piepvandaag.nl/verbod-op-wilde-dieren-in-circussen (15/04/2015).

  41. 41.

    While the ban on the use of wild animals in circuses was adopted, it is important to note that the ban on ritual slaughter in the end did not make it into law because the Dutch legislative branch is bicameral and the other legislative chamber (Eerste Kamer) voted against the bill. A majority of its members felt that the measure constituted too big of an infraction on the freedom of religion. See “Senaat verwerpt verbod rituele slacht”, Nu.nl 19 juni 2012 http://www.nu.nl/politiek/2839069/senaat-verwerpt-verbod-rituele-slacht.html, (Accessed).

  42. 42.

    Kymlicka and Donaldson, “Animal Rights, Multiculturalism, and the Left”, 122.

  43. 43.

    For an empirical overview and explanation of the inconsistent policies with regard to the protection of animals see S. O’Sullivan, Animals, Equality and Democracy, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

  44. 44.

    For a recent overview see Frans De Waal, Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? (WW Norton & Company, 2016).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University College Roosevelt, Middelburg, The Netherlands

    Herman Lelieveldt

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  1. Herman Lelieveldt
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Correspondence to Herman Lelieveldt .

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  1. Department of Philosophy (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, Guangdong, South Africa

    Luís Cordeiro-Rodrigues

  2. University of Fort Hare, Alice, South Africa

    Les Mitchell

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Lelieveldt, H. (2017). Do Political Parties Instrumentalize Animal Rights? A Comparison of Votes and Arguments in Two Parliamentary Debates. In: Cordeiro-Rodrigues, L., Mitchell, L. (eds) Animals, Race, and Multiculturalism . The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66568-9_9

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