Abstract
Following a review of historical and contemporary literature on speciesism, anthropocentrism, and animal sentience, Banwell provides answers to the following crucial questions: how do we decide which nonhuman animals feel pain? What is the relationship between animal sentience and legal personhood? Is an acknowledgment of sentience enough, or does the problem lie with the continued property status of most nonhuman animals? What does legal personhood achieve? Examining the work of The Great Ape Project and the Nonhuman Rights Project, and underscoring the fundamental difference between the legal category ‘person’ and the biological category ‘human,’ Banwell contemplates the criteria required for granting nonhuman animals legal personhood: equal consideration and consciousness, autonomy and self-determination and the sameness argument. Alongside this, Banwell critiques the processes of animalization and dehumanization and embraces an intersectional and posthumanist understanding what it means to be human. This enables us to challenge the racism, sexism, and speciesism inherent within human exceptionalism.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Paradoxically, Dunayer (2013) appears to contradict her own thesis on non-speciesism. By including exceptions to the killing of nonhuman animals, which are based on preserving the life and interests of humans, Dunayer (2013) reproduces the hierarchal distinction between human and nonhuman animals. Her argument is that we should not kill nonhuman animals unless our own lives as humans are at risk. While this may be a valid argument to make, it seems especially at odds with her thesis on non-speciesism and to my mind, undermines the non-speciesist law she is advocating for.
- 2.
These are a class of jawless, scaleless, and finless fish, comprised of the hagfish and the lamprey. They have long, slender bodies (see Britannica.com on cyclostome for more details).
- 3.
The report was written by Philip Low and edited by Jaak Panksepp, Diana Reiss, David Edelman, Bruno Van Swinderen, Philip Low, and Christof Koch.
- 4.
This stage allows members of the Lords another opportunity to review and make amendments to the bill (see UK Parliament Report State (n.d.)).
- 5.
For more details on these vertebrae groups, see John P. Rafferty in Britannica.
- 6.
For more, see the invertebrate section of Britannica.
- 7.
I recognize that not all nonhuman human animals are victims of the violence(s) of the war proposed in this book. However, not all humans are victims of war and armed conflict, but we still have measures in place to protect those who are.
- 8.
See Kant’s Lectures on Ethics written between 1760 and 1794 and edited by Heath and Schneewind 1997.
- 9.
See Kurki (2021) for a more critical discussion of this distinction.
- 10.
While completing the edits for this chapter, Spain’s senate ratified a law that recognizes Mar Menor (a saltwater lagoon) as a legal person. The law, which came into effect on September 21, 2022, aims to protect the polluted lagoon and its diminished ecosystem.
- 11.
According to Antonio Damasio, humans with neurological conditions that can cause brain damage, such as seizures, possess core consciousness. This type of consciousness does not rely on memory or language, for example. Nonhuman animals are believed to exhibit core consciousness. Conversely, extended consciousness involves complex reasoning, memory recall, and deduction. While this is mostly found in humans, Damasio believes that some nonhuman animals—chimpanzees, bonobos, baboons, and dogs—may possess extended consciousness (as cited in Wise 2000).
- 12.
See Wise (2013) for a discussion of levels 2–4.
- 13.
For a more detailed discussion of the different levels, see Wise (2010).
- 14.
This dichotomous thinking views nonhuman animals as either ‘things’ or ‘persons.’
- 15.
See also Benvenuti (2016) who discusses the US federal lawsuit filed against Sea World in 2012 to release five Orca’s from captivity.
- 16.
The link to the transcript of the hearing can be found on the Happy client page of the NhRP webpage.
- 17.
For more details of their collaborations, see their blog—Building an International Nonhuman Rights Movement. https://www.nonhumanrights.org/blog/international-work/.
- 18.
Deckha (2010, p. 47).
References
Adams, C. J. (2015). The sexual politics of meat. Bloomsbury Academic.
Allen, C., & Trestman, M. (2020). Animal consciousness. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/cgi-bin/encyclopedia/archinfo.cgi?entry=consciousness-animal
American Bar Association. (2020). Enshrining animal sentience into law: Global developments and implications. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/tort_trial_insurance_practice/publications/committee-newsletters/enshrining_animal_sentience_into_law/
Animal Protection Index. (n.d.). https://api.worldanimalprotection.org/about
Anthis, J. R. (2018). What is sentience? Sentience Institute. https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/blog/what-is-sentience
Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. Retrieved from https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/22/enacted
Bekoff, M. (2013). Who lives, who dies, and why? How speciesism undermines compassionate conservation and social justice. In R. Corbey & A. Lanjouw (Eds.), The politics of species: Reshaping our relationships with other animals (pp. 15–26). Cambridge University Press.
Beirne, P. (1999). For a nonspeciesist criminology: Animal abuse as an object of study. Criminology, 37(1), 117–148.
Beirne, P. with O’Donnell, I., & Janssen, J. (2018). Murdering animals: Writings on theriocide, homicide and nonspeciesist criminology. Palgrave Macmillan.
Bennet, D. (2011, December 7). Watch Hillary Clinton’s speech declaring gay rights are human rights. The Atlantic. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/12/watch-hillary-clintons-speech-declaring-gay-rights-are-human-rights/334643/
Bentham, J. (1789/1823). An introduction to the principles of morals and legislation. https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/bentham1780.pdf
Benvenuti, A. (2016). Evolutionary continuity and personhood: Legal and therapeutic implications of animal consciousness and human unconsciousness. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 48, 43–49.
Black, V. (2019). Beastly dead. Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law, 5(1), 1–30.
Blattner, C. E. (2019). The recognition of animal sentience by the law. Journal of Animal Ethics, 9(2), 121–136.
Booth, W. (2021, July 4). Lobsters’ feelings loom large as British Parliament debates animal welfare bill. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/animal-welfare-sentient-uk-parliament/2021/07/04/44593460-d8df-11eb-8c87-ad6f27918c78_story.html
Britannica. (n.d.). Invertebrate. https://www.britannica.com/animal/invertebrate
Britannica. (n.d.). Cyclostome. https://www.britannica.com/animal/cyclostome
Brown, K. (2016). A Feminist analysis of human and animal oppression: Intersectionality among species. Scholars Week. 2. https://cedar.wwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1234&context=scholwk#:~:text=A%20Feminist%20Analysis%20of%20Animal,oppression%2C%20all%20oppressions%20are%20connected
Bourke, J. (2011). What it means to be human? Reflections from 1791 to the present. Virago Press.
Bourke, J. (2020). Loving animals: On bestiality, zoophilia and post-human love. Reaktion Books.
Bryant, T. (2007). Similarity or difference as basis for justice: Must animals be like humans to be legally protected from humans. Law and Contemporary Problems, 70(1), 207–254.
Building An International Nonhuman Rights Movement. https://www.nonhumanrights.org/blog/international-work/
Choplin, L. (2017, April 20). Chimpanzee Cecilia finds sanctuary: An interview with GAP Brazil. https://www.nonhumanrights.org/blog/chimpanzee-cecilia/
ClientEarth. (2019, March 13). Legal rights of rivers—An international trend? Client Earth. https://www.clientearth.org/projects/access-to-justice-for-a-greener-europe/updates/legal-rights-of-rivers-an-international-trend/
Corbey, R. (2013). “Race” and species in the post-World War II United Nations discourse on human rights. In R. Corbey & A. Lanjouw (Eds.), The politics of species: Reshaping our relationships with other animals (pp. 67–76). Cambridge University Press.
Corbey, R., & Lanjouw, A. (Eds.). (2013). The politics of species: Reshaping our relationships with other animals. Cambridge University Press.
Dardenne, E. (2010). From Jeremy Bentham to Peter Singer. Open Edition Journals. https://journals.openedition.org/etudes-benthamiennes/204?lang=en
Deckha, M. (2007). Animal justice, cultural justice: Posthumanist response to cultural rights in animals. Journal of Animal Law and Ethics, 2, 189–230.
Deckha, M. (2008). Intersectionality and posthumanist visions of equality. Wisconsin Journal of Law, Gender and Society, 23(2), 249–268.
Deckha, M. (2010). The subhuman as a cultural agent of violence. Journal for Critical Animal Studies, 8(3), 28–51.
Deckha, M. (2012). Critical animal studies and animal law. Animal Law Review, 18(2), 207–236.
Descartes, R. A. (2006). Discourse on the method of correctly conducting one’s reason and seeking truth in the sciences (I. Maclean). Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1637). https://rauterberg.employee.id.tue.nl/lecturenotes/DDM110%20CAS/Descartes-1637%20Discourse%20on%20Method.pdf
Directive of the European parliament and the council of the European Union - the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. (2010). Official Journal of the European Union. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2010:276:0033:0079:en:PDF
Dunayer, J. (2013). The rights of sentient beings: Moving beyond old and new speciesism. In R. Corbey & A. Lanjouw (Eds.), The politics of species: Reshaping our relationships with other animals (pp. 27–39). Cambridge University Press.
FAQ: Learn more about the NhRP and the fight for nonhuman rights. Nonhuman rights project. https://www.nonhumanrights.org/frequently-asked-questions/
Favre, D. (2010). Living property: A new status for animals within the legal system. Marquette Law Review, 93, 1021–1070.
Ferdowsian, H., & Choe, C. (2013). Extending human research protections to nonhuman animals. In R. Corbey & A. Lanjouw (Eds.), The politics of species: Reshaping our relationships with other animals (pp. 232–240). Cambridge University Press.
Fernandez, A. (2019). Not quite property, not quite persons: A quasi approach for nonhuman animals. Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law, 5, 155–232.
Finlayson, J. G. (2010). Bare life and politics in Agamben’s reading of Aristotle. The Review of Politics, 72(1), 97–126.
Francione, G. L. (1997). Animal rights theory and utilitarianism: Relative normative guidance. Animal Law, 3, 75–101.
Francione, G. L. (2004). Animals—Property or persons? Rutgers Law School. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/76622908.pdf
Francione, G. L. (2007). Reflections on animals, property, and the law and rain without thunder. Law and Contemporary Problems, 70(1), 9–58.
Francione, G. L. (2008). Animals as persons: Essays on the abolition of animal exploitation. Columbia University Press.
Freeman, D. A. (2002). Violence against animals: An epistemological inquiry. The Social Science Journal, 39(4), 527–538.
Gillespie, K. (2018). Cow with ear tag #1389. University of Chicago Press.
Great Ape Project. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.projetogap.org.br/en/
Gruen, L. (2015). Entangled empathy: An alternative ethic for our relationships with animals. Lantern books.
Gruen, L. (2017). The moral status of animals. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/moral-animal/
Habeas corpus. (n.d.). Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/habeas-corpus
House of Lords. (2021). Animal welfare (sentience) bill [HL]. https://bills.parliament.uk/publications/41515/documents/260
Jackson, Z. I. (2013). Animal: New directions in the theorization of race and posthumanism. Feminist Studies, 39(3), 669–685.
Jackson, Z. I. (2020). Becoming human: Matter and meaning in an antiblack world. New York University Press.
Kant, E. (1997). Lectures on ethics (P. Heath, Trans.). Cambridge University Press (Original work published between 1760 and 1794). https://cdchester.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Lectures-on-ethics-Immanuel-Kant-Peter-Heath-Jerome-B.-Schneewind-eds.-Peter-Heath-trans..pdf
Kim, C. J. (2011). Moral extensionism or racist exploitation? The use of Holocaust and slavery analogies in the animal liberation movement. New Political Science, 33(3), 311–333.
Kim, C. J. (2015). Dangerous crossings: Race, species, and nature in a multicultural age. Cambridge University Press.
Ko, A., & Ko, S. (2015/2020). Aphro-ism: Essays on pop culture, feminism, and black veganism from two sisters. Lantern Publishing and Media.
Kurki, V. (2021). Legal personhood and animal rights. Journal of Animal Ethics, 11(1), 47–62.
Kurki, V. (2019). A theory of legal personhood. Oxford University Press.
Lewis, A. D. E. (n.d). Common law. https://www.britannica.com/topic/common-law
Low, P. with Panksepp, J., Reiss, D., Edelman, B., Van Swinderen, B., Koch, C. (2021). The Cambridge declaration on consciousness. https://fcmconference.org/img/CambridgeDeclarationOnConsciousness.pdf
McCulloch, S. (2021, August 5). Animal sentience bill is necessary for the UK to be a true world leader in animal welfare. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/animal-sentience-bill-is-necessary-for-the-uk-to-be-a-true-world-leader-in-animal-welfare-165576
Marino, L. (2013). Humans, dolphins, and moral inclusivity. In R. Corbey & A. Lanjouw (Eds.), The politics of species: Reshaping our relationships with other animals (pp. 95–105). Cambridge University Press.
Munro, C. (2021, July 26). Government set to ban boiling lobsters alive. PETA UK. https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/british-vets-lobster-ban/?utm_source=PETA%20UK::Google&utm_medium=Ad&utm_campaign=1120::gen::PETA%20UK::Google::s-grant-awa-dsa::::searchad&gclid=CjwKCAjwybyJBhBwEiwAvz4G766anHoSzKk8ESwgHFs3at16uOn_F9g_mj2Olx-u0YYHJ-axf9h9DRoCkScQAvD_BwE
Nibert, D. A. (2013). Animal oppression and human violence: Domesecration, capitalism and global conflict. Columbia University Press.
Nonhuman Rights Project. https://www.nonhumanrights.org/
Noske, B. (1997). Beyond boundaries: Humans and animals. Black Rose Books.
Norcross, A. (2014). Subjects of a life, the argument from risk, and the significance of self-consciousness. Sematic Scholar. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Subjects-of-a-Life-%2C-the-Argument-from-Risk-%2C-and-%E2%80%9D-Norcross-Regan/fac55ebd8a17cfec990470e3f9130526ccb3fb82
O’Donoghue A. (2015). Sovereign exception: Notes on the thought of Giorgio Agamben. https://criticallegalthinking.com/2015/07/02/sovereign-exception-notes-on-the-thought-of-giorgio-agamben/
Rafferty, J. P. (n.d.). Vertebrate groups. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/list/5-vertebrate-groups
Regan, T. (1986). A case for animal rights. In M. W. Fox & L. D. Mickley (Eds.), Advances in animal welfare science 1986/87 (pp. 179–189). The Humane Society of the United States.
Sachkova, M. (2022). Huge milestone! UK law now recognizes animals as being sentient. PETA UK. https://www.peta.org.uk/blog/sentience/#:~:text=The%20Animal%20Welfare%20(Sentience)%20Bill,Welfare%20(Sentience)%20Act%202022
Singer, P. (1975). Animal liberation: A new ethics for our treatment of animals. New York Review.
Smith, D. L. (2013). Indexically yours: Why being human is more like being here than like being water. In R. Corbey & A. Lanjouw (Eds.), The politics of species: Reshaping our relationships with other animals (pp. 40–52). Cambridge University Press.
Talbot-Jones. (2014). A river personified. https://crawford.anu.edu.au/news-events/news/4098/river-personified
Tanasescu, M. (2017, June 19). When a river is a person: From Ecuador to New Zealand, nature gets its day in court. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/when-a-river-is-a-person-from-ecuador-to-new-zealand-nature-gets-its-day-in-court-79278
Taylor, S. (2017). Beasts of burden: Animal and disability liberation. The New Press.
Trigg, R. (2021). Intersectionality—An alternative to redrawing the line in the pursuit of animal rights. Ethics and the Environment, 26(2), 73–118.
Twine, R. (2013). Addressing the animal–industrial complex. In R. Corbey & A. Lanjouw (Eds.), The politics of species: Reshaping our relationships with other animals (pp. 77–91). Cambridge University Press.
UK Parliament. (n.d.). Reporting stage (Lords). https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/laws/passage-bill/lords/lrds-lords-report-stage/
Varriale-Barker, C. (2020). “A deep dilemma”: New York is poised to take another look at legal personhood status for nonhuman animals. American Bar Association: Animal Law. Retrieved from https://www.segalmccambridge.com/wp-content/themes/paperstreet/assets/A%20Deep%20Dilemma.pdf
Weheliye, A. G. (2014). Habeas viscus: Racializing assemblages, biopolitics and black feminist theories of the human. Duke University Press.
Wise, S. M. (2000). Rattling the case: Toward legal rights for animals. Perseus Books.
Wise, S. M. (2010). Legal personhood and the Nonhuman Rights Project. Animal Law Review, Lewis & Clark Law School, 17(1), 1–11.
Wise, S. (2013). The capacity of nonhuman animals for legal personhood and legal rights. In R. Corbey & A. Lanjouw (Eds.), The politics of species: Reshaping our relationships with other animals (pp. 241–245). Cambridge University Press.
Wolfe, C. (2003). Animal rites: American culture, the discourse of species, and posthumanist theory. The University of Chicago Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Banwell, S. (2023). Granting Nonhuman Animals Legal Personhood: The Implications for Human and Nonhuman Animals. In: The War Against Nonhuman Animals. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30430-9_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-30430-9_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-30429-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-30430-9
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)