In this article I offer the deliberative systems approach as a normative and evaluative approach through which to appraise typically ‘non-deliberative’ animal activism. Although such actions can contribute to inclusive deliberation through the political representation of animals, I caution against an over-reliance on such tactics, and interrogate the claim that non-deliberative tactics are essential ingredients for prompting the reflection and reconsideration that animal rights philosophy demands. Instead, non-deliberative activism may serve not only to undermine further deliberation but actually to jeopardise animal protection goals.
BächtigerA., NiemeyerS., NebloM., SteenbergenM.R., and SteinerJ.. 2010. ‘Disentangling diversity in deliberative democracy: competing theories, their blind spots and complementarities’. Journal of Political Philosophy18: 32–63. Crossref.
2.
BoswellJ., HendriksC. and ErcanS.. [Forthcoming]. ‘Message received? Examining transmission in deliberative systems’. Critical Policy Studies. Crossref.
3.
BrownA. and Quinn-AllanD.. 2015. ‘Bridging empathy and protective indifference? Animal welfare, online engagement, and the activist-slacktivist divide’. Unpublished presentation at the Australasian Animal Studies Assocation, ‘Animal Publics: Emotions, Empathy, Activism’. University of Melbourne, 12–15 July 2015.
4.
ChambersS.2009. ‘Rhetoric and the public sphere: Has deliberative democracy abandoned mass democracy?’ Political Theory37: 323–350. Crossref.
5.
CochraneC., O'SullivanS. and GarnerR.. [Forthcoming]. ‘Animal ethics and the political’. Critical Review of International Social and Political Philosophy. Crossref.
6.
CuratoN., NiemeyerS. and DryzekJ.S.. 2013. ‘Appreciative and contestatory inquiry in deliberative forums: Can group hugs be dangerous?’ Critical Policy Studies7: 1–17. Crossref.
7.
D'ArcyS.2007. ‘Deliberative democracy, direct action, and animal advocacy’. Journal for Critical Animal Studies5: 48–63.
8.
Della PortaD.2005. ‘Deliberation in movement: Why and how to study deliberative democracy and social movements’. Acta Politica40: 336–350. Crossref.
9.
DobsonA.1996. ‘Representative democracy and the environment’. In LaffertyW. and MeadowcroftJ. (eds), Democracy and the Environment, pp. 124–139. Cheltenham: Elgar Publishing.
10.
DodgeJ.2009. ‘Environmental justice and deliberative democracy: How social change organizations respond to power in the deliberative system’. Policy and Society28: 225–239. Crossref.
11.
DryzekJ.S.1990. Discursive Democracy: Politics, Policy and Political Science. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
12.
DryzekJ.S.2009. ‘Deliberative democracy as capacity building’. Comparative Political Studies42: 1379–1403. Crossref.
13.
DryzekJ.S.2010. Foundations and Frontiers of Deliberative Governance. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Crossref.
14.
EckersleyR.2004. The Green State: Rethinking Democracy and Sovereignty. London: MIT Press.
15.
ErcanS., HendriksC. and DryzekJ.. 2015. ‘Beyond expression: Realising public deliberation in an era of communicative plenty’. Unpublished presentation at the American Political Science Association, ‘Annual Meeting’. San Francisco, CA, 3–6 September 2015.
16.
GarnerR.2016. ‘Animal rights and the deliberative turn in democratic theory’. European Journal of Political Theory. Online. Crossref.
17.
GoodinR.E.1996. ‘Enfranchising the earth, and its alternatives’. Political Studies44: 835–849. Crossref.
18.
GutmannA. and ThompsonD.. 1996. Democracy and Disagreement. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
19.
HadleyJ.2015. ‘Animal rights advocacy and legitimate public deliberation’. Political Studies63: 696–712. Crossref.
20.
HadleyJ.2017. ‘Religiosity and public reason: The case of direct action animal rights advocacy’. J. Res Publica First Online. Crossref.
21.
HanssonN. and JacobssonK.. 2014. ‘Learning to be affected: Subjectivity, sense, and sensibility in animal rights activism’. Society and Animals22: 262–288. Crossref.
22.
HerzogH.A. and GoldenL.L.. 2009. ‘Moral emotions and social activism: The case of animal rights’. Journal of Social Issues65: 485–498. Crossref.
23.
HumphreyM. and StearsM.. 2006. ‘Animal rights protest and the challenge to deliberative democracy’. Economy and Society35: 400–422. Crossref.
24.
JacobssonK. and LindblomJ.. 2012. ‘Moral reflexivity and dramaturgical action in social movement activism: The case of the Plowshares and Animal Rights Sweden’. Social Movement Studies: Journal of Social, Cultural and Political Protest11: 41–60.
25.
League Against Cruel Sports. 2015. ‘Protect the Hunting Act 2015’. Video. Online at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=WChCAceRgjs (accessed 7 April 2017).
26.
MansbridgeJ.1999. ‘Everyday talk in the deliberative system’. In MacedoS., (ed.) Deliberative Politics, pp. 211–239. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
27.
MansbridgeJ.2010. ‘The deliberative system disaggregated‘. Unpublished presentation at the American Political Science Association, ’The Politics of Hard Times: Citizens, Nations and the International System Under Stress’. Washington, DC, 2–5 September 2010.
28.
MansbridgeJ., BohmanJ., ChambersS., ChristianoT., FungA., ParkinsonJ.R., ThompsonD.F. and WarrenM.. 2012. ‘A systemic approach to deliberative democracy’. In ParkinsonJ. and MansbridgeJ. (eds), Deliberative Systems, pp. 1–26. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Crossref.
29.
MendonçaR. and ErcanS.. 2015. ‘Deliberation and protest: Strange bedfellows? Revealing the deliberative potential of 2013 protests in Turkey and Brazil’. Policy Studies36: 267–282. Crossref.
30.
OwenD. and SmithG.. 2015. ‘Survey article: deliberation, democracy, and the systemic turn’. The Journal of Political Philosophy23: 213–234. Crossref.
31.
ParkinsonJ.2003. ‘Legitimacy problems in deliberative democracy’. Political Studies51: 180–196. Crossref.
32.
ParryL.J.2016. ‘Deliberative democracy and animals: Not so strange bedfellows’. In GarnerR. and O'SullivanS. (eds), The Political Turn in Animal Ethics. London: Rowman and Littlefield International.
33.
RobertsA.2015. ‘The prospects for animal protection’. In After the Election: Prospects for Animal Protection in the UK, conference proceedings of the Centre for Animals and Social Justice, p. 2. London, 30 September 2015. Online at: http://www.casj.org.uk/reports/ (accessed 7 April 2017).
34.
Save Me Trust. 2015. Save Me. Website. Online at: http://www.save-me.org.uk (accessed 7 April 2017).
35.
SmithW.2015. ‘Disrupting deliberation: the impact of political protest on deliberative systems’. Centre for Deliberative Democracy and Global Governance Working Paper Series. Working Paper No. 5.
36.
SorensonJ.2009. ‘Constructing terrorists: Propaganda about animal rights’. Critical Studies on Terrorism2: 237–256. Crossref.
37.
StevensonH. and DryzekJ.S.. 2014. Democratizing Global Climate Governance. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
38.
SunsteinC.2009. On Rumors: How Falsehoods Spread, Why We Believe Them, What Can Be Done. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
