ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we explore the values underpinning 21st-century global citizenship, arguing for an approach that more inclusively considers other animals and nature. Drawing on the work of authors in the eco-socialist, animal rights, and indigenous traditions, we propose an approach to democratic citizenship that provides agency to all sentient beings and nature, challenging the exploitation of humans, other animals, and nature while recognizing how each are interconnected within the structural violence of the capitalist economy. A more holistic approach to citizenship that recognizes these interconnections could ultimately lead to more compassionate forms of democracy. This chapter goes beyond the ethical questions at the root of these debates to argue that human survival may depend on adopting some version of this approach. In order to change our society’s relationship with non-human animals, vegans and their allies in other social justice movements must confront the economic and political systems that maintain the paradigm of dominance.
