Call for blog submissions – “After the Pandemic: Re-Imagining Human-Animal Relations”

The ongoing global pandemic has demonstrated that our relationships with other animals that are based on oppression are no longer tenable. With that in mind we are calling for submissions to the Animals in Society: Animal Studies Scholar Advocacy blog that consider the impact of the pandemic on other animals and (call for us to) re-imagine our relationships with other animals. The idea behind this is to get alternative ideas of human-animal relationships into the public arena. As such, our call is a broad one and we encourage you to be as creative and bold as possible with the hope of igniting conversations about the issues. Pieces might address some of the following, although other ideas are certainly welcome:

• What might our relationships with companion animals look like after the pandemic given we have shown our willingness to see them as highly disposable (e.g., handing them over to shelters due to fears of their spreading the virus)?
• How might we stop wild animal trade given its place at the centre of the virus?
• How and why might human-farmed animal relationships be changed post-pandemic and what would need to occur to see this shift?
• How and why might we include animals in national policy responses to pandemics and other ‘disasters’?
• What is the impact on species that tend not to make the headlines such as insect populations or those animals that have come to depend on human activities for their food?
• If we fundamentally shift our attitudes towards other species away from one of dominion, what do our lives, systems and structures look like?

We are interested in pieces up to c. 1000 words but will also consider alternative mediums such as artwork, photographs, poems, stories.

If you are interested please see our general guidelines here and contact nik.taylor@canterbury.ac.nz directly with ideas.