Ideas to shape your inner and outer world!
First Edition of The Little Antispeciesist Webinars, dynamic online conferences and panels of discussion organized by Vegan Option Canada (VOC) in the occasion of the World Day to End Speciesism. For this opportunity, 18 captivating webinars and 1 unique panel of discussion await you, all hosted by Projet Méduse’s facilitators.
Saturday, August 29, 2020 - Time Zone EDT
This conference was given in English.
“Speciesism” may be perceived by some as just another “ism” contrived by activists, but it is, in fact, a set of practices and attitudes that are inconsistent with core ethical principles. But what are these principles? Is it just about suffering or is it about “interests” in a larger sense? Why is consistency important? And is the promotion of antispeciesism an effective way of reducing the abuse of non-human animals? Jonathan Leighton will address these questions and discuss the role of ethics in general and antispeciesism in particular in creating a more compassionate society.
Jonathan Leighton is a writer, ethics strategist and public speaker, dedicated to the goal of a gentler world with less suffering. He is the Executive Director of the Organisation for the Prevention of Intense Suffering (OPIS).
This conference was given in English.
Philip Murphy is a writer and social justice activist based in the Greater New York City area. He is a founding member of the Buddhist Action Coalition NYC, a pan-Buddhist social justice organization, and is also a co-founder of the New York chapter of UK-based Animal Rebellion, a global climate and animal justice movement. His article on Animal Rebellion, Why Animal Justice is Crucial in Addressing the Climate Emergency was published at the independent global media platform openDemocracy.net.
This conference was given in French.
Noémie Albert is active in the environmental field and a touch of everything as a self-employed worker.
There are many ways to introduce people to veganism and anti-speciesism. Often, the issues for people are lack of time, lack of energy, or lack of money (or all three.) My partner and I have created a vegan collective kitchen in order to promote veganism, while responding to people’s needs. During my presentation, I will talk about what a collective kitchen is, and our experience with it in Gatineau.
This lecture will be given in French.
Jean-Christophe Lurenbaum decided very early on to devote his life to the organisation of the greatest possible happiness in the world. Is Being Born in the Best Interest of the Child? published in 2011, is the fruit of several decades of research on the permanent conflict between ethics, which gives priority to the alleviation of suffering, and the ideology of reproduction.
For centuries, progressives have struggled to make political inroads against conservatives. Why is this? Because each one works in isolation, without a vast planetary gathering of those who give priority to the alleviation of suffering, in the face of those who give priority to reproduction. When will there be an international coalition of all the actors of the animal cause, from anti-speciesists to vegans to animalists, itself a member of the largest progressive alliance of all time, an alliance capable of replacing the speciesist Universal Declaration of Human Rights with a Universal Declaration of Rights expanded to include all sentient beings?
This conference was given in French.
A society without specism is often the ideal we want to strive for. However, a world that does not discriminate on the basis of species does not guarantee less animal suffering. We can even imagine scenarios in which the enlargement of our sphere of moral consideration would (paradoxically) increase the scale of suffering. It is not enough not to discriminate to be fair. But then, what is missing?
Jim Buhler works for Vegan Option Canada in parallel with his master’s studies in sociology and philosophy. As an aspirant to the ideas of the Effective Altruism movement, he is committed to studying the best ways to alleviate as much suffering as possible.
This conference was given in French.
Although speciesism is at the heart of the debate on animal rights, this notion is often misunderstood. In this presentation, I will address the main philosophical issues it raises. More specifically, I will answer three questions: What is speciesism? Does speciesism exist? Is speciesism morally acceptable?
François Jaquet is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre de recherche en éthique de Montréal. His work deals essentially with metaethics and animal ethics. He is the author of numerous articles and co-author of “Qui peut sauver la morale?” (Who can save morality?). An Essay in Metaethics (Ithaca, 2019).
This conference was given in English.
Harley has hands on experience as a story-based strategist for Animal Rebellion and works on several issues in Animal Think Tank. She knows and has experience with non-violent civil disobedience and tries to understand social change from a holistic perspective.
Sunday, August 30, 2020 - Time Zone EDT
This conference was given in English.
This conference was given in French.
Within the animal movement, activists tend to be very critical of animal eaters, and sometimes even vegetarians.
This presentation aims to challenge the idea that we don’t need these people to be activists with us. It will address issues such as coherence, the search for personal purity and the negative impact they have on our movement and, consequently, on animals.
Fabien Truffer is spokesperson and activist of the association PEA – Pour l’Égalité Animale. Is it his training as a lawyer that makes him sometimes like to play the devil’s advocate? Maybe it’s because of his training as a lawyer…
This conference was given in English.
Manu Herrán (Madrid, Spain) is a computer engineer and programmer, creator of artificial life simulations, genetic algorithms, evolutionary algorithms, and author of about 100 essays and two books dealing mainly with the subject of sentience in animals and machines, as well as evolution, cooperation, intelligence, death, ethics and other themes.He is the founder of the association Sentience Research which develop, disseminate and promote research on sentience aimed at a better world, and particularly, reducing involuntary and useless suffering. He is also an associate researcher in OPIS.
This conference was given in French.
Laura is a sentient activist, lecturer and co-founder of Project Jellyfish.
After a quick look at some important notions related to strategy, the objective of this conference is to highlight what each activist can do to consider their participation in the struggle in a strategic way.
This lecture will be given in French.
Florence Dellerie is a scientific author and illustrator, and creator of the Questions Animalistes website, which brings together her work dedicated to ethics and the promotion of critical thinking. She is also a columnist on Nonbi-Radio, editor of L’Amorce and co-founder of the Project Méduses.
In this conference, Florence Dellerie presents arguments showing that the notion of “natural food”, very often put in opposition to vegetarianism and veganism, is not relevant.
This conference was given in French.
Systemic oppression is part of an architecture with common root causes. Speciesism does not escape this phenomenon, but understanding its place among other oppressions requires a finer breakdown, leading to talk of a plurality of specisms.
Orlando H. Bentata is the founder of the collective Réplique Éthique and the website of the same name, which aim to assist activists in their reflections by proposing methodological tools, discourse analysis and the popularisation of political and philosophical concepts. He is also a columnist on Nonbi-radio and co-founder of the Jellyfish Project, a social justice movement based on critical thinking and caring.
This conference was given inFrench.
Sarah Laureti, a health professional, and Marcello Bezina, an actor and activist, are the founders of Plantdemic, a non-profit organization whose mission is to uncover the direct link between the way humans treat animals and emerging and pandemic infectious diseases.
Sarah has been involved in the implementation of sustainable ecotourism in Yucatan and a humanitarian aid internship in Hato Mayor, Dominican Republic, helping local communities rebuild schools and health clinics. Sarah takes care of all the animals and is interested in plants.
Marcello has been a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and over the years he has organized with local and international animal welfare organizations, raising awareness on important animal issues.
This conference was given in English.
Online Panel of Discussion
Harley McDonal-Exkersall, Stéphanie Gravel, Remus Cernea, Sailesh Rao, Dan Kidby, Laura Le Brasseur
Diagnosis of the Movement for the End of Speciesism: It’s Strengths, Weaknesses and how to remedy them.
Stephanie is a Calgarian who wants to live in a world where cooperation, curiosity, and justice prevails. She received a BA in Community Rehabilitation from the University of Calgary’s Cumming School of Medicine and from this education was inspired to overlook normative social constructions and appreciate the inherent personhood and sentience of all beings.
Harley is from Australia and is currently based in the UK. She has been an organiser in the animal justice movement for 4 years mainly with the groups Young Voices for Animals (which she co-founded), Animal Rebellion and Animal Think Tank.
Remus is a human rights and animal rights activist and former politician. As the advisor of the Prime Minister for environmental issues he had successfully pushed for the decision to stop hunting of the beautiful species of Lynx Lynx. He was the first ever Green elected as a member of the Romanian Parliament (2012) and succeeded to pass a law that prohibits the using of the animals in circuses (2017). He delivered the first pro-Vegan speech in the Romanian Parliament (2015). He is currently a founder of Animal Rebellion Romania.
Sailesh is a Human Earth Animal Liberation (HEAL) activist, husband, dad and since 2010, a star-struck grandfather. He has promised his granddaughter, Kimaya, that the world will be largely Vegan before she turns 16 in 2026, so that people will stop eating her relatives, the animals. He has faith that humanity will transform to keep his pinky promise to Kimaya, not just for ethical reasons, but also out of sheer ecological necessity.
Dan is a campaigner, social movement researcher, trainer and animal lover. He is a co-founder of Animal Rebellion and Animal Think Tank. Animal Think Tank is a collective which seeks to develop and share knowledge about how to build an inclusive and strategic mass movement for animal liberation. He has been active in various social justice movements ranging from free education, climate justice, the rights of indigenous people and more.
Laura is a sentient activist, lecturer and co-founder of Project Jellyfish.
