Feminist Animal Studies: Foundations and Frontiers

NAACAS is pleased to present a special event exploring the contributions of feminist approaches within the field of critical animal studies. This hybrid event will feature a keynote by Maneesha Deckha and a panel in celebration of the the 35th anniversary of Carol J. Adams’ The Sexual Politics of Meat, featuring Carol J. Adams herself, along with commentaries on her work's impact from Nekeisha Alayna Alexis, Kathryn Gillespie, Lori Gruen, Claire Jean Kim, Angela Lee & Annie Potts. The event will take place in person at the University of Alberta and online. 

Funding for this event comes from the Faculties of Arts and Law, the Kule Institute for Advanced Study, and the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Alberta.

A draft of the schedule is below.

May 16, 2025

CN Alumni Hall, University of Alberta Faculty of Law

1:00 vegan lunch provided

1:30 - 2:30 p.m. (Mountain Time): Maneesha Deckha, Keynote Address (hybrid): “Rights of (Mother) Nature: A Feminist Framework for Legally Uplifting Animals?”

ABSTRACT: The Rights of Nature is positively regarded by many animal justice scholars as a rising theoretical and doctrinal framework to advance animals’ interests in law. This talk will explore whether the Rights of Nature, as a framework that relies on the gendered concept of the Earth as a mother to ground its claims, is a feminist way to advance animals’ interests. Given sacrificial logics of motherhood in the human and animal realms, but also the respect that should extend to beings and the bonds they create in their socially reproductive roles as mothers, this talk will explore what is at stake for feminist animal advocates in contemporary Rights of Nature campaigns for nonhuman beings that rely on the figure and trope of motherhood. Would a legal doctrine based on respecting the Earth because the Earth is “our” mother advance the interests of animals, many of whom are feminized and also burdened by human gendered scripts and expectations around motherhood? Could a relational mothering discourse surface the plight of animals? Could it respect feminist concerns about gender expectations for human mothers? The talk will explore the significance of such themes and and questions in view of proposing a feminist filter to guide the future development and marshalling of the Rights of Nature in policy and legal advocacy for animals.

[2:30 - 3:00 p.m.: Coffee/TeaBreak]

3:00 - 5:00 p.m. (Mountain Time): The Sexual Politics of Meat: Celebrating 35 Years (hybrid)

Moderator: Maneesha Deckha

Commentators: Nekeisha Alayna Alexis, Kathryn Gillespie, Lori Gruen, Claire Jean Kim, Angela Lee & Annie Potts

Respondent: Carol J. Adams