Animals, Ethics, and Justice: Animal Justice in an Era of Ecological Collapse and Authoritarianism

Animals, Ethics, and Justice: Beyond the Human is a webinar series hosted by Dr. Kathrin Herrmann that explores how human societies relate to other animals—and what more ethical, just, and sustainable forms of coexistence might look like. Bringing together leading scholars and thinkers from across disciplines, the series examines the structural, cultural, and ethical dimensions of human–animal relations in the context of planetary health and multispecies justice. Upcoming Talk: Animal Justice in an Era of Ecological Collapse and Authoritarianism, Prof. John Sanbonmatsu (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) In this session, philosopher John Sanbonmatsu will discuss key ideas from his recent book The Omnivore’s Deception: What We Get Wrong about Meat, Animals, and Ourselves (NYU Press, 2025). Sanbonmatsu challenges the common framing of animal exploitation as a matter of individual consumer choice. Instead, he situates it within broader social, economic, and ideological systems that normalize the large-scale use and killing of animals. Drawing on political philosophy, critical theory, and environmental thought, he examines how these systems perpetuate violence against nonhuman animals while obscuring its ethical implications. Abstract Prospects for the emancipation of nonhuman animals from human terror and violence have never seemed dimmer. Despite centuries of principled dissent against the exploitation of animals for food and other purposes, the number of animals killed each year continues to rise. Veganism remains a marginal—and marginalized—cultural presence in every society, while the mass extinction crisis intensifies.Meanwhile, populist authoritarian movements of the far right, fueled by structural contradictions and fissures in late capitalism, are gaining state power across the globe, eroding democratic institutions and human rights while accelerating ecological collapse. In this talk, Professor Sanbonmatsu offers a strategic analysis of the balance of contending forces—economic, ecological, social, cultural, technological, and existential—that shape the context in which future struggles for animal justice will unfold.