Multispecies Collective Reading Group

About

The Multispecies Collective Reading Group is our flagship gathering where our members meet our network and engage with a text in pursuit of mutual inspiration to attain our objectives in line with our values.

Join us for this session, in person or online, to join our discussion of the following theme and texts:

Theme

Ethical Dilemmas of Animal Sanctuaries - Rethinking Care, Captivity, and the Politics of Refuge.

Texts

This month’s theme will be discussed through engagement with two texts chosen by the collective. Elan Abrell’s article invites us to think about sanctuaries as complex spaces of interspecies care, where rescue and refuge remain entangled with captivity, control, and the limits of moral repair. Tomassini's work examines the assumption that sanctuaries are automatically “just” spaces, asking us to consider questions of animal justice, tourism, commodification, power, and posthuman responsibility. Together, the readings open up important questions about what sanctuaries make possible, what they cannot fully resolve, and how we might think critically about care in spaces that are both protective and restrictive. You are very welcome to join us whether you are able to read both texts, just one of them, or none at all!

• Tomassini, L. et al. (2024) ‘The space of animal justice in wildlife sanctuaries: a posthuman perspective’, Journal of Ecotourism, 23(1), pp. 38–55. doi: 10.1080/14724049.2022.2122480.

• Abrell, E., (2017) “Introduction: Interrogating Captive Freedom: The Possibilities and Limits of Animal Sanctuaries”, Animal Studies Journal 6(2), 1-8