Multispecies Participation, Law, and Transformative Change
Michelle Strauss
People
Researcher
Michelle Strauss
Background
Michelle’s research emerges from a dissatisfaction with reform efforts that stop at symbolic recognition. Her doctoral work examines how participation is structured in environmental governance and how non-human interests are filtered or sidelined through human-centric legal frameworks. Drawing on intersectional theory, feminist ethics, posthumanism, and Indigenous legal thought, she approaches law as a site of struggle-one that can both entrench harm and enable transformation. Beyond academia, Michelle is committed to translating theory into action, working across disciplines and mediums to test how ideas about care, responsibility, and multispecies justice might be practised in real-world contexts.
Aims
To challenge anthropocentric and extractive legal systems
To develop practical tools for multispecies participation and governance
To connect critical theory with activism, advocacy, and creative practice
To support collective, experimental approaches to social and environmental change
Outcomes
Publications:
Strauss, M, 'Is Rights of Nature a Useful Framework for Giving Rights to Animals?' (2025) Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law Essay Competition First Place (University Category)