Relationships
A Mindset for Helping Humans and Other Animals to Get Along
A new book asks Critical Animal Studies (CAS) to expand their horizons.
Posted April 27, 2025 Reviewed by Kaja Perina
Key points
- This book is an essential contribution to scholarship challenging deeply ingrained paradigms of coexistence.
- It invites readers not just to imagine new futures, but to take seriously the urgent need to build them.
Globally, nonhuman animals (animals) need all the help they can get in the Anthropocene, often called ‘the age of humanity’ but practically cashed out as "the rage of inhumanity."
Meaningful work on behalf of other animals to help them deal with widespread human intrusions into their lives and diverse ways of being requires a broad group of academics and on-the-ground supporters to work hand-in-hand to use what we know about these fascinating individuals to help them to thrive in an increasingly human-dominated world.
A new book titled Exploring Topics in Non/Human Coexistence: Passion, Praxis, and Presence edited by Sarah Tomasello,, Erin Jones, Mark Suchyta, and Nathan Poirier clearly shows that coexistence between nonhumans and humans requires ongoing multispecies negotiations with humans showing far more respect for what other animals need to have the freedoms to express who they are and to live high-quality lives typical of their species.
As bioethicist Jessica Pierce writes: "To liberate. To leave alone. These seem like contradictory principles, one active and one passive...This provocative collection of essays, with its diverse range of perspectives and wide thematic scope, is sure to make you think differently." Here's what Sarah had to say about this important new collection of essays.
Marc Bekoff: Why did you and your colleagues compile the essays for Exploring Topics in Non/Human Coexistence: Passion, Praxis, and Presence and how did you select the contributors?
Sarah Tomasello: The idea for this book came after hosting a conference for Students for Critical Animal Studies (SCAS).1 We were impressed by the presentations, and felt the topics would work well together to create a multidimensional book that inspired cross-collaboration amongst activists. When we reached out to the presenters, we had such an enthusiastic response that we ended up creating two separate books so we could include everyone (the first book being Expanding the Critical Animal Studies Imagination). As we progressed with this book, we also recruited some additional authors whose work we thought would provide important insight into topics often ignored in liberation studies.
MB: How does your book relate to your backgrounds and general areas of interest?
ST: We met as students in Canisius University’s Anthrozoology program, and began collaborating on projects due to our shared interest in social/environmental injustices and their connection to nonhuman exploitation. My background is in anthropology and religious studies, and my work has focused on the importance of non/human liberation and wildlife conservation ethics to these fields - which are themes that run through several chapters of this book. This is also true of Erin’s background in human-canine relationships, Nathan’s background in gender studies and anarchism, and Mark’s background in sociology. One of our main goals with this book is to encourage cross-collaboration amongst different activists, and I think our different backgrounds are a testament to the good that can come from such collaborative work.
MB: Who do you hope to reach?
ST: From the beginning, we knew we wanted this book to reach as many people as possible. Therefore, we tried to write it in a way that made it accessible to the general public as well as to academics and educators. We also wanted to inspire those actively involved in liberation work to draw new connections and expand their scope of concern. Activism can be very single-issue focused, and our goal is to highlight how oppressive systems are interrelated in hopes of encouraging cross collaboration.
MB: What are some of the major topics you consider?
ST: This book covers many different and interesting topics, but they are all connected to the themes of passion, praxis and presence. Passion meaning a deep commitment to activism, praxis, using theory to inform action and action to inform theory, and presence, being mindful and reflexive in our work. One of the major topics that emerges from these themes is veganism as a central component to total liberation. Varun’s chapter, for example, explores cow protectionism in India and its perpetuation of violence towards other non/human communities.
We also have a chapter that discusses the importance of veganism to anarchafeminism, one that offers critiques of cell-based meat products, and one that highlights the influence of religion and ethnicity on our food choices. So while they all incorporate veganism, they do so from very different perspectives. Race and gender are two topics that can also be found throughout the chapters of this book. Several of the authors talk about the limitations of ecofeminism in their chapters, and we have others who explore Black trans feminism and Black anarchist theory and their importance to specific liberation efforts.
Finally, some chapters are more solution oriented and offer advice for activists hoping to improve liberation efforts. Mark’s chapter, for instance, talks about how important it is for activists to understand the values of their target audience so that their messaging can be better received. Others explain the importance of humane education for fostering coexistence or offer a critique of educational outreach as a strategy used by animal activists.
MB: How does your book differ from others that are concerned with some of the same general topics?
ST: There are so many important books out there within the realm of non/human liberation! Some of them provide an overview of topics related to total liberation, while others provide a more comprehensive look into a singular topic. We wanted ours to be a bit different in that it covers a diverse range of topics (many of which have received little attention) and that it delves into these topics deeply from multiple lenses.
MB: Are you hopeful that as people learn more about why you did the book and possible outcomes they will come to appreciate the types of work that need to be done and how important it is for everyone to strive for common goals?
ST: Yes, we would absolutely love to see that! We really hope that seeing books like this will encourage people to keep drawing new connections between oppressive systems and to not be afraid of bringing attention to issues that are being ignored or not given enough attention.
References
In conversation with independent scholar Sarah Tomasello. Sarah is especially interested in improving conservation initiatives so that they are respectful and inclusive of Indigenous communities, as well as more compassionate toward the nonhuman individuals they impact. She has several publications in (critical) animal studies journals and books.
1) For more information on The Institute for Critical Animal Studies click here. Also see An Essential and Critical Overview of Animal Studies for an interview about a book titled Critical Terms for Animal Studies, a text that grounds the interdisciplinary field with contributions from philosophers, political theorists, literary scholars, anthropologists, legal scholars, film scholars, historians, scientists, and cultural theorists.
