Eläinkysymys ja demokratia

Authors

• Markku Oksanen

Abstract

The controversy over the proper treatment of animals and their social status has rumbled on in Finland since the late 1990s. Democratic approaches seem to produce results that have not been accepted by all parties. This article explicates the animal issue from the perspective of political theory. It distinguishes between three approaches to the social and political status of animals. First, animals can be regarded merely as items on the political agenda and the political community decides what its stance to animals will be. The second approach claims that animals are members of the political community and thus entitled to participate in political processes. Because this alternative is inapplicable, those who aim to improve the treatment of animals propose ombudsman models, that is, the interests of animals are defended by their human representatives. In democratic societies, however, it is a matter of the democratic contest who may represent animals.