Title: Oppression and Discrimination - Race, Class, and Species

Type: Talk with Q&A

Language: English

Facilitator: Christopher Sebastian

Contact: doris.schneeberger@wu.ac.at

Infotext

“Constructive dialogue is the only way we can ever heal systemic injustice.” - Christopher Sebastian

Description. Are animals sentient persons capable of having agency, forming complex emotional relationships, and experiencing rich, dignified lives. Or are they exploitable resources, objects to be commodified for human enrichment? All the available science points to the former. Yet our collective behaviors toward them indicates the latter. Confronting the reality of how we treat other animals in our society means confronting a systemic injustice so unspeakable that it is difficult to conceive, let alone make right. Yet doing so could give us insight into our understanding of human oppression. In this talk (with a Q&A part), Christopher will elaborate on the emergence of the human-animal binary in modern European history, how this binary dictated the social location of non-White people from the 1700s through the present, and the necessity of repairing our relationships with other animals for the benefit of the planet, our neighbors, and ourselves.

Speaker. Christopher Sebastian is the director of social media for Peace Advocacy Network, he sits on the Advisory Council for Encompass, he is senior editor at Veracity Press, he is co-founder of VGN, and he lectures at Columbia University in the Department of Social Work for the graduate course POP: Power, Oppression, and Privilege. Using a synthesis of political science, media theory, and ecopsychology, he describes the human relationship with other animals in terms of anti-black racism and class discrimination throughout the global west. His work has appeared in the anthology Circles of Compassion: Connecting Issues of Justice edited by Dr. Will Tuttle and Dr. Breeze Harper’s Sistah Vegan Project, among others.

Registration for this event: if you intend to join, please send us a pm with your email address (until May 10 if possible), and we'll then send you the link to the event in a separate email. Thanks!

We're very much looking forward to this event and hope you'll be able to join!

https://www.christophersebastian.info/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_ebX07H4wM