Below you will find a list of seminal texts (both books and articles) about animals written by scholars who are members of underrepresented groups.
*All academic works listed on this page are produced by full professors (or the non-academic equivalent).
Classic Books about Animals by Women
Classic Articles & Book Chapters about Animals by Women
Abortion and Animal Ethics
- Jenni, Kathi. 1994. Dilemmas in Social Philosophy: Abortion and Animal Rights. Social Theory and Practice 20(1): 59-83.
- Kao, Grace. 2006. Consistency in Ecofeminist Ethics: Contextual Moral Vegetarianism and Abortion. International Journal of the Humanities 3(11): 11-21.
Animal Dignity
- Deckha, Maneesha. 2009. Holding onto Humanity:Animals, Dignity, and Anxiety in Canada’s Assisted Human Reproduction Act. Unbound 5(21): 21-54.
Animal Emotions & Minds
- Dawkins, Marian Stamp. 2000. Animal Minds and Animal Emotions. Integrative and Comparative Biology. 40 (6): 883–888
- Dawkins, Marian Stamp. 1990. From an Animal’s Point of View: Motivation, Fitness and Animal Welfare. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 131-61.
- Walker, Rebecca. 2020. The Unfinished Business of Respect for Autonomy: Persons, Relationships, and Nonhuman Animals. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 45 (4-5): 521-539.
Animals in Entertainment
- Cataldi, Suzanne. 2002. Animals and the Concept of Dignity: Critical Reflections on a Circus Performance. Ethics and the Environment 7(2): 104-126.
- Nelson, Deborah. 2011. The Cruelest Show on Earth. Mother Jones.
Animals and the Law
- Deckha, Maneesha. 2018. Humanizing the Nonhuman: A Legitimate Way for Animals to Escape Juridical Property Status? In John Sorenson and Atsuko Matsuoka, eds, Critical Animal Studies: Towards a Trans-Species Social Justice . London: Rowman & Littlefield: 209-233.
- Deckha, Maneesha. 2019. The Save Movement and Farmed Animal Suffering: The Advocacy Benefits of Bearing Witness as a Template for Law. Canadian Journal of Comparative and Contemporary Law: 77-110.
- Deckha, Maneesha. 2020. Unsettling Anthropocentric Legal Systems: Reconciliation, Indigenous Laws, and Animal Personhood. Journal of Intercultural Studies (41):1 77-97.
Animals and Religion
- Galgut, Elisa. 2019. A Critique of the Cultural Defense of Animal Cruelty. Journal of Animal Ethics 9(2).
Animal Welfare
- Palmer, Care. 2011. Animal Disenhancement and the Non-Identity Problem: A Response to Thompson. NanoEthics 5 (1): 43-48.
- Palmer, Clare (with Peter Sandøe, Paul M. Hocking, Bjorn Förkman, Kirsty Haldane, and Helle H. Kristensen). 2014. The Blind Hens’ Challenge: Does It Undermine the View That Only Welfare Matters in Our Dealings with Animals? Environmental Values 23 (6): 727-742.
Children and Animals
- Stewart Kate (with Matthew Cole). 2009. The Conceptual Separation of Food and Animals in Childhood. Food, Culture and Society 12(4): 457-476.
- Stewart, Kate (with Matthew Cole). 2018. Socializing Superiority: The Cultural Denaturalization of Children’s Relations with Animals. Research Handbook on Childhoodnature (Springer International handbooks of education). Switzerland: Springer International: 1-25.
Companion Animal Ethics
- Bailey, Cathryn. 2020. Scavengers of the In-between: Feminist Ruminations on Dogs, Love, and Pragmatism. Between the Species 23(1).
- Finsen, Susan. Keeping Companion Animals: Dilemmas of Domestication. Journal of Animal Ethics 10, no.1 (2020).
- Irvine, Leslie. 2013. Animals as Life changers and Lifesavers: Redemption Narratives among Homeless Pet Owners. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography 42:3-30.
- Irvine, Leslie. 2003. The Problem of Unwanted Pets: A Case Study in How Institutions‘Think’ About Clients’ Needs. Social Problems 50:550-566.
- Palmer, Clare. 2013. Companion Cats as Co-Citizens? Comments on Sue Donaldson’s and Will Kymlicka’s Zoopolis. Dialogue 52(4):1-9.
- Palmer, Clare. 2012. Does Breeding a Bulldog Harm It? Animal Welfare 21: 157-166.
- Palmer, Clare (with Peter Sandoe). 2014. For Their Own Good: Captive Cats and Routine Confinement. In Lori Gruen (ed.), Ethics of Captivity. Oxford University Press: 135-155.
- Palmer, Clare. 2012. Inconvenient Desires: Should we Routinely Neuter Companion Animals? Anthrozoos 25 (1): 153-172.
- Palmer, Clare. 2006. Killing Animals in Animal Shelters. In The Animal Studies Group (ed.), Killing Animals. Illinois University Press: 170-187.
- Palmer, Clare. 2014. Value Conflicts in Feral Cat Management: Trap-Neuter-Return or Trap-Euthanize. In Michael Appleby, Dan Weary & Peter Sandoe (eds.), Dilemmas in Animal Welfare. CABI International: 148-168.
Eating Animals and Veg*
- Davis, Karen. 1995. Thinking Like a Chicken: Farm Animals and the Feminine Connection. In Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations, ed. by Carol J. Adams and Josephine Donovan. Duke University Press.
- Gaard, Greta. 2002. Vegetarian Ecofeminism: A Review Essay. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 23(3): 117-146.
- Harper, A. Breeze. 2010. Social justice beliefs and addiction to uncompassionate consumption. In Sistah vegan: Black female vegan’s speak on food, identity, health and society. Brooklyn, NY: Lantern Books.
- Harper, Breeze. Race as a ‘Feeble Matter’ in Veganism: Interrogating Whiteness, Geopolitical Privilege, and Consumption of ‘Cruelty-Free’ Products. Journal of Critical Animal Studies, 8( 3).
- Ilea, Ramona. 2009. Intensive Livestock Farming: Global Trends, Increased Environmental Concerns, and Ethical Solutions. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 22(2): 153-167.
- Kazez, Jean. 2018. The Taste Question in Animal Ethics. Journal of Applied Philosophy 35(4): 661-674.
- Paxton George, Kathryn. 1994. Should Feminists be Vegetarians? Signs 19(2): 405-434.
- Pluhar, Evelyn. 1988. When is it morally acceptable to kill animals? Journal of Agricultural Ethics (1): 211–224.
- Pluhar, Evelyn. 1992. Who can be Morally Obligated to be a Vegetarian? Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 5: 189-215.
Ethical Theory and Animals
- Anderson, Elizabeth. 2004. Animal Rights and the Value of Nonhuman Life. In Cass R. Sunstein & Martha Craven Nussbaum (eds.), Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions. Oxford University Press.
- Bailey, Cathryn. 2005. On the Backs of Animals: The Valorization of Reason in Contemporary Animal Ethics. Ethics and the Environment 10 (1):1-17.
- Bailey, Cathryn. 2009. A Man and a Dog in a Lifeboat: Self-sacrifice, Animals, and the Limits of Ethical Theory. Ethics and the Environment 14 (1):pp. 129-148.
- Calhoun, Cheshire. 2015. But What about the Animals? In Reason, Value, and Respect: Kantian Themes in The Philosophy of Thomas E. Hill, Jr., ed. by Mark Timmons and Robert N. Johnson. Oxford University Press: 194-211.
- Cavalieri, Paola. 2008. Are human rights human? In Susan J. Armstrong & Richard George Botzler (eds.), The Animal Ethics Reader. Routledge.
- Diamond, Cora. 1978. Eating Meat and Eating People. Philosophy 53 (206): 465-479.
- Donovan, Josephine. 1990. Animal Rights and Feminist Theory. Signs 15(2): 350-375.
- Donovan, Josephine. 1996. Attention to Suffering: A Feminist Caring Ethic for the Treatment of Animals. Journal of Social Philosophy 27 (1):81-102.
- Driver, Julia. 2012. A Humean Account of the Status and Character of Animals. In The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics, edited by Tom L. Beauchamp and R. G. Frey.
- Hursthouse, Rosalind. 2006. Applying Virtue Ethics to our Treatment of Other Animals. In The Practice of Virtue, edited by Jennifer Welchman. Hackett Publishing Company: 136-155.
- Hursthouse, Rosalind. Virtue Ethics and the Treatment of Animals. In The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics, edited by Tom L. Beauchamp and R. G. Frey.
- Nussbaum, Martha. 2012. The Capabilities Approach and Animal Entitlements. In The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics, edited by Tom L. Beauchamp and R. G. Frey.
- Oliver, Kelly. 2010. Animal Ethics: Toward an Ethics of Responsiveness. Research in Phenomenology 40 (2):267-280.
- Oliver, Kelly. 2008. What Is Wrong with (Animal) Rights? The Journal of Speculative Philosophy 22(3): 214-224.
- Plumwood, Val. 2000. Integrating Ethical Frameworks for Animals, Humans, and Nature: A Critical Feminist Ecosocialist Analysis. Ethics and the Environment 5(2): 285-322.
- Snow, Nancy. 1993. Compassion for Animals. Between the Species, Spring: 61-66.
- Walker, Rebecca. 2007. Animal Flourishing: What Virtue Requires of Human Animals. In Rebecca L. Walker & P. J. Ivanhoe (eds.), Working Virtue: Virtue Ethics and Contemporary Moral Problems. Oxford University Press. pp. 173-189.
- Warren, Mary Anne. 1987. Difficulties with the Strong Animal Rights Position. Between the Species 2(4): 433-441.
Experimenting on Animals
- Birke, Lynda and Jane Smith. 1995. Animals in Experimental Reports: The Rhetoric of Science. Society and Animals 3 (1):23-42.
- Birke, Lynda. 1995. Exploring the Boundaries: Feminism, Animals and Science. In Women and Animals, ed. by C. Adams and S. Kappeler. Duke University Press.
- Birke, Lynda (with Mike Michael). 1994. Enrolling the Core Set: The Case of the Animal Experimentation Controversy. Social Studies of Science 24: 81-95.
- Galgut, Elisa. 2015. Raising the Bar in the Justification of Animal Research. Journal of Animal Ethics 5(1).
- Slicer, Deborah. 1991. Your Daughter or Your Dog? A Feminist Assessment of the Animal Research Issue. Hypatia 6(1): Ecological Feminism: 108-124.
Feminism and Animals
- Adams, Carol. 2010. Why Feminist-Vegan Now? Feminism & Psychology 20 (3): 302-317.
- Bailey, Cathryn. 2020. Scavengers of the In-between: Feminist Ruminations on Dogs, Love, and Pragmatism. Between the Species 23(1).
- Birke, Lynda, Mette Bryld, and Nina Lykke. (2004). Animal Performances: An Exploration of Intersections between Feminist Science Studies and Studies of Human/Animal Relationships. Feminist Theory, 5(2), 167–183.
- Donovan, Josephine. 1990. Animal Rights and Feminist Theory. Signs 15(2): 350-375.
- Donovan, Josephine. 1996. Attention to Suffering: A Feminist Caring Ethic for the Treatment of Animals. Journal of Social Philosophy 27 (1):81-102.
- Dunayer, Joan. 1995. Sexist Words, Speciesist Roots. In Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations, ed. by Carol J. Adams and Josephine Donovan. Duke University Press.
- Gaard, Greta. 1993. Living Interconnections with Animals and Nature. In Ecofeminism, ed. by Greta Gaard. Temple University Press.
- Mackinnon, Catherine. 2005. Of Mice and Men: A Feminist Fragment on Animal Rights. In Animal Rights: Current Debates and New Directions, ed. by Cass R. Sunstein and Martha C. Nussbaum.
Hunting Animals
- Comninou, Maria. 1995. Speech, Pornography, and Hunting. In Animals and Women: Feminist Theoretical Explorations, ed. by Carol J. Adams and Josephine Donovan. Duke University Press.
- Kheel, Marti. 1996. The Killing Game. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport 23 (1):30-44.
- Oliver, Kelly. 2013. Hunting Girls: Patriarchal Fantasy or Feminist Progress?Americana: The Journal of American Popular Culture, 1900 to Present 12.
Race and Animals
- Deckha, Maneesha. 2012. Toward a Postcolonial, Posthumanist Feminist Theory: Centralizing Race and Culture in Feminist Work on Nonhuman Animals. Hypatia 27(3): 527-545.
- Bailey, Cathryn. 2007. We Are What We Eat: Feminist Vegetarianism and the Reproduction of Racial Identity. Hypatia 22(2): 39-59.
- Crary, Alice. 2019. Comments on a Contested Comparison: Race and Animals. In Ethics in the Wake of Wittgenstein, edited by Oskari Kuusela and Benjamin De Mesel, London: Routledge.
- Harper, A. Breeze. 2011. Connections: Speciesism, Racism, and Whiteness as the Norm. In Sister Species: Women, Animals, and Social Justice, ed. by Lisa Kemmerer: 72-78
- Harper, A. Breeze. 2011. ‘Post-racial’ Vegan USA? Critical Race and Black Feminist Analysis of Racialized Consciousness in Veganism. In Taking Food Public: Redefining Foodways in a Changing World, ed by Carole Counihan and Psyche A. Williams-Forson. Routledge.
Speciesism, Moral Status, and “Marginal” Cases
- Chappell, Sophie Grace. 1997. In Defence of Speciesism. In D.S. Oderberg and J.A. Laing (ed.), Human Lives: Critical Essays on Consequentialist Bioethics (New York: St. Martin’s Press): 96-108.
- Crary, Alice. 2018. The Horrific History of Comparisons Between Animals and Cognitively Disabled Human Beings (and How to Move Past it). In Animalides, edited by Lori Gruen and Fiona Probyn Rapsey, London: Bloomsbury.
- Crary, Alice. 2010. Minding What Already Matters. Philosophical Topics 38(1): 17-49.
- Diamond, Cora. 1991. The Importance of Being Human. Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement, 29: 35-62.
- Figdor, Carrie. The Psychological Speciesism of Humanism. Philosophical Studies (2020).
- Kittay, Eva Feder. 2005. At the Margins of Moral Personhood. Ethics 116: 100-131.
- Kittay, Eva Feder. 2019. Comments on Alice Crary’s The Horrific History of Comparisons between Cognitive Disability and Animality (and How to Move Past It) and Peter Singer’s Response to Crary. ZEMO 2, 127–133.
- Pluhar, Evelyn. 1988. Moral Agents and Moral Patients. Between the Species 4(1).
- Steinbock, Bonnie. 1978. Speciesism and the Idea of Equality. Philosophy 53(204): 247-256.
Vulnerability and Animals
- Deckha, Maneesha. 2015. Vulnerability, Equality, and Animals. Canadian Journal of Women and the Law 27 (1): 47-70.
- Palmer, Clare. 2015. Response to “Vulnerability, Dependence, and Special Obligations to Domesticated Animals” by Elijah Weber. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 28 (4):695-703.
- Plumwood, Val. 1995. Human Vulnerability and the Experience of Being Prey. Quadrant 39(3):29-34.
Wild Animal Ethics
- Clement, Grace. 2011. The Ethic of Care and the Problem of Wild Animals. Between the Species 13(3): 1-12.
- Everett, Jennifer. 2001. Environmental Ethics, Animal Welfarism, and the Problem of Predation: A Bambi Lover’s Respect for Nature. Ethics and the Environment 6.1: 42-67.
- Palmer, Clare. 2015. Against the View That We Are Normally Required to Assist Wild Animals. Relations 3(2): 203-210.
- Palmer, Clare. 2019. Assisting Wild Animals Vulnerable to Climate Change: Why Ethical Strategies Diverge. Journal of Applied Philosophy 36(2).
- Palmer, Clare. 2016. Climate Change, Ethics, and the Wildness of Wild Animals. In Bernice Bovenkerk & Jozef Keulartz (eds.), Animal Ethics in the Age of Humans: Blurring Boundaries in Human-Animal Relationships. Springer.
- Palmer, Clare. The Moral Relevance of the Distinction between Domesticated and Wild Animals. In The Oxford Handbook of Animal Ethics, edited by Tom L. Beauchamp and R. G. Frey.
- Palmer, Clare. 2016. Saving Species but Losing Wildness: Should We Genetically Adapt Wild Animal Species to Help Them Respond to Climate Change? Midwest Studies in Philosophy 40 (1):234-251.
- Palmer, Clare. 2018. Should We Offer Assistance to Both Wild and Domesticated Animals? The Harvard Review of Philosophy 25: 7-19.
- Palmer, Clare. 2013. What (If Anything) Do We Owe Wild Animals? Between the Species 16 (1):4.
Further Reading & Resources
The Vegan Feminist Network, which is a vegan community that values a non-violent & intersectional approach to anti-oppression research and activism, is a fantastic resource for learning about vegan feminism and intersectionality. To learn more about the excellent and underappreciated work that’s been written about animals by marginalized scholars, we recommend the VFN’s:
