S1E4: Personhood with Maneesha Deckha

Apr 22, 2020

Maneesha Deckha, a leading Professor of Law at the University of Victoria, explores the legal concept of personhood and its implications for animal rights. She discusses the transformative shift from traditional views to 'Legal Beingness,' a framework that addresses the unique identities of non-human beings. Deckha highlights the disparities in legal protections among different animal species and critiques human-centric perspectives in academia. Her insights provoke thought on the complexities of animal advocacy and the potential for evolving legal recognition that values all sentient beings.

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ANECDOTE

Personal Journey Into Animal Law

Maneesha Deckha became vegetarian and then vegan after learning about food industry practices as a teen.
She pursued animal law academically and has integrated intersectional theory into her scholarship.

INSIGHT

Personhood Is A Legal Construct

Personhood legally separates property from rights-bearing subjects and historically excluded many humans.
Corporations show personhood can apply beyond humans, revealing legal malleability rather than natural boundary.

INSIGHT

Personhood Lacks A Stable Definition

Courts use multiple, inconsistent meanings of personhood, from an empty legal shell to a divine human ideal.
This instability means personhood offers no single clear path for extending protections to animals.

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In this episode Maneesha Deckha explains the legal concept of personhood, why animal advocates are trying to include animals within the category and the potential of a different concept, ‘Legal Beingness’, to side-step some of the challenges of Personhood as a concept.

Date recorded: 2 April 2020

Guest: Maneesha Deckha is Professor and Lansdowne Chair in Law at the University of Victoria. Her research interests include critical animal studies, animal law and legalities, postcolonial feminist theory, and reproductive law. She is widely published and has received multiple grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and other funding bodies. She has also held the Fulbright Visiting Chair in Law and Society at New York University. Her book project on feminism, postcolonialism and critical animal law entitled Animals as Legal Beings: Contesting Anthropocentric Legal Orders is forthcoming from the University of Toronto Press. She serves as the Director of the Animal Studies Research Initiative at the University of Victoria and is a Brooks Animal Studies Academic Network Fellow. Read more about Maneesha Deckha here.

Host: Claudia Hirtenfelder is a PhD Candidate in Geography and Planning at Queen’s University and is currently undertaking her own research project that looks at the historical relationships between animals and cities. Connect with her on Twitter (@ClaudiaFTowne)

Featured readings/speeches: Animals as Legal Beings: Contesting Anthropocentric Legal Orders by Maneesha Deckha (forthcoming, Fall 2020), Best Actor Speech by Joaquin Phoenix / We are completely beside ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler.

Bed Music created by Gordon Clarke (Instagram: @_con_sol_)

Podcast Logo created by Jeremy John (Website)

Sponsored by Animals in Philosophy, Politics, Law and Ethics – A.P.P.L.E (Website)

Part of iROAR, an Animals Podcasting Network and the CFRC Podcast Network

A.P.P.L.E
Animals in Politics, Law, and Ethics researches how we live in interspecies societies and polities.

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