Esther Meijer
Biographic Data
| ID | 328 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Esther Meijer |
| GIVEN NAMES | Esther |
| FAMILY NAME | Meijer |
| SIGNATURE | MEIJER E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Amsterdam |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-9597-5833 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 42 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2013 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Rethinking the Political with Other Animals. Eva Meijer in Conversation with Dariusz Gzyra and Patryk Szaj
The interview with Eva Meijer that Dariusz Gzyra and Patryk Szaj conducted considers the political aspects of relationships between humans and non-human animals. It aims at reconsidering “the political” along with other animals (in contrast to speaking simply “about” animal politics.) In the course of the interview, the following issues are raised: the political turn in animal studies, the progressive development of animal studies over the years,…
Forum 62: Humans and Other Species
Studies of more-than-human sociality in general, and multispecies ethnography in particular, are becoming an increasingly popular trend in global (social, human, and transdisciplinary) scholarship. In the current forum, researchers from various disciplines discuss the advantages, limitations, and challenges of this trend. They also share their thoughts on why multispecies research has (or has not) an appeal in Russian academia and what the future…
Global injustice and animals: Towards a Multispecies Social Connection Model
In this article I argue for and sketch the outlines of a multispecies social connection model, based on the work of Iris Marion Young. This multispecies social connection model responds to shortcomings in existing approaches to multispecies global justice in animal philosophy and IR. Because the model focuses on concrete structures of injustice, it allows for taking into account relations without categorizing other animals beforehand and for bein…
Learning to See Mice: (Stray Philosophy III)
This essay describes the author’s experiences in living with laboratory mice, and investigates how these can function as a starting point for building new relations with mice. Laboratory mice are not often studied to learn more about laboratory mice. They are seen as replaceable, and only useful to learn more about humans. This essay challenges this by drawing attention to their ways of being, their individuality, sense of community, practices of…
When Animals Speak: Toward an Interspecies Democracy
This book develops a theory of political animal voices in three steps. The first part focuses on language. Drawing on insights from recent studies in biology and ethology, it challenges a view of language as exclusively human and argues that other animals speak. It also investigates the relation between developing common languages and creating common interspecies worlds. The second part of this book focuses on interspecies politics; it challenges…
Animals and the State: Citizenship, Sovereignty, and Reformulating Politics
Chapter 5 draws on recent work in the so-called “political turn” in animal ethics, most notably Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka’s political theory of non-human animal rights, to discuss how these concepts can guide relations between groups of non-human animals and human political communities. The author discusses their proposals for animal citizenship and sovereignty. In the second half of this chapter, the author explains problems with tradition…
From Animal Languages to Interspecies Worlds
This chapter investigates how we can conceptualize language games between animals of different species, specifically focusing on human/non-human animal relations, and the author explores the role that language plays in constructing common worlds with other animals. The author first reflects on the relationship between language and world, using dog trainer and philosopher Vicki Hearne’s views about interspecies language games, and Heidegger’s view…
Animal Politics: Justice, Power, and Political Animal Agency
Chapter 4 challenges political anthropocentrism. It first discusses critiques of anthropocentric interpretations of politics from the perspective of justice. These critiques are important, but we also need to investigate the power relations that have shaped our understanding of politics, and investigate the different forms of institutional and epistemic violence that play a role in these processes. Our systems of knowledge, which are interconnect…
Worm Politics
In Chapter 6, the author discusses worm politics, both in order to further clarify the borders of the political, and in order to show the variety of possible relations with non-human animals. The chapter contrasts new materialist approaches to non-humans with political animal philosophy, and also discusses the relation between knowledge and power around the example of earthworms as laboratory animals. The author then turns to new forms of interac…
Deliberating Animals: From Multispecies Dialogues to Interspecies Deliberation
In the final chapter, the author discusses how deliberation between human and non-human animals already takes place and how it can be improved, using a systemic perspective on deliberative democracy. The goal of this chapter is to bridge the distance between existing human/non-human animal dialogues at a micro-level, and human political systems. The author first discusses examples of dialogues between human and non-human animals in the animal stu…
Animal Democracy and the Challenges of Political Participation
Chapter 8 turns the focus from activism to political participation. Non-human animal political participation is often either not considered relevant, or not considered at all, by animal rights theorists. This is problematic, because the right to political participation—to co-shaping the rules under which one lives—is not just any right. Non-human animals are individuals with their own perspectives on life and their own idea of the good life, whic…
The Animal, What a Word!: Human Language and Non-Human Animals
In chapter 1, the author investigates the relation between language and anthropocentrism. By discussing the relation between human language and non-human animal exclusion, she argues that, in order to adequately address anthropocentrism, we need to redefine language in and through interaction with non-human animals. The first section of this chapter criticizes an anthropocentric view of language, reason, and animals. The author discusses the conn…
Goose Politics: Resistance, Deliberation, and the Politics of Space
The second case study draws on the insights developed in the first two parts of the thesis to investigate the goose-human conflict around Schiphol Airport. Geese are not wanted in the fields around the airport, yet they keep coming back because they like the grass. In response, humans kill them, even though this does not solve the problem. Many different parties play a role in this conflict—politicians, animal welfare activists, farmers, the airp…
Animal Activism and Interspecies Change
In Chapter 7, the author focuses on the role of non-human animals as agents of social and political change. This role is not usually acknowledged in theory or in animal activism, because non-human animals are not seen as political actors or as agents of social change, even though they act politically and influence human political institutions and practices. This is problematic because it does not recognize non-human animal agency, and reinforces …
Animal Languages
Chapter 2 turns the focus to non-human animal languages. The author draws on empirical studies of non-human animal languages and cultures, in order to provide a better insight into their worlds as a starting point for conceptualizing interspecies interactions and world-building. The chapter begins by discussing language research in which humans investigate the linguistic capacities of other animals through teaching them to use human language. It …
Stray Philosophy: Dog-Human Observations on Language, Freedom, and Politics
In the first case study, the author develops the ideas about language and politics further by discussing her own personal experiences with Romanian stray dog Olli around three themes: language, freedom, and politics. The author focuses on the first three months with Olli, in which a common language and habits were created and a certain level of freedom was established for him. The first section shows how their common language and habits came into…
The Melancholic Animal — On Depression and Animality
The phenomenon of depression fundamentally challenges common western ideas about what it means to be human, such as Cartesian distinctions between body and mind, and existing notions of rationality, autonomy and agency. Like madness more generally, melancholy and depression are historically shaped constructions, which interconnect at several points with constructions of animality. Focusing on these connections is helpful for rethinking depression…
Interspecies Encounters and the Political Turn: From Dialogues to Deliberation
Animal Rights, without Liberation
Political Communication with Animals

When Animals Speak: Toward an Interspecies Democracy
This book develops a theory of political animal voices in three steps. The first part focuses on language. Drawing on insights from recent studies in biology and ethology, it challenges a view of language as exclusively human and argues that other animals speak. It also investigates the relation between developing common languages and creating common interspecies worlds. The second part of this book focuses on interspecies politics; it challenges…
Political Communication with Animals

Global injustice and animals: Towards a Multispecies Social Connection Model
In this article I argue for and sketch the outlines of a multispecies social connection model, based on the work of Iris Marion Young. This multispecies social connection model responds to shortcomings in existing approaches to multispecies global justice in animal philosophy and IR. Because the model focuses on concrete structures of injustice, it allows for taking into account relations without categorizing other animals beforehand and for bein…
The Melancholic Animal — On Depression and Animality
The phenomenon of depression fundamentally challenges common western ideas about what it means to be human, such as Cartesian distinctions between body and mind, and existing notions of rationality, autonomy and agency. Like madness more generally, melancholy and depression are historically shaped constructions, which interconnect at several points with constructions of animality. Focusing on these connections is helpful for rethinking depression…
Political Communication with Animals

Animal Rights, without Liberation
Interspecies Encounters and the Political Turn: From Dialogues to Deliberation
Animals and the State: Citizenship, Sovereignty, and Reformulating Politics
Chapter 5 draws on recent work in the so-called “political turn” in animal ethics, most notably Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka’s political theory of non-human animal rights, to discuss how these concepts can guide relations between groups of non-human animals and human political communities. The author discusses their proposals for animal citizenship and sovereignty. In the second half of this chapter, the author explains problems with tradition…
From Animal Languages to Interspecies Worlds
This chapter investigates how we can conceptualize language games between animals of different species, specifically focusing on human/non-human animal relations, and the author explores the role that language plays in constructing common worlds with other animals. The author first reflects on the relationship between language and world, using dog trainer and philosopher Vicki Hearne’s views about interspecies language games, and Heidegger’s view…
Animal Politics: Justice, Power, and Political Animal Agency
Chapter 4 challenges political anthropocentrism. It first discusses critiques of anthropocentric interpretations of politics from the perspective of justice. These critiques are important, but we also need to investigate the power relations that have shaped our understanding of politics, and investigate the different forms of institutional and epistemic violence that play a role in these processes. Our systems of knowledge, which are interconnect…
Worm Politics
In Chapter 6, the author discusses worm politics, both in order to further clarify the borders of the political, and in order to show the variety of possible relations with non-human animals. The chapter contrasts new materialist approaches to non-humans with political animal philosophy, and also discusses the relation between knowledge and power around the example of earthworms as laboratory animals. The author then turns to new forms of interac…
Deliberating Animals: From Multispecies Dialogues to Interspecies Deliberation
In the final chapter, the author discusses how deliberation between human and non-human animals already takes place and how it can be improved, using a systemic perspective on deliberative democracy. The goal of this chapter is to bridge the distance between existing human/non-human animal dialogues at a micro-level, and human political systems. The author first discusses examples of dialogues between human and non-human animals in the animal stu…
Animal Democracy and the Challenges of Political Participation
Chapter 8 turns the focus from activism to political participation. Non-human animal political participation is often either not considered relevant, or not considered at all, by animal rights theorists. This is problematic, because the right to political participation—to co-shaping the rules under which one lives—is not just any right. Non-human animals are individuals with their own perspectives on life and their own idea of the good life, whic…
The Animal, What a Word!: Human Language and Non-Human Animals
In chapter 1, the author investigates the relation between language and anthropocentrism. By discussing the relation between human language and non-human animal exclusion, she argues that, in order to adequately address anthropocentrism, we need to redefine language in and through interaction with non-human animals. The first section of this chapter criticizes an anthropocentric view of language, reason, and animals. The author discusses the conn…
Goose Politics: Resistance, Deliberation, and the Politics of Space
The second case study draws on the insights developed in the first two parts of the thesis to investigate the goose-human conflict around Schiphol Airport. Geese are not wanted in the fields around the airport, yet they keep coming back because they like the grass. In response, humans kill them, even though this does not solve the problem. Many different parties play a role in this conflict—politicians, animal welfare activists, farmers, the airp…
Animal Activism and Interspecies Change
In Chapter 7, the author focuses on the role of non-human animals as agents of social and political change. This role is not usually acknowledged in theory or in animal activism, because non-human animals are not seen as political actors or as agents of social change, even though they act politically and influence human political institutions and practices. This is problematic because it does not recognize non-human animal agency, and reinforces …
Animal Languages
Chapter 2 turns the focus to non-human animal languages. The author draws on empirical studies of non-human animal languages and cultures, in order to provide a better insight into their worlds as a starting point for conceptualizing interspecies interactions and world-building. The chapter begins by discussing language research in which humans investigate the linguistic capacities of other animals through teaching them to use human language. It …
Stray Philosophy: Dog-Human Observations on Language, Freedom, and Politics
In the first case study, the author develops the ideas about language and politics further by discussing her own personal experiences with Romanian stray dog Olli around three themes: language, freedom, and politics. The author focuses on the first three months with Olli, in which a common language and habits were created and a certain level of freedom was established for him. The first section shows how their common language and habits came into…
The Melancholic Animal — On Depression and Animality
The phenomenon of depression fundamentally challenges common western ideas about what it means to be human, such as Cartesian distinctions between body and mind, and existing notions of rationality, autonomy and agency. Like madness more generally, melancholy and depression are historically shaped constructions, which interconnect at several points with constructions of animality. Focusing on these connections is helpful for rethinking depression…
When Animals Speak: Toward an Interspecies Democracy
This book develops a theory of political animal voices in three steps. The first part focuses on language. Drawing on insights from recent studies in biology and ethology, it challenges a view of language as exclusively human and argues that other animals speak. It also investigates the relation between developing common languages and creating common interspecies worlds. The second part of this book focuses on interspecies politics; it challenges…
Learning to See Mice: (Stray Philosophy III)
This essay describes the author’s experiences in living with laboratory mice, and investigates how these can function as a starting point for building new relations with mice. Laboratory mice are not often studied to learn more about laboratory mice. They are seen as replaceable, and only useful to learn more about humans. This essay challenges this by drawing attention to their ways of being, their individuality, sense of community, practices of…
Global injustice and animals: Towards a Multispecies Social Connection Model
In this article I argue for and sketch the outlines of a multispecies social connection model, based on the work of Iris Marion Young. This multispecies social connection model responds to shortcomings in existing approaches to multispecies global justice in animal philosophy and IR. Because the model focuses on concrete structures of injustice, it allows for taking into account relations without categorizing other animals beforehand and for bein…
Forum 62: Humans and Other Species
Studies of more-than-human sociality in general, and multispecies ethnography in particular, are becoming an increasingly popular trend in global (social, human, and transdisciplinary) scholarship. In the current forum, researchers from various disciplines discuss the advantages, limitations, and challenges of this trend. They also share their thoughts on why multispecies research has (or has not) an appeal in Russian academia and what the future…
Rethinking the Political with Other Animals. Eva Meijer in Conversation with Dariusz Gzyra and Patryk Szaj
The interview with Eva Meijer that Dariusz Gzyra and Patryk Szaj conducted considers the political aspects of relationships between humans and non-human animals. It aims at reconsidering “the political” along with other animals (in contrast to speaking simply “about” animal politics.) In the course of the interview, the following issues are raised: the political turn in animal studies, the progressive development of animal studies over the years,…
Political science (15 works) · Sociology (14 works) · Geographies of human-animal interactions (13 works) · Law (13 works) · Philosophy (13 works) · Politics (13 works) · Epistemology (12 works) · Environmental ethics (10 works) · Biology (9 works) · Social science (8 works)