CASJ Research Agenda

The CASJ’s focus is high-quality academic research which aims to have a real-world impact in aid of animal protection: Applied Animal Protection Research. Our principal subject area is Politics, in order to address the critical question of how the exercise of power affects the realisation of animal protection ethics. Other disciplines such as law, economics, sociology, philosophy, psychology and animal welfare science also play key roles in helping to understand human impacts on other animals, and will be integrated into the CASJ’s research.

Understanding how to grant animals the protection they deserve – and the public demands – means we have to tackle the broad issue of The Political Representation of Nonhuman Animals. This is because without representation in the political systems that decide their fate, animals remain extremely vulnerable and excluded from justice.

However, a defining feature of the CASJ is our focus on real-world impacts – that’s why our animal protection research is ‘Applied’. In politics – both as a research field and in practice – the real coalface is ‘public policy’. So our precise research focus – and core strategic aim – involves Embedding Animal Protection as a Core Goal of Public Policy.

The latest political science indicates that the following three fundamental reforms hold the key to representing animals across politics and policy-making:

1. an overarching legal/political status for animals
2. the institutional representation of animals’ interests within Government
3. a government strategy with targets to improve animal protection

Therefore the CASJ’s research agenda concentrates on these three crucial, interrelated areas:

1. Animals’ legal/political status
To develop this programme, we are reviewing the academic literature on animals’ moral, legal and political status. We are also examining the ethical characteristics of Government policy, as well as attitudes amongst MPs, policy-makers, media, business and the public. The ultimate aim of this research is to develop achievable policy proposals which will represent positive change for animals and institutionalise a process that continues to advance their status.

2. Institutional representation for animals
The CASJ is investigating how animals can be given a voice within Government, which would provide them with a crucial ‘power-base’ or ‘resource’ within the political system. This involves exploring how vulnerable individuals generally might be represented in the policy process, including precedents in other policy areas (e.g. Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, Children’s Commissioner), other countries and the impact of previous proposals intended to achieve this goal.

3. Policy Strategies for Animal Protection
The CASJ is studying the role of goals, strategies and targets in reflecting moral values and achieving policy change. Previous strategies from the UK, other nation states and supranational bodies will be examined. We will also explore the potential for an ‘animal welfare audit’ to provide crucial knowledge about humankind’s impact on other animals, help set baselines and identify priority areas for action.

We are currently developing a detailed plan to pursue this research agenda. In the meantime, we have recruited our first PhD researcher, Anne Marie Matarrese. Anne Marie will be supervised primarily by Professor Rob Garner at the University of Leicester, with the CASJ providing additional support. Anne Marie’s research will explore why and how animals can be democratically-represented, and she will also contribute to the CASJ’s research and advocacy programmes.

These three core areas make up the substructure or foundations that support policy-making in specific areas of human-animal impacts, such as Bovine TB control policy in DEFRA leading to the killing of badgers, or animal experimentation policy in the Home Office which authorises painful procedures on over 3.5 million animals annually. Therefore progress in these three core areas will help stimulate positive change for millions of animals.

However, policy-making in these specific areas affects animals in the short term and feeds back into the prospects for change at the foundation level. The CASJ therefore recognises that understanding and advancing animal protection also requires research and advocacy in the specific policy areas of:

• Animals in Agriculture
• Animals in Science
• Animals in the Wild
• Animals in Captivity
• Animal Companions