More-Than-Human and Deeply Human Perspectives on COVID-19

Area of Science:

• Environmental Humanities
• Critical Animal Studies
• Public Health Ethics

Background:

• COVID-19 is a complex phenomenon involving multispecies encounters, highlighting existing societal differences.
• The pandemic exposed how certain human lives are prioritized over others, including non-human animals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the demands of critical inquiry concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, with a focus on the more-than-human.
• To analyze the "politics of difference" revealed by the pandemic across human and non-human populations.
• To advocate for integrating new materialist, anti-racist, and anti-colonial scholarship for sustainable multispecies futures.

Main Methods:

• Multi-authored contribution synthesizing critical perspectives.
• Analysis of COVID-19 as a series of multispecies encounters.
• Examination of interconnected issues: racism, healthcare austerity, capital circulation, borders, environmental exploitation, and animal testing.

Main Results:

• COVID-19 exacerbates racialization, racism, and healthcare inequalities, impacting both human and animal well-being.
• The pandemic's origins and impact are linked to economic systems, anthropocentrism, and exploitation of non-human nature.
• A "politics of difference" dictates which lives are protected and which are sacrificed.

Conclusions:

• COVID-19 presents an opportunity to unite diverse scholarly approaches for a more equitable and sustainable multispecies future.
• Embracing anti-colonial humility and confronting ethical debts are crucial steps.
• Rethinking economic systems is essential to prevent future disasters and promote interspecies justice.