THE EUROPES OF ANIMALS
LES EUROPES DES ANIMAUX
Call for Papers for a Special Issue of the
Journal of Interdisciplinary History of Ideas
Deadline: May 31, 2026
The issue of a universalist reform of the juridical status of animals supplementing the European Union’s Convention on human rights has become topical thanks to the Déclaration européenne des droits de l’animal (DEDA, European Declaration of Animal Rights).1 This document was published in January 2025 by a group of French jurists and endorsed by a considerable number of European animal advocacy associations and foundations. Several municipalities in France and a couple of other countries have adopted it and it is hoped that the document will be discussed in the European Parliament.
The Preamble of the Declaration refers to a well-established tradition of arguments for animal justice: human-nonhuman continuity, sentience and/or cognitive abilities as foundation of interests and, consequently, rights. Scholars still discuss these arguments (their philosophical effectiveness, their application in historical contexts, etc.) and sometimes propose new approaches (for example, Martha Nussbaum’s capability approach).
The last point of the Preamble states: “Stressing the need to consolidate this European heritage of ideals and values, and to demonstrate the existence of a European consensus in favour of a steady increase in the level of animal protection” (our italics). Today, we are experiencing a crisis: the meaning of Europe and European values is under scrutiny—an object of negotiation, but also a target of very serious internal and international political challenges. More than ever, there is no unanimity on what ‘Europe’ as a whole means. Thus, the reference to historical and/or present European values and consensus concerning animal justice seems worth discussing.
This calls for a broad interdisciplinary contribution, where the historical approach to ideas and forms of knowledge which characterizes this journal can facilitate a critical and non-Eurocentric examination of three aspects. Firstly, the intellectual journey that led to the formulation of universal values concerning non-human animals. Secondly, Europe's encounter with other cultures in this domain. And thirdly, the various approaches that have emerged over time concerning the topic of animal rights, as more or less embedded in European history and culture.
In what sense those ideas and values concerning non-humans are European? Are they exclusively European?
The Declaration seeks to build on an ideal European set of assumptions and values, within which a general consensus on these issues is expected: is it possible to identify a specific genealogy to which this consensus could be traced? Is it possible to reconstruct the intellectual and conceptual history of this representation and of its distinctive components in relation to animals?
Were European advocates influenced in turn and in various historical periods by non-European visions?
Were ideas on animals ‘exported’ from Europe to other continents?
Which conceptualisations and ideas guided European policies and behaviours outside Europe in colonial times, and was animal advocacy inside Europe concerned with this aspect?
Animal welfare and protection concerns are addressed very differently in member States and public opinion is quite differentiated as well. Different disciplinary perspectives are needed to understand these differences and their historical roots. A few countries recently included animal welfare or protection in their Constitution: what arguments were in fact utilized in recent or less recent times?
These are some examples of the contributions that the Special Issue is willing to receive from scholars across different disciplines, who share an interest in a historical approach to the analysis of animal rights. Contributions proposed for publication should explore the possibilities offered by the Declaration, to interrogate the history of European ideas regarding non-human animals, as a background to the values, policies, and overall approaches advocated by the Declaration, according to the specific methodology of our Journal: i.e. a strong historical approach aiming to develop original research in the interdisciplinary history of ideas. The call is open to a variety of genuine approaches to the historical intersection of ideas from and through different domains.
Prior to submission, prospective authors are invited to contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to request registration as an author (the self-registering function is currently disabled for all journals on the platform, due to a high volume of spam). The same address may also be used to request any clarification concerning the Call.
Please note that articles that do not approach the topic as a historical interdisciplinary object will not be considered for publication.
Deadline for submission: May 31, 2026
Publication: December 2026
Accepted languages: English and French
The JIHI is indexed in DOAJ, ERIH-PLUS, Paperity, and Scopus. In Italy, it is also classified as an “ANVUR classe A” journal for the following disciplinary sectors: 11-A1, 11-A2, 11-A3, 11-C5, and 14-B1.
This document: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15460032.
French version of the Call at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15460053.
(1) See https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15201847; a provisional English version is found at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15268615.
