Don’t put all your speech-acts in one basket: situating animal activism in the deliberative system

In this article I offer deliberative systems as a normative and evaluative approach through which to appraise typically ‘non-deliberative’ animal activism. Although such actions can contribute to inclusivity through the political representation of animals, I caution against an over-reliance on such tactics and interrogate the claim that non-deliberative tactics are essential ingredients for prompting the reflection and reconsideration that animal rights philosophy demands. Instead, relying solely on non-deliberative activism may serve not only to undermine further deliberation but to actually jeopardise animal protection goals.