Books / book launch

Bookhaus hosts Steve Cooke to discuss his new book on animal rights

By Sarski Anderson  Wednesday Nov 8, 2023

The University of Bristol’s Policy Press is hosting an event at Bookhaus on November 15 to publicise two books: Steve Cooke’s What are Animal Rights for? (released October 2023) and Catherine Oliver’s What is Veganism for? (set for publication June 2024).

The event takes place as part of University Press Week 2023, which seeks to amplify the valuable work being done by university presses across the country.

Following previous positions on animal rights theory and environmental politics, Cooke is currently associate professor of Political Theory at the University of Leicester. Oliver is a lecturer in the Sociology of Climate Change at Lancaster University.

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The pair will be in coversation on the night, shedding light on both their contributions to the ongoing ‘What is it For’ series, which aims to pose difficult questions and advocate for positive change.

“How should we treat animals?” poses Cooke in the summary to his book.

“The long-held belief that other animals exist solely for human use has undergone radical challenges in the past half-century. How much further do we need to go to minimise, and even eliminate, animal suffering?

“The field of animal rights raises big questions about how humans treat the other animals with which we share the planet.

“These questions are becoming more pressing as livestock farming exerts an ever-greater toll on the planet and the animals themselves, and we learn more about their capacity to think and experience pain.

“This book shows why animals ought to have greater rights and what the world might look like if they did.”

What are Animal Rights for? launch with Steve Cooke is at Bookhaus on November 15 at 6pm. Tickets cost £6 and include a glass of wine or soft drink and £2 off the book – available from Bookhaus.

All photos: courtesy of Policy Press (main photo shows Steve Cooke)

Read more: Animal rights group commemorates 125th anniversary with application for blue plaque

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