Každému zvířeti milující domov. Občanská angažovanost zakladatelek útulků pro psy a kočky
A Loving Home for Every Animal: Civic Engagement of Founders of Dog and Cat Shelters

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study focused on thecivic engagement of founders of associations operating dog and cat shelters. The author approaches the topic from the perspective of civil society studies,viewing it through the lens of social movements, utilizing models that analyze the relationship between volunteering and activism, and drawing on the politi-cal theory of animal rights, as developed in the concept of Zoopolis by SueDonaldson and Will Kymlicka (2011). These approaches allow the authorto capture the activist dimension of the shelter founders’ activities and todemonstrate how they challenge the legitimacy of power asymmetry in human-animal relationships. Although the principle of the “consent of the governed”has penetrated the relationship between humans and nature, civil society hasnever included animals or other non-human actors. However, the founders of private shelters treat the animals in their care as unique individuals, as beings with personality and agency who can and are invited to participate indecisions that affect their lives. Viewed in this way, the civic engagement ofshelter founders raises questions about the boundaries of civil society, specifi-cally the possibility of opening civil society to non-human species, even if theyare only taking the first steps.

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