Réjane Sénac’s Plea for Animal Rights

On January 29, researcher Réjane Sénac delivered a lecture organized by the campus library at the Jean-Falala public library to present her latest book published in 2025, Par effraction. Rendre visible la question animale. In attendance that night were a dozen Sciences Po students, as well as a mix of other youngsters and elderly rémois. As introduced by Christelle Lamy, the campus library manager, Réjane Sénac is a Research Director at the Centre Nationale de la Recherche Scientifique and the Director of the Department of Political Science at the Center for Political Research of Sciences Po (CEVIPOF).

Her work sheds light on “non-equals”—the actors excluded from equality. Her book is the result of a field investigation where she interviewed dozens of members of activist groups defending animal rights in France. In a country where most people own a pet and stand against animal mistreatment, intensive farming and mass meat consumption still persist. Nowadays, eight animals out of ten are raised in intensive farming and three million are slaughtered every day. Her research shows that this paradox is due to speciesism: the belief in human beings’ domination on other animals, as coined in the 1970s by psychologist Richard D. Ryder. In response, he and philosopher Peter Singer advocate for antispeciesism, which considers that animals’ ability to feel pain makes them equal to humans. 

Article L214 of the French Code rural et de la pêche maritime defines animals as sensitive beings and bans their mistreatment. Sénac stressed that it perpetuates domination over them and fails to define good care. Hence the creation in 2008 of the activist group L214, which unveils brutal treatments in farms and slaughterhouses. As highlighted by Sénac, achieving animal well-being requires taking down our speciesist system, starting with a change in personal habits. She denounces the tendency to take the easy way out, a behavior she coined as the “speciesist banality of evil.” Hannah Arendt’s concept inspired her as she was on the field during a street interview with the association Futur, where a man confessed that he couldn’t help being a “commonplace jerk” whose practices contradict his moral principles, as he tied a shift in consumption to renunciation and stigmatization. 

However, Sénac fights against stereotypical archetypes often caricatured in the public debate. Contrary to the cliché of the “vegan bobo” assuming that only rich urban people can afford a concern for animal well-being, she explained that country dwellers are overrepresented among vegetarians and vegans. For instance, Sénac’s antispeciesist awareness grew during childhood at her grandparents’ farm. She knows that breeding and meat are tied to traditions and social bonding, hence her refusal to stigmatize people from rural backgrounds. She made clear that far from shaming farmers, antispeciesism condemns a system which perpetuates violence towards workers as well. As an example, she pointed out that slaughterhouse staff often fall into alcoholism and drug addiction to cope with extreme violence at work.

To overcome black and white dichotomies, Sénac dedicates the second part of her book to envisioning a different framing of the issue. She explained that the importance of meat as the centerpiece of humans’ diet is a socio-historical construct tied to colonialism and capitalism. In fact, she reminded the audience that a vegetarian diet is healthy. 

She also stressed that antispeciesism aims at reducing violence in the whole society, not solely against non-humans. On the field, she interviewed a former breeder who became a vegan pastry chef. His turning away from violence against animals improved his ability to express his feelings. As emphasized by Sénac, the debate about antispeciesism interrogates human relations on love, respect, domination, violence, and education. To her, democracy comes down to asking questions and pointing out contradictions to strive towards more equality and less violence together.

At the end of the lecture, a 1A motivated to launch a student initiative defending animal rights shared her doubts about the popularity of the cause. Sénac advised her against waiting for consensual approval: even a minority of activists can sensitize others and gain legitimacy. 

Personally, even if I remain unsure about my take on this debate, I am certain of one thing: seeing 1As attending conferences and willing to create an association to defend a cause they are passionate about fueled me with optimism and hope. You can find the full recording of Réjane Sénac’s lecture and all the other conferences organized by Sciences Po at the Jean-Falala public library on Youtube. 

This article was first published as part of the Sundial Press printed edition in Spring 2026

Photo Credits: Sciences Po

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