1st Edition
Navigating the Jungle Law, Politics, and the Animal Advocacy Movement
For much of our history, legal scholars focused predominantly on the law’s implications for human beings, while ignoring how the law influences animal welfare. Since the 1970s, however, there has been a steep increase in animal advocates’ use of the courts. Animal law has blossomed into a vibrant academic discipline, with a rich literature that examines how the law affects animal welfare and the ability of humans to advocate on behalf of nonhuman animals. But most animal law literature tends to be doctrinally-based or normative. There has been little empirical study of the outcomes of animal law cases and there has been very little attention paid to the political influences of these outcomes. This book fills the gap in animal law literature. This is the first empirically-based analysis of animal law that emphasizes the political forces that shape animal law outcomes.
CONTENTS: Introduction 1. The Study of the Legal Status of Animals 2. The Animal Advocacy Movement and Litigation 3. Animal Law in Federal Court 4. Animal Law in State Court 5. Animal Advocacy Litigation’s Impact on Media Coverage Conclusion
Biography
Steven C. Tauber is an Associate Professor and the Chair of the Department of Government and International Affairs at the University of South Florida. He has published articles in the areas of judicial politics and the animal advocacy movement. He is also co-author of American Government in Black and White, Second Edition (Oxford University Press, 2013).
"This book presents the first empirical examination of interest group litigation about animal welfare and rights. It is unique in its research design, empirically rigorous, and shows how animal advocacy groups exercise their interests within the larger context of American government."
Richard Brisbin, West Virginia University
By using quantitative and qualitative data to explore how politics sits at the intersection between animal law and animal advocacy, Navigating the Jungle is an important and unique resource for litigators and advocates and has insights relevant to any social movement.
Natalie K. Prosin, Nonhuman Rights Project
In NAVIGATING THE JUNGLE: LAW, POLITICS, AND THE ANIMAL ADVOCACY MOVEMENT, political scientist Steven C. Tauber makes an outstanding contribution to our understanding of social movement litigation... [T]his is an important work on an understudied subject. I am particularly impressed by the compelling use of vignettes to open most of the chapters that serve to draw the reader in and demonstrate the significance of the subject matter. Moreover, the use of mixed-methods is impressive and makes the book accessible to a wide range of scholars. I believe this book is a significant addition to the literature on animal law, social movement litigation, and judicial decision making. Further, it is appropriate for use in undergraduate, graduate, and law school courses on all of these topics.
Paul M. Collins, Jr., University of Massachusetts Amherst, in the Law and Politics Book Review
