Animal symbolic capital: a missing dimension for sustainability transitions

Cédric Sueur ()
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Cédric Sueur: IPHC - Institut Pluridisciplinaire Hubert Curien - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) - Université de Haute-Alsace (UHA) Mulhouse - Colmar - IN2P3 - Institut National de Physique Nucléaire et de Physique des Particules du CNRS - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, ANTHROPO LAB - Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Expérimentale - ETHICS EA 7446 - Experience ; Technology & Human Interactions ; Care & Society : - ICL - Institut Catholique de Lille - UCL - Université catholique de Lille, IUF - Institut universitaire de France - M.E.N.E.S.R. - Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche

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Abstract: Animal exploitation drives biodiversity loss, climate change and pandemic risk, yet sustainability transitions involving human-animal relations consistently underperform despite scientific consensus and policy effort. Current frameworksnatural capital, ecosystem services, animal welfarefail to account for a critical dimension: symbolic capital, defined as the resources of prestige, recognition and legitimacy that structure social fields. I argue that animals are both sources of symbolic capital extracted by humans and potential holders of symbolic capital within their own social groups, and that this dual dynamic shapes sustainability outcomes in profound ways. Symbolic capital currently operates largely against animals, through conspicuous consumption, charismatic species bias and the symbolic violence that renders animal exploitation invisible and naturala logic structurally analogous to the symbolic violence of racism and sexism. I propose that redirecting symbolic capitalbuilding prestige around sustainable human-animal relationsis a necessary and underexplored lever for sustainability transformations. Integrating animal symbolic capital into sustainability frameworks advances a more complete, socially informed understanding of human-animal bonds essential for meeting global biodiversity and climate targets.

Keywords: One Health; human-animal relations; Bourdieu; symbolic violence; speciesism; biodiversity conservation; sustainability transitions; animal capital; symbolic capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-05-23
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-05631417

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.12464.72965

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