"Spirituality is a great way in which capitalism commodifies people's belief" - Richard Twine of Edge Hill University - Sentientism 213

Richard Twine is Reader in Sociology at Edge Hill University in the UK, working at the nexus of critical animal studies, environmental sociology, the sociology of climate change and gender studies. He is co-director of The Centre for Human Animal Studies, an interdisciplinary forum for research and activities that engage with the complex material, ethical and symbolic relationships between humans, other animals, and their environments. Richard is the author of many articles, papers and books for both academic audiences and the wider public, including "The Climate Crisis and Other Animals".

In Sentientist Conversations we talk about the most important questions: “what’s real?”, “who matters?” and "how can we make a better world?"

Sentientism answers those questions with "evidence, reason & compassion for all sentient beings." The video of our conversation is ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here on YouTube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠.

00:00 Clips!

00:43 Welcome

02:34 Richard's Intro

- Philosophy, psychology, history, natural sciences, bio-technology and sociology

- Ecofeminism (Carol Adams, Val Plumwood), Regan, Singer, then Critical Animal Studies

- The "flawed awakenings" of climate change awareness and non-human animal ethics

05:28 What's Real?

- Non-religious, implicitly atheist, socialist parents and household

- Attending Sunday School with a Christian friend "It didn't have any effect - it was just another space to play"

- A religious teacher who "made us recite the Lord's Prayer at the start of every day... that was odd... that kind of drove me away from religion"

- Asking for an exemption from religious education at secondary school "Probably sociologically limited because it's actually good to learn about religion... but I already knew that wasn't something that I wanted to spend my time doing"

- A materialist outlook "when we die, we die... decompose and feed the rest of nature... a kind of beautiful thing... I don't believe in an afterlife"

- Avoiding dogmatism about materialism. Interested in near-death experiences

- "I'm on board with that aspect of Sentientism - reason and evidence... but I would also add that my atheism isn't simplistically rationalistic... elements of romanticism in it... Shelley... beauty and wonder of nature giving us some kind of meaningfulness in our lives... that's enough."

- "There's a poor track record with religiosity and conservative ideology... distanced me from it... used to justify patriarchy, anthropocentrism, colonialism, capitalism etc."

- A hobbyist interest in UFOs and UAPs "stems from my childhood... subscribed to a magazine called 'The Unexplained'... I've always had that interest but ultimately - give me some evidence."

- Conspiracy theories and cover-ups "I'm sceptical but I'm fascinated"

- Richard's "'Alien' Disclosure and Critical Animal Studies" blog post 26:48 What Matters?

32:59 Who Matters?

58:29 A Better World?

01:21:12 Follow Richard

- RichardTwine.com

- @RichardTwine

- The Centre for Human Animal Studies at Edge Hill University