Statement by the orga team of the "International Animal Rights Conference 2014":
During the IARC2014 there was at least one statement made during a presentation/discussion which indicated that the animal rights movement should be more open to collaborate with people who do not share all the same positions as animal rights activists. Due to different interpretations of the terms "right winged" or "far right" in different parts of the world and also due to the fact that most participants and speakers at the IARC2014 were not native speakers, the discussions about this topic probably left mixed feelings about these statements and we feel obliged to express our position on this subject matter.
The orga team of the IARC2014 holds the position, that certainly we need to analyze how we can build a stronger movement and we need to see how we can build alliances also with people and groups of other movements. However we find it unacceptable to consider collaboration with people who hold anti-emancipatoric positions in respect to the discrimination, oppression, or exploitation of other humans. We consider the animal rights movement to be a progressive movement that should be opposed to any sort of discrimination, oppression, or exploitation of humans and other animals.
The fourth international animal rights conference in Luxembourg will take place on September 11th until 14th 2014 at the Kulturfabrik in Esch, Luxembourg. We welcome all animal rights activists and all people who care about animals, the environment, and would like to learn more about animal rights in both theory and practice.