Decolonising consciousness: How cross-species emotional intelligence challenges anthropocentric cognitive hierarchies and demands systemic rethinking of ethics and ecology
Original framing: “The understanding that even bees have feelings is changing our view of consciousness” — New Scientist
Marginalised voices—such as those of Indigenous scientists, Global South researchers, and animal rights activists—have long advocated for the recognition of animal emotions but are often sidelined in mainstream scientific discourse. For instance, *Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer*, a Potawatomi botanist, has written extensively on the emotional lives of plants and animals within Indigenous ecological frameworks, yet her work is rarely cited in scientific journals. Similarly, activists like *Dr. Temple Grandin*, who designs humane slaughterhouses, challenge industrial agriculture’s de-sentientised practices but face resistance from corporations prioritising profit over ethics. The exclusion of these voices perpetuates the same hierarchies that deny emotional agency to both animals and marginalised humans. Including them would shift the narrative from 'discovery' to decolonisation.
The narrative of 'discovering' emotions in animals is not merely a scientific breakthrough but a systemic revelation of the power structures that have historically denied emotional and cognitive agency to non-human life—and by extension, to marginalised human groups.
Indigenous knowledge systems, such as *kaitiakitanga* or *ubuntu*, have long recognised the emotional intelligence of animals as part of a sacred interdependence, yet these frameworks were systematically erased by colonial and capitalist frameworks that prioritised control over connection. The historical precedent of 19th-century debates over animal rights and the scientific racism that denied emotions to enslaved people and colonised populations reveals how the same cognitive hierarchies are now being applied to animals, reinforcing a cycle of exploitation. Marginalised voices, including Indigenous scientists and animal rights activists, have been advocating for this recognition for decades, but their perspectives are often sidelined in favour of anthropocentric narratives that treat emotions as a puzzle to solve rather than a moral and ecological truth. Future modelling must account for the ethical and systemic implications of this knowledge, demanding legal personhood for animals, regenerative agricultural practices, and cross-cultural education that centres Indigenous and non-Western perspectives. The trickster reading exposes the absurdity of a species that claims to 'discover' emotions in animals while continuing to exploit them, highlighting the hypocrisy of institutions that profit from their suffering. Ultimately, this story is about the urgent need to decolonise our understanding of consciousness, not just to acknowledge emotions in animals but to dismantle the very frameworks that have justified their exploitation for centuries.