Abstract

The article presents the main philosophical, political and juridical issues raised by the wide field of animal studies, and highlights their interdisciplinary nature. «Ricerche di Storia Politica» dedicates a special issue to human-animal interactions, starting from the assumption that they have relevant implications for the political sphere, and with the aim to both stimulate the dialogue between historiography and animal studies, and offer a diachronic reading of human-animal relationships and the animal advocacy movement. Specific attention is devoted to three major aspects: the historical and philosophical roots of moral concerns towards non-humans; the history of animal protection groups, from the Nineteenth century to the present; the conceptual and practical links between the «animal question» and the feminist movements.