Neil Dullaghan on the importance of influencing EU policy and other important research topics

Neil Dullaghan is a Senior Research Manager in the animal welfare department at Rethink Priorities. Neil also holds a PhD in Political Science and is a fund manager of the Effective Altruism Animal Welfare Fund. 

In this episode Neil talks us through his policy research in the EU as well as other exciting projects and impactful research that Rethink Priorities has produced and includes some of the most obscure resource recommendations to date!

Relevant links to things mentioned throughout the show:

• Rethink Priorities Website
  • Strategic considerations for upcoming EU farmed animal legislation - Rethink Priorities research by Neil
  • Other Neil publications
• Revolutions: The Revolutions of 1848 - Mike Duncan
• History of Rome - Mike Duncan (Podcast)
• Engines of Liberty - David Cole
• Defeating Authoritarian Leaders in Postcommunist Countries - Valerie J. Bunce, Sharon L. Wolchik
• Danish political drama - Borgen - Season 3

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Chapters

• 0:00 Intro
• 1:11 A view Neil has that most animal advocates would disagree with
• 2:35 Neil's journey into animal advocacy
• 3:22 What did Neil learn from political sciences
• 6:11 Why influencing EU policy is important
• 10:36 Focusing on policy in less neglected regions vs countries with large number of animals
• 13:21 Resource allocation
• 15:16 Accountability and enforcement of EU policies
• 19:18 Is animal advocacy movement already able to follow through those big policies
• 21:34 EU elections impact
• 28:12 Rethink Priorities animal welfare research
• 30:50 Urgency and timing of insect welfare
• 32:52 Impact of Rethink Priorities research
• 34:34 How Rethink Priorities choose what to work on
• 35:12 Evaluating impact
• 38:25 Focusing on now vs longterm
• 39:52 R&D in animal welfare
• 43:53 What foundational research is currently missing
• 46:53 Case studies vs direct try and error
• 48:23 Effective Altruism Animal Welfare Fund
• 50:30 Funded projects Neil is excited about
• 51:14 What surprised Neil in funding position
• 53:10 Closing questions