Social movements often assume that when people behave in ways that cause harm, it’s because they don’t care enough. It’s not that they can’t; it’s that they won’t. Resistance is interpreted as apathy, ignorance, selfishness, or bad faith. But this interpretation rests on a deeper unexamined assumption, namely that people approach moral decisions and development…
The good news is that public awareness of some of the less savory conditions underpinning animal agriculture and its ethical and ecological ramifications is on the rise. The bad news is that very few demographics elicit as much reflexive defensiveness and contempt as those attempting to change these conditions and raise awareness (yes, I’m talking about vegans).…
The argument I want to make is that veganism and feminism share overlapping ethical foundations and that veganism can be understood as an extension of feminist principles applied beyond the boundary of the human species. Each social movement is considered separately, but there are substantial similarities in their underlying principles (justice, bodily autonomy, consent, and…
Ecological overshoot, or “overshoot” for those of us counting our syllables, is when human demand exceeds the planet’s capacity to sustainably regenerate its resources. It also happens to be the primary driver of large-scale animal suffering today. While animal rights and veganism focus on direct and intentional exploitation, most harm caused to non-human animals occurs…
In recent years, I’ve witnessed an exhausting number of debates between vegans and non-vegans focusing on nutrition. In my lesser moments, I have read comments sections and watched social media videos in which tired iterations of these high-emotion low-rationality debates played out. These discussions often follow familiar, circular patterns, and I generally avoid weighing in,…
Social change rarely proceeds at a pace or with a clarity that I would prefer, at least in the directions I favor. Even urgent challenges leading to significant quantifiable losses like climate change, ecosystem collapse, etc. develop within environments shaped by tenacious political obstacles, cultural resistance, and dubious institutional incentives reinforcing the status quo or pushing…
If suffering was quantifiable, the numbers would suggest that veganism and animal rights ought to be one of the most urgent social movements of our time. Both appeal to compassion, justice, sustainability, health, and other prosocial values that resonate across ideological lines. Despite the moral clarity of its aims, veganism carries a serious image problem. Too often,…