As an institution where scientific research is conducted to influence policy, global relations, and public wellbeing, the University of Kent has a responsibility to lead by example. Sustainable campaigning taking place across campus demonstrates that many Kent students agree.
Continue readingHow Do I Positively Engage My Non-Vegan Family?
Sharing vegan food with family members will not only increase their familiarity with that food; it also creates positive associations with veganism and hopefully reduces any tension.
Continue readingAppropriating Anti-Slavery Abolitionism in Anti-Speciesism Claimsmaking
Human and nonhuman abolitionist movements, despite their similarities, remain two distinct movements, each with unique social, political, economic, and historical circumstances.
Continue readingA Critique of Open Rescues
Open rescues, although exciting and heroic, unfortunately maintain the system as it is. This tactic therefore protects the interests of conservative foundations that maintain most grant monies. Open rescues also give non-profits something to write about and fund-raise behind.
Continue readingRape as an Anti-Speciesism Tactic and the Vegan Male Discourse
Can analogies be helpful for advancing anti-speciesism? Sometimes. Capitalizing on rape culture to scare women into compliance is cruel, however. I cannot imagine how that would be psychologically persuasive, only traumatizing.
Continue readingActivism Amidst COVID-19
On December 2nd, I moderated a panel on UK/US activism in the midst of COVID-19 as co-director of the Centre for the Study of Social and Political Movements.
Continue readingGender and Victorian Animal Advocacy
Although the nonhuman animal rights movement in the West is frequently framed by activists and remembered by historians as gender-neutral, Donald’s (2020) Women against Cruelty (which examines meeting notes and campaigning documents reaching back toContinue reading
Vegan Protest is Ritualized, but is it Religious?
In my review of For the Wild: Ritual and Commitment in Radical Eco-Activism in the peer-reviewed journal Social Movement Studies, I consider the appropriateness of author Sarah Pike's argument that religiosity motivates radical anti-speciesism. AlthoughContinue reading
Atheists and Agnostics Largest ‘Religious’ Demographic in Animal Rights
In my publication with Environmental Values, I explore some interesting, if unintended findings from an earlier survey of nearly 300 American vegans I conducted in March of 2017. When asked to report their religious affiliation,Continue reading
The Social Psychology of Veganism – Variety
Unfamiliarity with new foods can be a major barrier to successfully promoting veganism, but this is an easy enough fix. One study found that non-vegans who were repeatedly exposed to vegan alternatives to “meat” began toContinue reading