A Concise and Compelling Introduction to Veganism and Intersectionality

(Full disclosure: Changemakers Books sent me a free book in exchange for an honest review. I also downloaded an electronic ARC through NetGalley.)

If, as the animal rights movement argues, there is no moral distinction between human and nonhuman animals—if animal rights are human rights—then it makes sense that we should be working for the liberation of all species.

***

In introducing the topic of intersectionality, pattrice [jones] asked the audience, “What is 6 times 7?” A few people yelled out, “42!” pattrice said, “OK, everybody imagine 42. Now, what is the 6 and what is the 7? You can’t say, can you? No, because the 42 is the product of the 6 and the 7 in interaction with one another.”

***

I think it’s safe to say that for most Black people in the United States, a polar bear on a melting ice floe is not the face of climate change—it’s Katrina.

***

“Compassion is a verb.”

***

Despite what 30+ years of PETA campaigns would have you believe, ethical veganism is not inherently incompatible with human rights. In fact, many of us vegans believe (passionately!) that the opposite is true, thanks to the concept of intersectionality.

First introduced by Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989, intersectionality is the idea that different forms of oppression don't exist in a vacuum, but rather interact with one another. For example, Crenshaw coined the term to explain the myriad ways that racism and sexism interact, thus acknowledging that the oppression experienced by black women ("misogynoir") is unique from and arguably more complicated than that experienced by black men or white women. The concept has since expanded to include all marginalized groups: women; people of color; immigrants; LGBTQ folks; those living with a physical or mental disability; sex workers; religious minorities; children and the elderly; the impoverished; and nonhuman animals.

While the animal rights movement has been a little too slow (imho) to incorporate the idea of intersectionality into its activism (see, e.g., PETA's many problematic campaigns, not to mention their vociferous defenders), more and more vegans are expanding their circle of compassion to include human animals. In his third book, A Vegan Ethic: Embracing a Life of Compassion Toward All, Mark Hawthorne makes a concise yet compelling case for intersectionality and inclusivity. His argument is actually quite simple: "If veganism is about doing your best to not harm any sentient life, we must logically extend that circle of compassion to human animals as well." What more is there to say?

Quite a lot, actually! The connection between animal rights, human rights, and the environment is a complex and exciting topic that could easily fill a twenty-four volume, encyclopedic set (and then some!). So it's no small feat that the author managed to boil it down to a mere 171 pages. Less, even: The Q&A section commences at the 66% mark, leaving precious little space to the chapters on animal rights, veganism, human rights, the environment, and putting it all together. (See the TOC below.)

Yet he puts it to excellent use, exploring the many ways that the oppression of animals intersects with that of humans and the degradation of the environment. "Vegan" doesn't always mean "cruelty-free," for example; while it's true that some of the worst abuses occur in slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants - where workers are forced to dismember animals, many of them fully conscious, at breakneck speed; often for little pay and without bathroom breaks, even; and considering that this violence is often carried home, resulting in increased rates of domestic violence and alcoholism among workers - those who pick our fruits and vegetables are also mistreated, abused, overworked, underpaid, coated with toxic chemicals, and sexually harassed and raped. In South America, the lands of Indigenous Americans (and the homes to countless nonhuman animals, some of who belong to endangered species) are stolen and cleared to grow soybeans (most of which is fed to cows); in Borneo, it's palm oil. Likewise, chocolate is often produced through slave labor, particularly that of children.

Food is an obvious avenue of exploration, but Hawthorne casts his net much wider: the prison-industrial complex and school-to-prison pipeline; the objectification of women (and the sexualization of meat and nonhuman animals); Black Lives Matter; cultural appropriation and the insensitive "borrowing" of imagery and slogans from other social justice movements; ecofeminism and the roots of patriarchy; the colonialist origin of zoos; and the link between interpersonal violence and animal abuse are just a few of the topics he touches upon. Hawthorne ends the main portion of the book with a look at coalition building and ideas for how vegans can reach across the aisle to find common ground with other progressive movements.

A Vegan Ethic is by no means exhaustive, not is it meant to be. Rather, it's more of a broad-scope introduction to the idea that veganism is intersectional, too. While I would have liked to have seen a longer and more extensive conversation, I also see how the diminutive size of the book might better appeal to more cautious or timid readers. It's a small investment, time-wise, but boy does it pack a punch!

Hawthorne addresses his appeal to two groups: vegans (who maybe haven't given much thought to human rights), and everyone else (though a general predisposition to social justice is assumed). When an author targets such disparate groups, there's a real danger of spreading yourself too thin and not properly serving either group. (This was my primary complaint with Melanie Joy's Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism and Making A Killing: The Political Economy of Animal Rights by Bob Torres. As a vegan, I'm already familiar with the horrors of animal agriculture. Let's skip over that so you can tell me more about the psychology of carnism / anti-capitalism and anarchism, please!) Yet I think he did a really good job of balancing the two, as well as combining and distilling them into a cohesive argument.

THAT SAID, of course there were certain things he omitted that would have went in my own (dream world) version of the book. Using Holocaust imagery to promote veganism is offensive to many people, but it's also inaccurate to call what's happening to cows, pigs, and chickens in animal agriculture "genocide". Genocide is "the deliberate and systematic extermination of a national, racial, political, or cultural group"; and it certainly isn't animal ag.'s goal to exterminate "food animals," since that would impact their bottom line. (The treatment of wolves in the Western United States, on the other hand...)

And while it's true that many domestic violence shelters don't accept companion animals - with tragic results - some are starting to come around. I'd like to add "donate or volunteer to foster for a DV shelter" to the appendix! I volunteer for one of two such programs in the Kansas City area, and I cannot tell you how rewarding (and fun!) it is (babysitting dogs? sign me up!). Fostering animals who already have humans is also a great alternative for those who, like me, are apt to want to adopt ALL THE DOGS. (And thus quickly adopt yourself out of being able to foster.) I won't lie and claim that I've never fallen head over heels for any of my foster furkids; but it is a wee bit easier to let them go, when there's really no other choice. Similar programs also exist for the companion animals of deployed servicemembers and those requiring temporary hospitalization.

One major complaint I have with the book lies in the endnotes, or rather how they're organized. Normally you indicate to the reader that there's supplemental information or a citation available with a number, placed within the text. To find out more, the reader references the corresponding number at the bottom of the page (footnote) or the back of the book (endnote).

https://www.flickr.com/photos/smiteme/28349716790/in/photostream/

In A Vegan Ethic, the endnotes are omitted from the text entirely (for aesthetic reasons, I assume?). They're included at the back of the book and organized by chapter but, without a corresponding endnote number (or even a page number!) to go by, it's very difficult to match text with note. The endnotes do quote a line of text, but it's still needlessly difficult to locate it in the text. In the ebook version the endnotes are at least clickable, but this still doesn't solve the main problem: this isn't how people typically use endnotes. You flip from text to endnote, not endnote to text!

I was also a little disappointed with the Resources list, which doesn't include very many books on intersectionality and veganism. Hawthorne mentions ecofeminsim and Carol Adams's work on the sexualization of animals and the corresponding objectification of women, yet I only spotted a few ecofeminist titles, and The Sexual Politics of Meat and The Pornography of Meat are nowhere to be found. Instead of sorting the books into categories like activism, support, cookbooks, and veganism, I think animal rights, anti-racism, feminism, anti-capitalism (etc.; similar to the chapter organization) would have been more helpful, with a generous section on veganism and intersectionality. (I haven't updated it in a few years, but I do have a reading list on my own site.)

I waffled on the rating for several weeks, vacillating between four and five stars. Though I do think the topic merits a much lengthier exploration, I'm just excited to see fellow activists talking about it at all! Yet the more I think about the endnotes, the more irritated I become; ultimately, they're what tipped my hand. Either way, it's a nice intro to the topic.

Give it to: your vegan acquaintance who thinks "the Chinese" (yes, all 1.357 billion of them) are "barbarians" on account of the Yulin Dog Meat Festival; your SJ friends who scoff at your veganism as elitist, anti-human, and/or a waste of time.

 


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 — On Animal Rights
Chapter 2 — On Veganism
Chapter 3 — On Human Rights
Chapter 4 — On the Environment
Chapter 5 — On a More Compassionate World Chapter
Chapter 6 — Q & A

Appendix A: Ten Ways You Can Help Animals
Appendix B: Ten Ways to Make Veganism Easier
Appendix C: Ten Ways You Can Encourage Someone Else to Go Vegan
Appendix D: Ten Ways You Can Help Humanity
Appendix E: Twelve Famous (and Not-So-Famous) Quotations
Appendix F: Resources

Notes

 


http://www.easyvegan.info/2016/08/17/a-vegan-ethic-by-mark-hawthorne/ ( )

I was fortunate to read a fully finished paperback edition in advance of the official publication date. The author is an online acquaintance of mine and I basically asked for a copy. He obliged, in exchange for an honest review. And unlike some authors who put on some pressure, however slight, Mark made clear all he asked for was an honest review.

Darn it! Yet another vegan book I wish I’d written! I think that it’s a brilliant and important book.

Because I loved this book so much it is very hard for me to review, true of most of the books I’ve loved. For some I’ve written only review blurbs or nothing at all. Particularly for this book, the stress I feel to write something worthwhile is intensified because I want readers to read this book. And I’d love to discuss these issues with those who’ve also read the book. I know that I cannot do it justice, but I will try. Anyone who reads this review and wants to know more about the book, or has any kinds of questions, please request that I elaborate or explain, and I’ll be happy to do so. I suspect I’ll be able to be more articulate and eloquent responding to people than I can be in this review proper.

I first have to say that I’ve read extensively about the subjects in this book, especially ethical veganism. I’ve been an ethical vegan for 28 years, since 1988. Since then I’ve read many books, articles, blog posts, etc., including dozens of vegan theory books and hundreds of vegan cookbooks. I’ve also had innumerable discussions with others about the topic. (I’ve also been an activist, for social justice since my teens in the late 60s and also for animal rights, most of the ar work done between 1988 and 2004. I’ve tapered off since then, regrettably, though I still do some online work and try to help and mentor individuals, and I do write reviews of vegan promoting books. This book has inspired me to try to always do more to help non-human animals and human animals and the ecosystem.) But, even before 1988, starting in about the early 1970s I was reading books about the environment and about animal rights and about health, and I did become a vegetarian in 1977, eleven years prior to going vegan. When I decided to go vegan, it was because I read a book and that book is the only book on my lifechanging shelf. Being a vegan is the best decision I’ve ever made and so that book was a seminal moment for me. As I read this book, I was thinking it might be the second book I’d put on that shelf. I’ve felt this way about just a few other books I’ve read but I eventually decided they didn’t merit that shelf. I’m still deciding about this book and it will take some time. It depends on what changes I make in living my life because of it. Even though none of the general information presented was brand new to me, the way it’s presented in its narrative is incredibly effective, and I did learn some factual details. Most importantly, it got me deeply thinking and I discovered some things about myself, and while not a completely comfortable experience, this is welcomed by me. I do feel changed by having read it.

Even though the book is packed with a lot of information and philosophy (interesting autobiographical stories, seamlessly woven into the account, and others’ personal stories, well researched facts, and cogently argued opinions from activists in multiple spheres) and in a way could be called comprehensive, it’s a slim book, and an enjoyable to read, so I hope that will encourage people to read it.

Every time I was afraid something I considered important about veganism or social or environmental justice wouldn’t be covered, I eventually found it in the book. In fact, one of my few quibbles is that perhaps I’d have preferred that readers be steered only (and they are) to vegan R.D.s and other books and websites for specific information about nutrition, partly because there is no way to adequately cover the subject in this type of book but mostly because what is “known” changes so frequently. (For instance, there are now certified vegan vitamin D3 supplements.) I’m conflicted about this though because I see the value for some (new vegans and those curious about vegan eating) to learn about some basic information in a book about veganism, especially because there are still so many misconceptions among so many.

Most vegans I know need to read it, and so do any who are vegan interested or who know vegans, and I will be recommending it to several of my vegan friends. It’s a perfect primer for new vegans or those thinking about veganism. It’s also an important book for single-minded vegans who care about only animal rights. It’s also important even for seasoned animal rights activists and long term vegans who are already also social and environmental justice activists.

I actually think that it’s just as important for non-vegans to read it, especially if they are activists or advocates for social justice and/or environmental causes. That’s one of the few potential flaws I see about this book: I’m afraid that its title will dissuade non-vegans from reading it, and that would be unfortunate. This is a great book for anyone who cares about any cause, who cares about others, who cares about the world.

My favorite line from the author is something I’ll use in many areas of my life, in my continual struggle regarding perfectionism: “Adopt the ‘practice makes progress’ approach.”

There were so many quotes I thought I’d want to put in this review, but by the time I listed all the pages that had text I wanted to include, I realized if I did, it would qualify as plagiarism; so many passages were ones I wanted to share and to remember.

I do want to include one more, from page 101, something said by Norm Phelps, because its truth hit me hard, and it will be appreciated by all ethical vegans: “speciesism is the one form of oppression whose oppressors consist of members of every other oppressed, non-vegan group. Consequently, while other injustices serve to divide humanity into groups (privileged/White/male/heterosexual versus marginalized/Black/female/LGBTQ, for instance), speciesism unites people. Nonhuman animal exploitation offers a veritable smorgasbord of human “benefits” – food, clothing, entertainment, scientific research, you name it – and rare is the person who doesn’t see these as enhancing the quality of her/his life. Eating and wearing animals are the reality for most people.”

The crux of this book is that compassion (for all) is important, and that the best way to improve things for all is for us to build coalitions between those who care about various causes, and to work together, and that doing so will help everyone’s causes. This thesis is so encompassing and I think the most effective approach.

I already believed this, but as I read I realized that while I am not a single issue person, that I don’t care only about farmed animals, or the environment or foster children, or whatever the many things that are meaningful to myself and others, that I almost but not 100% of the time have bought fair trade chocolate and avoided consuming palm oil, that I have a hybrid car, etc. etc. etc., I recognize that I do have my “pet causes” and that I am not always as inclusive as I’d like to be, so now my brain is definitely going at full steam, as is my heart, and hopefully my actions will come even more fully into sync. Activism that is effective is crucial. As I read, I thought about what I was reading and, even as I embraced the ideas presented, I was embarrassed to discover that some of what I came up with shows I’m part of the problem. I’m definitely inspired to work more on myself. I appreciate books that are both thoughts and feelings provoking.

While this is a book about serious issues, I also feel it’s a celebration of the vegan ethic and an optimistic book. I felt as much joy as I did sorrow and anger while reading it, and after reading it.

I loved the sections in the back, particularly the Q & A, actually the last chapter proper, and yes I’ve been asked all those questions and given similar answers, and the Quotations, and their backgrounds, some of which were new to me. I love quotes. The resources listed are far from complete (that would be impossible in any book) but there are many worldwide readers will find useful.

Because I see no place so far that lists the contents of this book, I want to give potential readers information about what the book covers: Contents: Acknowledgments; Introduction; Chapter 1 - On Animal Rights; Chapter 2 - On Veganism; Chapter 3 - On Human Rights; Chapter 4 - On the Environment; Chapter 5 - On a More Compassionate World; Chapter 6 - Q & A; Appendix A: Ten Ways You Can Help Animals; Appendix B: Ten Ways to Make Veganism Easier; Appendix C: Ten Ways You Can Encourage Someone Else to Go Vegan; Appendix D: Ten Ways You Can Help Humanity; Appendix E: Twelve Famous (and Not-So-Famous) Quotations; Appendix F: Resources; Notes; Select Index; About the Author; Other Changemakers Books by Mark Hawthorne

This is the author’s third book. I admired this author’s first book, and I’d like to also read his second book. I enjoy this author’s writing style his engaging way of storytelling.

This is a stellar book, a valuable contribution to the field, and I want everyone to read this book or have it read to them or to have its ideas presented to them, and to have everyone discussing it and the issues it addresses. I particularly recommend it to all vegans, all environmental advocates/activists, all human rights and social justice advocates/activists, feminists, people of color, peace activists, the privileged and the less privileged, all who care about any of the following: speciesism, sexism, racism, classism, ableism, bullying, colonialism, heteronormativity, etc., anyone who’s felt oppressed in any manner, and anyone who cares about reducing suffering and decreasing incidents of injustice. ( )