Veganism: Politics, Practice, and Theory

Vegans believe in the abolition of animal exploitation and the adoption of a plant-based diet. Veganism has become a critical and criticized social movement due to its association with sustainability, animal studies, and the media. Eva Haifa Giraud's book "Vegan Politics" explores the debates surrounding veganism, including identity, intersectionality, and activism, and argues that veganism has the potential to be a radical social movement that disrupts commonplace norms and assumptions about how humans relate to animals. However, its commercialization complicates this potential.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 208 pages
\n Publication date: 15 July 2021
\n Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
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Vegans are individuals who follow a dietary and ethical philosophy that excludes the consumption of animal products, particularly in the form of meat, dairy, and eggs. They believe that animals have the same rights as humans and that using them for food, clothing, or any other purpose is unethical and harmful.

Veganism has become a critical and criticized social movement due to several factors. Firstly, there is growing evidence of the environmental and health benefits of a vegan diet, including reduced greenhouse gas emissions, lower risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease and diabetes, and improved overall health outcomes. Secondly, there is increasing awareness of the ethical and moral issues associated with animal agriculture, including the cruel treatment of animals and the environmental impact of intensive farming practices.

Veganism also corresponds to wider debates about sustainability, animal studies, and the media. For example, veganism challenges the notion that humans are entitled to use animals for their own benefit, and instead emphasizes the importance of respecting and protecting the natural world and all its inhabitants. It also raises questions about the role of animals in human culture, society, and identity, and how our relationships with them are shaped by cultural, social, and economic factors.

Eva Haifa Giraud's book, "Vegan Politics: An Introduction," offers an accessible route into the debates that surround vegan politics. Giraud engages with arguments in favor of veganism, as well as the criticisms levelled at vegan politics. She interrogates debates and topics that are central to conversations around veganism, including identity, intersectional politics, and activism, with research drawn from literary animal studies, animal geographies, ecofeminism, posthumanism, critical race theory, and new materialism.

Giraud makes an original theoretical intervention into these often fraught debates, arguing that veganism holds radical political potential to act as "more than a diet" by disrupting commonplace norms and assumptions about how humans relate to animals. Drawing on a range of examples, from recipe books with punk aesthetics to social media campaigns, Giraud shows how veganism's radical potential is being complicated by its commercialization, and elucidates new conceptual frameworks for reclaiming veganism as a radical social movement.

In conclusion, veganism is a critical and criticized social movement that seeks to promote the ethical and environmental benefits of a vegan diet and lifestyle. It corresponds to wider debates about sustainability, animal studies, and the media, and holds radical political potential to disrupt commonplace norms and assumptions about how humans relate to animals. By reclaiming veganism as a radical social movement, we can work towards a more sustainable and compassionate world for all.

\n Weight: 326g\n
Dimension: 157 x 235 x 15 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781350124912\n \n