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AV Take An Axe To Veganism

2/20/2020

10 Comments

 
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Among the numerous problems with Anonymous for the "Voiceless" (AV), they have a destructive reducetarian attitude towards veganism and are busy misleading their own members and supporters about what veganism is.

AV claimed in a Facebook post (17th February 2020) that they want to "come back to the roots" and "clarify the meaning" of veganism. However, AV have an "animals only" stance to veganism and have cherry-picked a single sentence from the extensive writings of vegan movement pioneer Leslie Cross claiming, bizarrely, that this sentence is the "original definition of veganism."

The line comes from the beginning of a Leslie Cross article in the International Vegetarian Union's World Forum (Spring 1951). AV fail to directly cite anything else from the article, probably because it would undermine their case. 

In my view, an understanding of the writings of Leslie Cross totally obliterates AV's reducetarianism effort to neuter and limit the meaning of veganism. Cross frequently talked about the focus and the scope of veganism. AV wants to eliminate knowledge of the scope and restrict the full meaning of veganism to its focus alone. This is due to their politics which, ironically, is to claim to want to take politics out of the animal advocacy movement. They believe that human beings can set aside their politics, the effects of power relations and systems of oppression and, "for the animals," march alongside their oppressors. This a-political stance is both unrealistic and naive.

A central part of Cross' position is that veganism is part and parcel of the moral evolution of humanity. He essentially says this very thing in the World Forum article. We have to remember that the vegan movement was formed in 1944 in the latter years of a brutal global conflict. The vegans effectively declared peace amidst the horrors of war. Donald Watson lost many friends during the war, was lucky not to be killed himself, and said that people were utterly "shattered" by its effects.

For Leslie Cross, veganism would be the salvation of both human and nonhuman animals. In 1954, in a passionate essay entitled “The Surge of Freedom” Cross starts by saying: “This is an attempt to state in simple terms what veganism is and why and how it came into existence, and to suggest what it could mean for mankind.”*

Contrary to AV's restricted view of veganism, the pioneers of the vegan movement were very open about the fact that veganism includes the opposition to human oppression. For example, Eva Batt, in a 1960s pamphlet entitled "Why Veganism," writes states that veganism is a way of living that avoids the exploitation of humans, other animals, and even the soil while, in a comment in a 1945 edition of The Vegan, Donald Watson noted that the object of The Vegan Society was to "oppose the exploitation of sentient life." Sociologist Matthew Cole points out that, from 1948-51, the journal of The Vegan Society bore the strapline: "Advocating living without exploitation."

My sense is that, as the vegan social movement grows, people join who are not in tune with the left-leaning values of the movement. This is the real problem for AV, it doesn't like the original founding values of the vegan movement. However, as Steve Best stated in his "Total Liberation" keynote speech at the animal rights conference in Luxembourg, the animal movement is a left-wing movement. Now, there are some nuances to that statement, so I'd encourage readers to watch the video of the talk, which can be found here. Best reminds us of the values which the movement embraces: equality, democracy, inclusivity, non-discrimination, non-hierarchy, rights, justice, peace, and non-violence. He says that the values we oppose are right wing values of military, borders, hierarchy, family, nations, war, and security.

He says that our value heritage - whether we realise it or not - is from the left.

Social movement theory predicts this problem of clashing values in social movements, especially when they grow quickly and become more "mainstream." On "mainstream," see here from pattrice jones. Tom Regan would undoubtedly call it a "battle of ideas." But we should make no mistake that there is a battle of values currently going on in the animal advocacy movement.

Are we going to let these newbies come into the movement, reframe its values, and try to sell them back to us as its originals?



* People are products of their time and, of course, in the 1950s, sexist language was the norm. 

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10 Comments
daniel reynolds
2/21/2020 11:39:36 am

this is dumb

Reply
Mike Stephenson
2/21/2020 09:34:34 pm

you're dumb

Reply
Roger Yates
2/24/2020 04:32:12 am

Thanks for the ableist comment. Why do you object to the piece?

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Lee
2/22/2020 01:01:30 am

I don't know why so many people have so many personal agendas against AV. This article makes a very bold assumption about the organisation as a whole based upon a very narrow agenda driven opinion of Anonymous For The Voiceless. AV are the largest Vegan animal rights street outreach movement on Earth and members of AV such as myself fight tirelessly week in week out to make this world a better place. Yes, the primary drive for AV is the animals and we take an abolitionist stance when it comes to animal exploitation but please don't for one second think that all of the thousands upon thousands of AV volunteers don't care for human beings or fight against all forms of social injustice. To take this opinion is naieve at best. We are focused on the animals but that does not in any way mean we are perverting the meaning of Veganism or damaging the movement.
To post articles such as this, is in my opinion, serves to devalue the countless hours that thousands of people worldwide put into working for AV to fight towards achieving a Vegan world. It is nit picking at AV and what do you hope to achieve by it? The end of AV? The end of the largest Vegan movement on the planet?

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Roger Yates
2/24/2020 04:38:33 am

The post is on the official AV FB page and I didn't see any of the street activists objecting to it. My concern is that many of those activists will be relatively new to the animal advocacy movement. It concerns me that they are effectively being lied to be their own "leadership." As for the end of AV, that seems to be in process from what I can gather. People are leaving but starting up new groups to carry on the street work. Organisations in and of themselves are not important, especially in the age of the internet. And especially when the "leadership" seem to require a level of devotion and social control which is destructive of critical thinking, an essential part of being vegan.

Reply
Lance Brown
5/18/2020 09:29:26 am

Roger, AV has always been open to individuals using the same format in other groups organisations. Paul and Asal openly stated it has its origins in previous outreach such as Earthlings !

Bob mcharris
2/22/2020 05:30:37 am

Could the site use black text instead of light grey, it's hard to read.

Reply
Roger Yates
2/24/2020 04:39:49 am

Of dear - it's fine for me, obviously, otherwise I would have noticed. Are you reading on a phone?

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Lance Brown
5/18/2020 09:22:12 am

Roger I have utter respect for you and your previous devotion to animal liberation and what you have done with certain organisations? Yes people should be critical of any organisation. But I feel with AV many have been persistent like a 'dog with a bone' .I thus question whether they have a further agenda? People on AV have been blocked mainly because their criticisms have been persistent to the point if would p*** most people off? Equally there are a number of vegans who feel the focus is on the animal and human elements are for another debate and time. Distracting from purposes which historically have needed to be single minded! It should not claim that if you do not hold a joint view point that you are not left wing minded!
regards.

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Sonya Bisaccia
6/2/2020 07:41:15 am

I am totally 100% committed from the bottom of my heart to animal rights but I take the same stance in regard to human rights. Without the freedom to protest, (believe you me - some Countries do not allow this) animals nor humans would stand any right of having their lives improved. Personally, I find it impossible to be only dedicated to one such living being. Are you not human yourself? Are you not grateful for the rights that, over the years, people have died for in order to be put into place for people including you and me? Some Countries human rights are nil existant - there is evidence to show that people in certain Countries whereby there is no respect for human rights for people living there, how can one possibly even think about fighting for animal rights - meaning how can one fight for an animal's rights if one cannot even fight for one's own (Think about people living in severe poverty or war torn Countries for example). People that have democracy in their Countries do not realise how lucky they are. Some things we take for granted. The first step is to respect ALL living beings and right for human rights - at the same time, depending on the situation or Country in question, you can also educate people on how and why such rights should apply also to humans. Social Justice for ALL. Without Human Rights - one cannot fight for the other

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    Roger Yates

    Dr. Roger Yates is a rights advocate and sociologist

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