When a social movement doesn’t want to be organized

I have to get this off my chest.

I never thought I would say those words. How can a social movement trying to bring about change actually not want to be organized? Perhaps it’s my fault for using the term “social movement” so freely.  I just assume that everyone is collective-oriented and about the movement as I am.  So I’m baffled when I meet so-called activists who don’t want to cooperate, and I’m even more disturbed when they are the majority.

Recalling the Animal Rights Conference 2012

So much to say about the conference, so many words.  This year’s conference was my first attendance, and it exceeded and confirmed expectations all at once.  The conference contained for me some insight, some inspiration, some passion, some racism.  It took me a full week to recap my experience into words I could share on this blog.  Many others I have since befriended have written on the conference as well.  See Katie’s AR Conference recap for a different perspective.

Voices of the Movement

Not surprising, the dominant voices at the conference came from the large farm animal advocacy organizations.  Probably because the organizers FARM are among these organizations. Probably because major voices in the AR movement have prioritized farm animal advocacy above all others since they are the most regularly and extensively exploited and killed land animals in the US.  Nevertheless, I found

Farmed Animal Sanctuary Meets Social Enterprise

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animal liberation, animal rights, animal-assisted therapy, healing, human-animal relationships, mutual reciprocity, sanctuary, social enterprise, therapy

For most folks trying to run a farmed animal sanctuary, they soon learn it is a money sink.  Not everyone is as fortunate, visionary, or aggressive in their fundraising as the founders of Farm Sanctuary.  The founders of Caboodle Ranch and Angel’s Gate Hospice may know that all too well.  It’s expensive to run a rehabilitation center and sanctuary for animals.  Majority of Americans don’t find it to be of value.  Grants aren’t available specifically for sanctuaries.  And earned income from tours and bed and breakfast don’t generate much.  The only sanctuaries that survive and become effective, amazing organizations are those that have either a strong giving program, adopt social enterprise, or have a combination of the two.

But do any farmed animal sanctuaries exist that are social enterprises?

Social Enterprise for Animals

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animal liberation, animal rights, social change, social enterprise, social enterprise for animals, social transformation, values, vegan

Not a day goes by when I don’t sign into my email or search the web and find the phrase “social enterprise.”  It’s increasingly common where there’s “social change.”  More and more social justice groups are adopting it.  So what is it exactly that makes folks grab hold of it not unlike the sustainability frenzy?

Social enterprise offers a way to get to the heart of human values without having to take a single philosophy course.  And an unfortunate consequence, like sustainability, is for existing corporations to use this buzz phrase to manipulate consumer desires for a better world in order to continue business as usual.  However, I’m not going to get into the latter.  I’m more interested in its possibilities, especially for animal liberation.

Trans-species Living: An Interview with Gay Bradshaw

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animal consciousness, animal emotions, animal liberation, animality, community, consciousness, human-animal relationships, mutual reciprocity, mutuality, trans-species, trans-species psychology

What is trans-species psychology and how did you get involved in starting this new field?

Trans-species psychology describes a common model of brain, mind, and behavior for all animals, human inclusive. It draws from research in three main fields: neuroscience, ethology, and psychology. Why “trans” and why “psychology”?

The Quest for Zoopolis

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ecological design, human-animal relationships, intentional community, trans-species, urban wildlife, zoopolis

From harmonyfl.com

“Zoopolis” was coined by Jennifer Wolch, former professor of Geography at the University of Southern California and current dean at UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design.  She described it as a “renaturalized, re-enchanted city” that would “allow for the emergence of an ethic, practice, and politics of caring for animals and nature” by “[inviting] the animals back in.”

Animal Oppression: An Ecological Approach

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abolitionism, autonomy, human-animal bond, interdependence, justice, liberation, mutual reciprocity, mutuality, oppression, relationships

What do we mean when we refer to animal oppression?  How does oppression of animals operate?  How would animal liberation overcome animal oppression?  What does animal liberation mean?  I use the phrases “animal liberation” and “animal oppression” on a regular basis, to the point where I had to take a step back and assess what I meant from these phrases.  Before formulating my own conceptualization of these terms, I wanted to know the brief history of “oppression” and “liberation” and how activists and philosophers describe them.

The Multiple Degrees of Human Sociality

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community, Daniel Quinn, hermit, human sociality, Ishmael, social behavior, social change, solitude

Yesterday my dear friend (and co-editor of Emergent Thought Magazine) and I were discussing Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael and the book’s lessons for social change and the human animal condition.  I mentioned how the book seems to be a bible for primitive anarchism and re-wilding initiatives.  But my friend concluded that the book is much more than that.  The work forces us to explore the multiple degrees of human sociality and how economic and social diversity (as well as cultural diversity) is necessary for humans to have a stable ecological existence.

Going Feral: Re-wilding the Human Animal

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animal liberation, bioregional, feral, intentional community, primitive, rewilding

In his essay “Taming Ourselves or Going Feral?” Brian Luke introduced the concept of “going feral” in the animal liberation movement as a response to patriarchal control in subverting “our sympathetic connections with animals” through institutionalized animal exploitation and abuse.  In this context, “going feral” means letting our natural sympathies flow in our relationships with other animals, rather than allowing our emotional responses to animals be further domesticated (i.e., be tamed).

Although this paper was written with the animal liberation community in mind, the idea of “going feral” is more prevalent among anti-civilization dissenters across western cultures than animal liberation activists.

What’s the deal with animal use?

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abolition, animal emancipation, animal exploitation, animal liberation, animal oppression, animal rights, animal suffering, animal use, anti-oppression, civilization, cooperation, imperialism, indigenous knowledge, mutualism, reciprocity, sacred ecology, traditional ecological knowledge, veganism

In global civilization, where the various human uses of nonhuman animals results in immense animal oppression, concerned activists are looking for a way to deal.  The abolitionist animal liberation agenda seeks to end all forms of animal use.  The abolitionist approach also states that all animal use is driven by the conceptualization of animals as property.  In other words, the commodification of animals leads to animal use, i.e. animal exploitation.