Posts tagged resources
New video available: “You Can Help Stop This”
Aug 2nd
L.O.V.E.’s new video and pamphlet documenting speciesist oppression, “You Can Help Stop This,” is now available at YouCanHelpStopThis.com. Video subtitles are available in Chinese, Dutch, English, and Greek, with more coming soon (please contact us if you’d like to contribute another); pamphlet translations are coming soon. The video can be watched on Youtube and Vimeo, as well, and it can be downloaded from this page. An image for DVD burning will be available soon.
The core difference between “You Can Help Stop This” (YCHST) and other animal advocacy videos is that YCHST repeatedly emphasizes exploitation, whereas “Meet Your Meet,” Earthlings, and other videos focus on specific details of various industries. For this reason, “Meet Your Meat” is not a vegan video but an anti-factory-farming video. While Earthlings addresses many speciesist practices, it makes each argument separately: specific reasons to change our diet, specific reasons to boycott circuses, specific reasons to stop using leather. Comparatively, I think the message in YCHST is coherent, holistic, and clear. The first titled section directly addresses exploitation, the following sections all return to exploitation, and veganism is defined as a principle of non-exploitation. I think this clearly presents speciesism as a system of oppression, and I think it presents veganism as a coherent, effective response to speciesist oppression.
From the beginning of this project, I imagined like-minded vegans using this video in place of other activism clips that, while emotionally powerful, are limited in their presentation of a vegan perspective. If you believe in veganism as a principle of non-exploitation, not just a lifestyle that happens to solve various problems, I encourage you to view this video and share it with people you know, to spread it online and show it in your communities. I feel very satisfied upon completing this video and sharing it with you all; I think it expresses my reasons for “being vegan” more clearly than I ever have before. Thank you very much.
Click here to watch the new video: www.YouCanHelpStopThis.com
Update on the activism video and related projects
Mar 22nd
Last summer I started working on an activism video to use in place of videos like Earthlings, which many of us have grown to dislike but might still use because there isn’t a great alternative. (I’ll note that I’ve been using slaughterhouse footage from Igualdad Animal in recent months; most of it lacks narration, but it’s powerful footage and readily accessible for online activism.) After I missed my ambitious goal to finish the activism video by September, I let the project go for a while—I felt burnt out, and school demanded my attention. In January I started working regularly on the project again.
So far I’ve basically completed the first part (more than half) of the video, which addresses speciesist oppression. I also compiled a rough ending—which discusses veganism—but I’ve recently decided to rewrite the end. (This also means rerecording some narration.) Besides these tasks, I have a few audio problems to fix. I feel tempted to set another public goal to finish by some date, but after the last time, I’m not sure that’s the most effective approach for me. In any case, I’m excited about this video. Every time I work on it I feel a somber but powerful (and “ultimately” encouraging) feeling that this is important work. I feel like this video is going to do something important.
Besides giving an update on the video, I want to detail some other exciting developments. LOVE member M is now working on a pamphlet to be finished around the same time as the video, based on the same script. This pamphlet should be helpful for mobile-video projection with the new video as well as for leafleting. In addition, we’ve also planned to restructure our website so that it’s based on the organizational distinctions made in the video and pamphlet:
First, the bulk of the site will be categorized along the lines of “Speciesist Oppression” / “Veganism” instead of “Vegan Basics” / “Living Veganism.” This change, grouping all the “veganism” articles into one section, reflects an understanding that any exploration of veganism as anti-oppression will naturally include an interest in advocating veganism to others: “activism” is included in “veganism.” The added space given to speciesist oppression might also mark a movement by several of us toward more emphasis on ‘veganism 101.’ We’ve found that our initial audience—established vegans who want to advocate veganism as anti-oppression—is quite small. 2010, for several of us, seems to suggest a return to focusing on outreach to primarily non-vegans.
Another big change is that the new “Speciesism” section, more thorough but perhaps less detail-oriented than our current pamphlets, will no longer be organized by industry (“Food” / “Circus” / etc.) but instead along the lines of “Exploitation” / “Confinement” / “Forced Labor” / “Ownership” / “Physical Violence” / “Killing” / “Devaluation.” This change, we hope, will bring attention to the practices and factors that repeatedly show up in many forms of oppression, human and nonhuman.
I think this organization is more conducive to a holistic understanding of veganism and to an understanding that all forms of oppression are worth opposing for similar reasons. I think it implies that we usually don’t need different facts or theories for each form of vegan activism (anti-circus, anti-wool, etc.); instead, the broad principle of non-exploitation can simply, consistently be applied to each instance. Often, the same exact phrases or sentences could be said about all forms of oppression. Highlighting this fact might make it more clear, in an intuitive way, why vegans oppose all forms of oppression and why we don’t think that such an opposition is “asking too much.”
might also mark a movement by several of us toward more emphasis on ‘veganism 101.’ We’ve found that our initial audience—established vegans who want to advocate veganism as anti-oppression—to be quite small right now. In addition, I personally feel like my own efforts to “convince” animal welfarists to consider anti-oppression have seemed mostly futile. 2010, for several LOVE members, seems to suggest a return to focusing on outreach to primarily non-vegans.
The honey issue & focusing on the most marginalized groups
Oct 12th
The first result when one searches the words “vegan” & “honey” on the Google search engine is the website “Why Honey is Not Vegan.” This website, created in 1999, explains clearly & directly the reasons why veganism—in its original sense, as non-exploitation—stands against the exploitation of bees. The website pairs this explanation with an in-depth exploration of how honey is produced, allowing the reader to really understand bees & feel for their situation.
The website’s creator, Noah Lewis, is currently raising money to fund a complete overhaul & revision of the site. Proposed additions to the site include information on colony collapse disorder, a letter to raw vegans who eat honey, a review of Bee Movie, & an examination of honey & honey bees as depicted in children’s literature. The updated website would dispel myths & common misunderstandings about honey & antioxidants, the ethics of eating fruit that’s been pollinated by bees, & organic/natural beekeeping.
Beyond promoting Noah’s specific effort, I want to use this post to discuss one of the values I see embodied in this effort. That is, while it explains veganism to the public, it insists on solidarity with some of the most marginalized nonhuman animals—insects. Moreover, by arguing for the liberation of that most marginalized group, I think it effectively argues for the liberation of all groups.
Focusing on the most marginalized groups
Some vegans question an outreach effort that specifically addresses “the honey issue,” especially since other advocates intentionally avoid the subject. In a conversation with Ida at The Vegan Ideal, Noah explains the motivation behind a website exclusively about the exploitation of bees:
I see my page on bees as akin to when other social justice movements focus on the most marginalized groups. If we don’t speak up for bees now, when are we going to, exactly? In other social justice movements, the more privileged groups are always blaming the more marginalized groups, saying that they’re holding back the movement. The LGBT movement exemplifies this, where wealthy white suburban gays and lesbians are embarrassed by flamboyant pride parades and don’t understand what the T has to do with the LGB.
Along with ensuring the inclusion of bees into our idea of veganism, I think focusing on bees can actually help to effectively communicate the core ideas of veganism. When I discuss veganism with others, it’s important to me that I communicate the core, the real root, of what I’m doing as a vegan & what I feel as a vegan. For me, this means making it clear that I’m opposed to all animal exploitation. The method I’ve used for communicating this has been talking about “exploitation itself.” I try to strip away all the particulars & talk about exploitation, force, & oppression in very general terms. I’ve come to understand, however, that focusing on the most marginalized groups—human or nonhuman—tends to do this same kind of thing. I think that to seek liberation for the most marginalized groups is not only to seek liberation for those specific groups. To seek liberation for the most marginalized groups seems, instead, to demonstrate an opposition to all oppression—an opposition to “every possibility of oppression and exploitation.”
While L.O.V.E.’s approach has often been to question multiple speciesist practices in the same pamphlet—or to question multiple forms of oppression in the same blog post—I think another useful approach is to focus on a single instance of oppression & use that discussion as a vehicle to spread underlying non-exploitation ideals. This is especially relevant to everyday conversations about veganism. Often, we have an opportunity to speak to people about specific forms of exploitation that are mentioned in conversation. We can use these conversations to spread ideas of non-exploitation in general. This is what Victor & Miranda have done with a recent circus pamphlet, suggesting underlying themes of choice & consent, & I think this is what “Why Honey is Not Vegan” does.
For more:
- Noah writes about “normalizing radical and radicalizing norms.”
- “Why Honey is Not Vegan” Kickstarter page (donations accepted until Oct. 14 or until goal is reached).
Setting short-term, concrete goals
Jun 12th
When our ultimate goal as vegans is as big as “achieve a vegan world,” we can sometimes be confused about where to begin. We know where we want to go, but we have so many different tasks that we can work on—so many people to persuade, so many places to spread the word, so many practices to help change. Even after we decide which pathways seem more “effective,” we still might be confused about what to do with today, here and now. This is why I want to emphasize short-term, concrete goals: They focus our effort on actions we can take today. By setting smaller, measurable goals for this week, this month, or this year, we can more effectively move toward the bigger goal of a vegan world.
Short-term goals can also encourage us along the way. By repeatedly reaching our short-term goals, we can stay empowered, energetic, and hopeful. In contrast, if we only think about the final goal, achieving a vegan world, we may feel we’ve made little or no progress, and we may get discouraged. So I think making smaller, measurable goals is a practical way for us to keep moving in the direction we want to go.
Now I’d like to outline my own goal for this summer. I want to share this goal both to benefit the readers of this post (for demonstration and for inspiration) and to hold myself publicly accountable to this goal. I’ve broken it into three sub-goals to make it more manageable.
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Goal: Create an anti-oppression vegan video clip to be used for online activism and, possibly, mobile video projection.
Finish by: August 31, 2009
Purpose:
(1) To increase the effectiveness of vegan activism by providing a resource that combines the impact of video with a clear anti-speciesist message and follow-up actions.
(2) To demonstrate to the vegan community the power and relevance of an anti-oppression view when doing public outreach.
Sub-goal 1: Finish a rough script for the video.
Finish by: June 30, 2009
Sub-goal 2: Select all videos and images for each section.
Finish by: July 31, 2009
Sub-goal 3: Assemble and edit footage, record narration, add closed captioning.
Finish by: August 31, 2009
Budget: $0
To stay accountable, I will post updates—at each “finish” date—as comments on this thread. I’ll also note my progress in my L.O.V.E. Myspace updates, which I send monthly to our mailing list.
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As you can probably imagine, I’m very excited about this project! By making it a clearly (and publicly) stated goal, I hope to ensure that it’s a success.
I encourage others to comment on this post describing their own short-term projects. What are you or your local group working on? This kind of discussion might help spread ideas, provide inspiration, and make us all more publicly accountable in working toward our goals.
New information or new perspective?
Apr 13th
Lately I’ve been reviewing slaughterhouse investigations and other footage in order to compile an anti-oppression, anti-speciesist video clip for online activism. Much of the footage I’ve reviewed has come from animal welfare organizations, and most of it has included narration from those groups. In reviewing these videos, I’ve noticed a big difference between the approach to narration in those videos and the approach I plan to use.
In these videos, the general method is to “expose” specific practices on factory farms, fur farms, puppy mills, and other such places. Facts and figures are inevitably involved, and credible sources are required to prove that this is really what happens to other animals. Along with the intended purpose of creating awareness of specific cruel practices, I think the effect of this approach is to reinforce the idea that, if the specific practices weren’t so cruel, then confining and killing other animals would still be O.K.
One short video advertisement was over-dubbed with the song “Old McDonald Had a Farm” and showed factory farming footage. The message, of course, is that most animal foods don’t actually come from family farms like “Old McDonald’s”—they come from farms that confine and kill other animals in much more brutal ways. This specific move is common among animal welfare groups. Peta2 prints a pamphlet titled “What They Never Told You” that starts with the same declaration: “This is Not Old McDonald’s Farm. The meat, eggs, and dairy products that you consume no longer come from the small family farms that you see in children’s books.” These arguments criticize factory farms, yes, but only at the cost of reinforcing the idea that it’s harmless to eat meat, eggs, and dairy from smaller, family-owned farms.
If we want to end speciesism and animal exploitation everywhere—not just the most cruel instances of it—then I don’t think a focus on exposing specific cruelties is effective. Due to the excessive emphasis on specific details, there ends up being nothing said about the underlying problem of use without consent (which exists with or without the specific practices). When we focus on “exposing” all the specific details of factory farming, I think we end up telling the public that what they already know about meat—that other animals are killed in order to produce it—is not worth opposing in itself.
I propose an alternative: When using footage or images of specific speciesist practices, we can couple it with text and narration that question people’s whole worldviews, not just their stance on a single product. Instead of getting into so much detail about a specific practice—“Did you know that chickens on factory farms are bred to grow so fast that…?”—we can ask people to reconsider what they already know: “Have you ever thought about how human animals kill other animals—take away their lives—just because we like the taste of their bodies?”
If our goal is to challenge speciesism, then any specific details we present aren’t the main point. The main point is to bring people to face what they already know—that other animals are killed in order to produce meat—and make them look at it closer, see it for what it really is, really confront it and examine it.
If we can make people question oppression this directly, then we are actively working to disrupt the ideology of speciesism—the ideas ingrained in us by traditions, media, and social norms that make us think it’s normal or reasonable for humans to confine and kill other animals.
When we disrupt the ideology of speciesism like this, we’re not only affecting the other animals that new vegans save with their plant-based diets—we’re putting whole worldviews into circulation. We’re giving people the realizations necessary for them to start questioning every speciesist practice they encounter from there forward. We’re actively laying a foundation for the vegan world we want to create.
L.O.V.E. on Myspace
Dec 20th
This past week I launched a L.O.V.E. Myspace profile adapted from our pamphlet in order to promote anti-oppression veganism online. I invite everyone to visit the page at myspace.com/stopoppression.
The profile primarily works to promote veganism to non-vegans in the general public. It may also be helpful to vegans who want to better understand anti-oppression. The profile has pictures from factory farms, but the argument is not about “reducing suffering” or banning the “worst abuses”—the argument is for respect for all individuals, and for ending exploitation. If you want to promote veganism to non-vegans online and you don’t like the rhetoric of “reducing suffering,” consider directing people to this page.
I have been adding friends to the profile regularly as an online equivalent to mobile video projection or leafleting. I will occasionally share feedback through our COMMUNITY mailing list. Depending on the results, I could make similar profiles for others who also want to do this kind of outreach.