We can’t afford to further complicate or dilute the only movement that centers on non-human animals, and that is the risk we take if we apply an intersectional approach to veganism. To take attention away from this in any way undermines the very ethos of veganism.
ROZALI TELBIS: According to the Vegan Society, veganism seeks to “exclude — as far as is possible and practicable — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose.” By definition, there are no additional prerequisites needed; vegans are not required to subscribe to a number of additional causes in order to adhere to this belief system that centers non-human animals.
But intersectional veganism is no longer being promoted in niche online communities only. It’s now being more accepted across vegan communities and organizations in which vegans must undergo a loyalty test to prove they too, care about x, y, and z to prove their allegiance to veganism. Many adherents are also what can be called the bourgeois left who value identity politics above all else.
Intersectional veganism demands that vegans must not only be vegan, but they must also advocate for every other marginalized group and issue that emerges in current discourse. It demands that vegans must publicly announce their allegiance to such causes, lest they be labeled as ‘-ist’ or ‘phobic.’ This line of thinking does a huge disservice to the animals who obviously do not have the means to advocate for themselves – they do not have rights nor do they have a voice…
For one, veganism is the only movement that centers non-human animals. To take attention away from this in any way, even if it’s for other well-meaning causes, undermines the very ethos of veganism. We can’t afford to further complicate or dilute the only movement that centers animals — and that is the risk we take if we apply an intersectional approach to veganism. To this day, while veganism as a term seems to be more well-known in Western society, it still remains one of the most unpopular movements, especially when you compare it to other trending social justice movements.
We’ve already seen what happens when you apply an ‘intersectional lens’ to other movements. Other movements that have adopted this framework have completely lost credibility, and lost sight of their original mission. The environmental movement is a good example. Environmentalism was once primarily focused on efforts to slow climate change, but it has since morphed into a catch-all movement, co-opting a number of other issues that have little to do with the environment at all. Many environmental organizations are now singularly focused on identity politics at the expense of the climate…
Many modern environmental groups are also woefully narrow minded in their thinking (many believe that technological progress will eliminate environmental destruction, which could not be further from the truth, but that is a topic for another time). Veganism has taken a similar turn among faux progressives. Intersectional vegans co-opted a movement that was once meant to center the animals, and puts the ego center stage once again…
Adapting this intersectional framework requires vegans to be a one-dimensional carbon copy set of each other, which as I’ve noted above, is exactly what is happening in the intersectional vegan space. There is an alarming trend occurring among anti-oppression advocates — they blindly jump onto every cause without giving much thought to the issue. The problem here is that a groupthink culture quickly forms, and any form of critique or questions is met with unilateral condemnation.
Interestingly, other movements don’t have these same unwritten prerequisites. Women who campaign for reproductive rights aren’t expected to also advocate for racial justice, workers who fight to increase the minimum wage aren’t also expected to fight for climate legislation, and so on. But perplexingly, vegans are expected to take all of these issues on — and the oft-touted reason is that veganism is rooted in an anti-oppression framework, meaning vegans must fight against oppression of all living beings. But this anti-oppression framework in itself is based on a certain framework or ideology. And this catch-all approach can be paralyzing and lead to nothing being done…
If vegans want to subscribe to intersectionality, of course they have every right to do so, but to tack this on as a prerequisite to being vegan is entirely unproductive and dilutes and undermines the entire movement. Veganism is the only movement we have that centers non-human animals. For once I hope we can keep it that way. SOURCE…
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