Mass social gathering spaces such as the 'Vegan Campout' can help vegan group members overcome isolation and strengthen their sense of shared identity. It is a place where they can be their authentic selves away from the critical gaze of the majority, meat-eating, society. The Vegan Campout event shows attendees that their efforts to promote veganism were part of a collective effort and not in vain. For them, the psychological and social benefits spring from the stark contrast between the openness and celebration of veganism at the campout and the relentless, corroding experiences of having to defend and downplay their veganism in their daily lives.
ANNAYAH M.B. PROSSER: Moralized minority actors can play important roles in social change processes by rejecting majority social norms and modeling alternative societal pathways. However, being a minority actor can be difficult, often resulting in stigma, derogation, and hostility from the majority group. For actions intrinsically linked with daily life (e.g., eating), such social obstacles might become so great that individuals acting alone experience activist burnout’ and social isolation, and may stop pursuing social change altogether. Event-based interventions are a promising (yet currently understudied) avenue for ameliorating these negative consequences and maintaining minority-driven social change. Through on-site field interviews (N = 20), we explore how attending an identity-centering mass gathering (“The Vegan Campout”) acts to validate and empower a minority group (vegans) seeking social change…
Overall, this research demonstrates the restorative and rejuvenating impacts of identity-centering events for a moralized minority group working toward social change. Our analysis shows that the Vegan Campout functioned as a space where vegan identity, food, and action was centered and celebrated. The event was an opportunity for vegans to connect with each other. Vegans initially attending on their own were invited to “lonelies” chat groups to facilitate this social connection, and even seemingly mundane activities, such as queuing, were celebrated by attendees as important opportunities for social connection and validation. The campout was experienced as an important space for vegans to “recharge” their identities and to renew or acquire a more politicized activist identity.
By providing an important space for a “vegan future” to become temporarily realized in the present day (i.e., a prefigurative space), the event showed people that their efforts to promote veganism were part of a collective effort and not in vain. Finally, the campout was experienced as a “retreat” not just from the mundane demands of everyday life—as experienced at majority-group mass gatherings — but from majority-group hostility toward vegans. Thus, the event gave vegans, as a minority group, the opportunity to temporarily experience what life is like as a “temporary social majority”: where their identities and practices were catered to and treated as the default choice.
This latter finding is particularly instructive. For attendees at the Vegan Campout, the psychological and social benefits sprung from the stark contrast between the openness and celebration of veganism at the campout and the relentless, corroding experiences of having to defend and downplay their veganism in their daily lives. This was a place where they could be their authentic selves away from the critical gaze of the majority, meat-eating, society. Stereotypes of vegans construct them as a confident activist group whose members are well connected to each other. What we saw corroborates other research suggesting, on the contrary, that vegans are exhausted by the daily negotiation and questioning of their dietary practices and would often prefer to stay quiet about their preferences.
This research stands with many other accounts demonstrating the difficulties and pain many vegans face when existing in a meat-dominated society. Our research shows that vegans are often disconnected from each other and can feel atomized and lonely in their actions and identity. This analysis demonstrates how attending events like the Vegan Campout can provide powerful social and psychological resources for vegans to stay engaged in identity practices and activism, connect with others in their community, and avoid burnout. In turn, such events could be important to foster innovation and experimentation for social change: in the case of veganism, for a move toward a more sustainable society. SOURCE…
RELATED VIDEOS: