{"id":778744,"date":"2025-07-08T08:26:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T12:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=778744"},"modified":"2025-07-08T10:30:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T14:30:58","slug":"yes-we-can-win-how-norm-setting-will-transform-the-fight-for-animal-liberation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/animalrightswatch.us\/?p=778744","title":{"rendered":"Yes, We Can Win: How norm-setting will transform the fight for animal liberation"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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Making veganism the 'norm' is how we win. Once it becomes 'normal' not to eat animals, most people won\u2019t eat animals. Most people are just looking to see what most people are doing. If we want real change, our key has to be norm-setting. We can start small. We can create new norms in specific communities. These clusters become proof-of-concept communities. They grow and they can spread. That\u2019s how the shift happens. Not all at once everywhere, but all at once somewhere \u2014 and then, somehow, everywhere at once. Because it is now normal, and most people most of the time just want to be normal.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\n

VASILE STANESCU:<\/strong> Here\u2019s the thing about social change: it does not move in a straight line; it moves by bursts. Think of evolution: There\u2019s no such thing as \u201chalf a wing.\u201d Instead, we get punctuated equilibrium\u2014long periods of seeming stability, then sudden, sweeping changes. Social change works the same way. Everything feels stuck\u2026 until it isn\u2019t.<\/em><\/p>\n

Meat eating may operate in a similar manner: The best data we have suggests that most people eat meat\u2026because most people eat meat. The data would seem to suggest it is not about deep personal attachment to meat eating; it is more about what feels \u201cnormal.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This power of norm setting was most famously highlighted by Solomon Asch\u2019s famous conformity experiments: In his classic setup, a group of 7 to 9 subjects, mostly confederates of the experimenter, were asked to compare the length of lines. Only one true subject was present, and they were placed in a situation where the majority gave unanimously incorrect answers. The subject then had to choose between acting independently based on their own senses or conforming to the majority\u2019s incorrect judgment. Under normal conditions, individuals make mistakes less than 1% of the time. However, under group pressure, subjects conformed to the wrong judgments in 36.8% of cases. From 1% to 36.8% for an obviously wrong answer: that is the effective power of peer pressure; that is the power of norm setting. And, that was from as single experience of norm setting\u2014not a lifetime of peer pressure…<\/em><\/p>\n

So when we ask how anyone can eat meat despite overwhelming evidence, we should remember: people will say a short line is longer if enough other people do it. There is simply an inherent limit to that amount that facts alone will shape public action.<\/em><\/p>\n

Candid Camera did perhaps the most memorable example of this same idea: a person walks in to an elevator, sees everyone facing the wrong way, and eventually turns around too. And it keeps happening. Humans are a herd species. We\u2019re wired to follow the group. We will give obviously wrong answers \u2014 that we know are wrong\u2014we will literally face the wrong way in an elevator. What people do around us, not all, but most, people will also always do…<\/em><\/p>\n

On one hand, this can feel depressing or overwhelming. On the other hand, it also mean that when we change, we will change fast. Once it becomes \u201cnormal\u201d not to eat animals, most people won\u2019t eat animals. Most people are just looking to see\u2026what most people are doing. If we want real change, our key has to be norm-setting.<\/em><\/p>\n

However, we don\u2019t need to wait for some global tipping point. We can start small. We can create new norms in specific communities: among young people, in cities like Seattle or Austin, in climate activist circles, or on college campuses. Anywhere a group can reach critical mass, we can change what\u2019s visible\u2014and what\u2019s expected. These clusters become proof-of-concept communities. They grow and they can spread.<\/em><\/p>\n

We also need to keep repeating something essential: there are a large number of vegetarians and vegans. Unsurprisingly, the media consistently underreports the number of vegetarians and vegans. However, the truth is that nearly one in ten Americans are vegetarian or vegan. Twelve percent of Americans under 50 are. These are impressive numbers. Here is particularly why these numbers matter: when even one other person also said the short line was in fact shorter, the number of people who said what they really believed shot up. Knowing we are not alone is the number one thing we can do to help vegans stay vegan and to help more people become vegan…<\/em><\/p>\n

Start Where You Have Influence:<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a student, advocate for veganism in the dining halls\u2014not as a \u201cfavor\u201d to vegans, but as the forward-thinking choice.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a parent, normalize veganism at home and in your social circle.<\/em><\/p>\n

If you work in an office, suggest vegan catering for meetings.<\/em><\/p>\n

Perhaps most importantly: If you are a large animal rights group, yes, be shocking. Shocking is good. Media attention is required. But learn to shock by the quality of our moral clarity and courage\u2014not its complete absence. I know you have the courage of our convictions; now use those incredible resources you have to bring real attention to animal liberation as a valid social justice movement that puts our own bodies in danger, in sustained and courageous nonviolent disobedience to stop business as usual\u2014with clear policy demands for true change and effective norm setting.<\/em><\/p>\n

That\u2019s how the shift happens. Not all at once everywhere, but all at once somewhere \u2014 and then, somehow, everywhere at once. Because it is now normal, and most people most of the time just want to be normal. Making veganism the norm \u2014 that is how we win. And, if we work together, as a movement, we are going to win. <\/em>SOURCE…<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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