Veg(etari)an Arguments in Culture, History, and Practice: The V Word (The Palgrave Macmillan Animal Ethics Series)

This collection explores the arguments related to veg(etari)anism as they play out in the public sphere and across media, historical eras, and geographical areas. As vegan and vegetarian practices have gradually become part of mainstream culture, stemming from multiple shifts in the socio-political, cultural, and economic landscape, discursive attempts to both legitimize and delegitimize them have amplified. With 12 original chapters, this collection analyses a diverse array of these legitimating strategies, addressing the practice of veg(etari)anism through analytical methods used in rhetorical criticism and adjacent fields. Part I focuses on specific geo-cultural contexts, from early 20 th century Italy, Serbia and Israel, to Islam and foundational Yoga Sutras. In Part II, the authors explore embodied experiences and legitimation strategies, in particular the political identities and ontological consequences coming from consumption of, or abstention from, meat. Part III looks at the motives, purposes and implication of veg(etari)anism as a transformative practice, from ego to eco, that should revolutionise our value hierarchies, and by extension, our futures. Offering a unique focus on the arguments at the core of the veg(etari)an debate, this collection provides an invaluable resource to scholars across a multitude of disciplines. Series Editors’ Preface Contents Notes on Contributors Introduction: Legitimation Strategies in Veg(etari)an and Anti-Veg(etari)an Discourses Strategies of Legitimation in Veg(etari)an-Adjacent Discourses A Definitional Note: Veganism, Vegetarianism, Veg(etari)anism Structure of the Book Bibliography Part I: Cultural and Historical Perspectives on Vegetarianism 1: State of Meatlessness: Voluntary and Involuntary Vegetarianism in Early Twentieth-Century Italy The Case of Italy Meat and the Body What to Cook Vegetarianism Institutionalized Under Fascism Bibliography 2: Taking an Anti-Sacrificial Stance: The Essentializing Rhetoric and Affective Nature of Meat Consumption in Islam Religio-Historical Considerations “A good deed done to an animal”: Is “Ethical Killing” Ethical? Questioning the Sacred Re-Examining the Contradictory Cultures of Meat, Blood, and Othering Questioning the Centrality and Gendered Construction of Meat in Islam Intersections of Veg(etari)anism and Environmental Sustainability in the MENA Future Directions Bibliography 3: Because We Care: Veganism and Politics in Israel Vegan Rhetoric Mobilizing Affect Veganism, Popular Culture, and Politics Discussion Bibliography 4: Veg(etari)anism in Serbia: Attack on Traditional Values Introduction: Vegetarians and Meat Eaters in Serbia “It’s Their Choice, But...” Tradition of Hospitality Kindergarten Vegetarians—A Child Abuse? Vegetarians, Cults, and Gay Rights Eastern Orthodox Fasting and Vegetarianism “Us” Versus “Them”: Vegetarianism as a Display of Foreign Values Bibliography 5: Ancient Text, Modern Context: Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the Twenty-First Century Veg(etari)an Yoga and Vegetarianism The Yamas: Wise Characteristics The Niyamas: Codes for Living Soulfully Conclusion Bibliography Part II: Veg(etari)anism as Embodied Practice 6: The Accidental Vegetarian: Object-Oriented Ontology at the Intersection of Alpha-Gal Mammalian Meat Allergy Identity and Food Alpha-Gal Description Alpha-Gal: Both Medicine and Menace Object-Oriented Ontology and Alpha-Gal Syndrome In the Skin of the “Strange Stranger” A Tick(et) into the Kingdom of the Sick Vegan “Killjoys,” Carnivores, and Coexistence Conclusion Bibliography 7: “You Are What You Eat”: Oprah, Amarillo, and Food Politics “The only mad cow in Amarillo is OPRAH” The Power of a Good Haircut: Creating a Counternarrative Conclusion Bibliography 8: Queer Hunger: Human and Animal Bodies in Djuna Barnes’ Nightwood Bibliography Part III: Eco Versus Ego: The Transformative Potential of Veg(etari)anism 9: Laying Down with the Lamb: Abolitionist Veganism, the Rhetoric of Human Exceptionalism, and the End of Creation The Imago Dei: The Appeal to Genesis 1 Dominion A Theology of Creation Incarnating Life The Messianic Kingdom Conclusion: Towards Creation’s End Bibliography 10: Feeling Bad? Veganism, Climate Change, and the Rhetoric of Cowspiracy Rhetorical Documentaries and Cognitive Film Theory “People Don’t Wanna Hear It”: The Affective Appeals of Cowspiracy “It’s Real Hard”: Watching Cowspiracy in the Classroom Conclusion Bibliography 11: Constituting Vegetarian Audiences: Orchestrations of Egocentric, Anthropocentric, Ecocentric Exigencies in Jonathan Safran Foer’s Eating Animals Introduction Vegetarianism’s Familial Exigencies The Ethics of Vegetarianism Vegetarianism and the Intersections of Individual, Public, and Environmental Health Conclusion Bibliography 12: Beyond Diet: Veganism as Liberatory Praxis The “Who” in Veganism Overlapping Oppressions in Animal Agriculture Liberatory Connections Resisting Veganism Conclusion Bibliography Index