Interested in learning more about veganism and vegan related issues? We’ve curated a collection of books to get you started.
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Interest in the vegan studies field continues to grow as veganism has become increasingly visible via celebrity endorsements and universally acknowledged health benefits, and veganism and vegan characters are increasingly present in works of art and literature. Through a Vegan Studies Lens broadens the scope of vegan studies by engaging in the mainstream discourse found in a wide variety of contemporary works of literature, popular cultural representations, advertising, and news media.
Veganism is a practice that allows for environmentally responsible consumer choices that are viewed, particularly in the West, as oppositional to an economy that is largely dependent upon big agriculture. This groundbreaking collection exposes this disruption, critiques it, and offers a new roadmap for navigating and reimaging popular culture representations on veganism. These essays engage a wide variety of political, historical, and cultural issues, including contemporary political and social circumstances, emergent veganism in Eastern Europe, climate change, and the Syrian refugee crisis, among other topics.
Through a Vegan Studies Lens significantly furthers the conversation of what a vegan studies perspective can be and illustrates why it should be an integral part of cultural studies and critical theory. Vegan studies is inclusive, refusing to ignore the displacement, abuse, and mistreatment of nonhuman animals. It also looks to ignite conversations about cultural oppression.
How to Create a Vegan World: A Pragmatic Approach by Tobias Leenaert
In this thought-provoking book, Tobias Leenaert leaves well-trodden animal advocacy paths and takes a fresh look at the strategies, objectives, and communication of the vegan and animal rights movement. He argues that, given our present situation, with entire societies dependent on using animals, we need a very pragmatic approach. How to Create a Vegan World contains many valuable ideas and insights for both budding advocates for animals and seasoned activists, organizational leaders, and even entrepreneurs.
The Vegan Studies Project: Food, Animals, and Gender in the Age of Terror by Laura Wright
This inescapably controversial study envisions, defines, and theorizes an area that Laura Wright calls vegan studies. We have an abundance of texts on vegans and veganism including works of advocacy, literary and popular fiction, film and television, and cookbooks, yet until now, there has been no study that examines the social and cultural discourses shaping our perceptions of veganism as an identity category and social practice.
Ranging widely across contemporary American society and culture, Wright unpacks the loaded category of vegan identity. She examines the mainstream discourse surrounding and connecting animal rights to (or omitting animal rights from) veganism. Her specific focus is on the construction and depiction of the vegan body―both male and female―as a contested site manifest in contemporary works of literature, popular cultural representations, advertising, and new media. At the same time, Wright looks at critical animal studies, human-animal studies, posthumanism, and ecofeminism as theoretical frameworks that inform vegan studies (even as they differ from it).
The vegan body, says Wright, threatens the status quo in terms of what we eat, wear, and purchase―and also in how vegans choose not to participate in many aspects of the mechanisms undergirding mainstream culture. These threats are acutely felt in light of post-9/11 anxieties over American strength and virility. A discourse has emerged that seeks, among other things, to bully veganism out of existence as it is poised to alter the dominant cultural mindset or, conversely, to constitute the vegan body as an idealized paragon of health, beauty, and strength. What better serves veganism is exemplified by Wright’s study: openness, debate, inquiry, and analysis.
Motivational Methods for Vegan Advocacy: A Clinical Psychology Perspective by Casey T. Taft
How can we as animal advocates best help nonhuman animals? This is a question that gets thrown around and debated passionately among those who care deeply about animals. Many fall within different “camps,” claiming that their particular approach is more “effective” despite a lack of any meaningful or peer-reviewed scientific study. Often, claims of effectiveness are not grounded in any particular theory of behavioral change and may actually run counter to the clinical and scientific literatures about how change occurs for other behaviors. Motivational Methods for Vegan Advocacy applies principles and methods from the field of clinical psychology to enhance the potential impact of the animal advocacy efforts of individuals and groups. This work is based on the premise that animal advocates are the change-makers and will help determine whether this movement succeeds or fails. Fortunately, there are tried and tested models and strategies that have been shown to help create true, internal, long-standing behavioral change for a range of problem behaviors that include unnecessary violence. Taft discusses these methods and illustrates how they can best be applied in preventing the needless harm inflicted upon animals.
This Is Vegan Propaganda: (And Other Lies the Meat Industry Tells You) by Ed Winters
he first book from vegan activist, educator and influencer Ed Winters, who has a strong, loyal following on Instagram
Every time we eat, we have the power to radically transform the world we live in.
Our choices can help alleviate the most pressing issues we face today: the climate crisis, infectious and chronic diseases, human exploitation and, of course, non-human exploitation. Undeniably, these issues can be uncomfortable to learn about but the benefits of doing so cannot be overstated. It is quite literally a matter of life and death.
Through exploring the major ways that our current system of animal farming affects the world around us, as well as the cultural and psychological factors that drive our behaviors, This Is Vegan Propaganda answers the pressing question, is there a better way? Whether you are a vegan already or curious to learn more, this book will show you the other side of the story that has been hidden for far too long.
Based on years of research and conversations with slaughterhouse workers and farmers, to animal rights philosophers, environmentalists, and everyday consumers, vegan educator and public speaker Ed Winters will give you the knowledge to understand the true scale and enormity of the issues at stake.
This Is Vegan Propaganda is the empowering and groundbreaking book on veganism that everyone, vegan and skeptic alike, needs to read.
Vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters can feel like they’re living in different worlds. Many vegans and vegetarians struggle to feel understood and respected in a meat-eating culture, where some of their most pressing concerns and cherished beliefs are invisible, and where they are often met with defensiveness when they try to talk about the issue. They can become frustrated and struggle to feel connected with meat eaters. And meat eaters can feel disconnected from vegans and vegetarians whose beliefs they don’t fully understand and whose frustration may spill over into their interactions. The good news is that relationship and communication breakdown among vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters is not inevitable, and it is reversible. With the right tools, healthy connections can be cultivated, repaired, and even strengthened. In Beyond Beliefs, internationally recognized food psychology expert and longtime relationship coach Dr. Melanie Joy provides easy-to-understand, actionable advice so you can: • Learn the principles and tools for creating healthy relationships • Understand how to communicate about even the most challenging topics effectively • Recognize how the psychology of being vegan/vegetarian or of being a meat eater affects your relationships with others, and with yourself