veganarky

The term vegansexual emerged in 2007. It was coined by Annie Potts, the co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Human and Animal Studies, and Madala White, at the University of Canterbury. They were researching cruelty-free consumption, with the findings published as Cruelty-Free Consumption in New Zealand: A National Report on the Perspectives and Experiences of Vegetarians & Other Ethical Consumers. Annie Potts and Jovian Parry analysed responses to the term vegansexual following substantial media interest in the study, suggesting ‘that the vigorous reactions of self-identified omnivor…

The introduction of non-native species to regions and islands, and the ongoing implications of these, are a legacy of human chauvinism. Our ideological arrogance continues to shape decisions and forms of (strategic) ignorance will have long-lasting implications based on the actions we take today. Apparently we have learned, and continue to learn, little. The Australian government has funded a program seeking to address the introduction of non-native species to Macquarie Island, which is located half way between Tasmania and Antarctica (see video). The hundred thousand or more rabbits, in parti…

At a recent Critical Animal Studies conference at Brock University, many of those in attendance were exposed to their own strategic ignorance: the unmarked and nonconsiered (to them) implications of words and discourse used. One of these was the term ‘standpoint’, a reference to Donna Haraway (and others) insightful standpoint theory. In seeking to address this, a term I have used in the past seems much more apt: situatedness. In much the same vein, the term widely used by Gary L. Francione and others, ‘moral schizophrenia’, has implications that are unmarked and nonconsiered by those who are …

ome time 2007 I changed the design of this website to incorporate the sunflower image that has become the symbol of veganarky, of what it means to me. The image is of one of a small number of similar sculptures of sunflowers in Front Street, Toronto, Ontario (I have made some minor modifications to saturation and hue, and to remove any background). I have now found some words to describe part of what the image represents for me. As a starting point, the sunflower is an almost a universal symbol for and of veganism. Prior to using this image, I had made a mashup of the green anarchy (sunflower)…