veganarky

I presented a paper at a conference at Brock University in March – “Thinking About Animals: Domination, Captivity, Liberation”. Whilst my paper was directed at animal activists, it had a broader undercurrent. Much of what I was raising I have seen widespread in activist circles. My paper was titled Animal Liberation: symbolic action, un/civil disobedience & the use of fear. In this paper I was commenting on tactics adopted actions across the board – as I think the title indicates. The immediate context of this was the publishing if Lee Hall’s Capers …

I recently reviewed Dorothy Hayes’ Animal Instinct for the Vegan Freak Radio podcast. In recent days I was contacted – out of the blue – by Dorothy with very positive comments on this review (Bob and Jenna were also very generous in theirs). The email included the following: Thanks for the most in-depth review thus far of Animal Instinct. You understood my efforts on several levels, for which I am eternally grateful! …. This one gets a frame!’ and ‘I’ve sent it to several magazines and will keep you posted on developments. When I exhibit my novel in LA this October at Tom Regan’s conference, …

On Friday, I randomly stumbled a cross a community notice for the local monthly Critical Mass bike ride – about an hour before it was due to start. My first reaction was to get my bike ready. My second was should I bother. I have tried to give some thought to why I had the second reaction, with it obviously being more than the simple implications it embodies. I rationalised that I should attend to support alternate transportation, the provision of safer and dedicated bike routes and that, as I am on the other side of the world to where I am from – very much out of my comfort zone – I might mee…