Political Quarterly - 2024 - Weisskircher - Fifty Years After Peter Singer S Animal Liberation What Has The Animal Rights

The Political Quarterly, Vol. 95, No.
2, April/June 2024
Fifty Years after Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation:

What has the Animal Rights Movement Achieved
so Far?
MANÈS WEISSKIRCHER
Abstract
This article analyses the impact of the animal rights movement fifty years after the publication of
Peter Singer’s landmark book Animal Liberation in 1975. Examining the gains and losses of this
vibrant social movement, the article takes a broad international perspective and makes the fol-
lowing key arguments: First, despite comprehensive animal welfare policies, state regulation
has so far remained rather ineffective in reducing animal suffering, especially in those areas
where most animals are being harmed. Second, consumer choices, lifestyles and markets have
changed substantially, most importantly reflected in the recent rise of veganism—but only rela-
tively small numbers of people have made the choice to abstain from most or even all animal
products. Third, long-term economic and demographic trends in human society constitute cru-
cial challenges for reducing animal suffering globally. Fourth and lastly, cultured meat may offer
significant potential for animal advocates to make future gains if some important obstacles can
be overcome.
Keywords: animal rights, animal welfare, lab-grown meat, policy impact, social movement suc-
cess, veganism
Introduction of EU citizens support improving standards

for farmed animals.3
IN 1975, PETER SINGER published Animal The UK has often prided itself as being the most
Liberation, one of the most influential philo- advanced country in the area of animal protection.
sophical works of the past fifty years, making Historically, some key legislative steps, for exam-
a case against the human exploitation of ani- ple, concerning the regulation of animal experi-
mals.1 While organised animal advocacy mentation in science, first occurred in Britain (for
had emerged in the first half of the nineteenth instance, the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876). The
century, it was the decades after the book’s oldest continuous animal welfare organisation in
publication that saw the rise of a vibrant, the world, the Royal Society for the Prevention
modern animal rights movement in many of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), was founded in
parts of the world.2 In the early twenty-first Britain in 1824. Today, it benefits from an annual
century, awareness of the vulnerability of ani- charity income of about £150 million. About
mals has become mainstream, and not only in 10 per cent of 18 to 49 year-olds in Britain self-
the case of pets. According to a 2023 Special report as either vegetarian or vegan.4 And the
Eurobarometer on animal welfare, 84 per cent
3
European Commission, ‘Attitudes of Europeans
towards Animal Welfare. Special Eurobarometer
1
P. Singer, Animal Liberation: A New Ethics for our 533’, European Union, 2023; https://europa.eu/
Treatment of Animals, New York, Harper Collins, eurobarometer/api/deliverable/download/file?
1975. Recently, Singer published an updated ver- deliverableId=88297.
sion: P. Singer, Animal Liberation Now, London, Bod- 4
‘Dietary choices of Brits (e.g. vegetarian, flexitarian,
ley Head, 2023. meat-eater etc)?’, YouGov, 2024; https://yougov.co.uk/
2
N. Phelps, The Longest Struggle: Animal Advocacy from topics/society/trackers/dietery-choices-of-brits-eg-
Pythagoras to PETA, New York, Lantern Books, 2007. vegeterian-flexitarian-meat-eater-etc?crossBreak=2549.
© 2024 The Author(s). The Political Quarterly published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Political Quarterly Publishing Co. 333
Ltd.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and
reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
1467923x, 2024, 2, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1467-923X.13404 by Cochrane Chile, Wiley Online Library on [22/06/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
former and current leader of the Labour Party can Five decades after the publication of Animal
at least agree on one thing: both Jeremy Corbyn Liberation, it is time to take stock, no pun
and Keir Starmer are vegetarian. intended. This article analyses the impact of
To be sure, though, animal advocacy is a trans- the animal rights movement, its key challenges
national phenomenon. What is usually termed and prospects. Discussing the question hardly
as the animal rights movement is quite heteroge- results in a teleological story of constant pro-
neous and involves ideologically moderate ani- gress. Instead, scholarship on social move-
mal welfarists as well as proponents of animal ments underlines that activism is hard work
rights. They organise in large non-governmental and protestors rarely celebrate breakthroughs.
organisations (NGOs) or small grassroots Rather, their story is usually one of small steps
groups, trying to regulate or end animal exploi- forward and sometimes two steps back, full of
tation, for example, in food production, medi- gains and losses and conflicting perspectives
cine, cosmetics, clothes production, hunting, or on what ‘success’ actually is.7 Animal advo-
entertainment such as zoos. Activists pursue cacy is no different and faces the major chal-
many forms of individual and collective action, lenges of cultural habits, business interests as
such as vegetarian and vegan lifestyles, aware- strong counterforces and the need to mobilise
ness raising, demonstrations, petitions, political in the interests of other species. This complex
lobbying, investigative research, online activism, setting already points to the many relevant
animal shelters, or direct action.5 Some impor- ‘stakeholders’ shaping outcomes important
tant examples illustrate the widespread concern to activists—not only themselves and govern-
for animals in many parts of the world: the share ment, but also private companies, research
of vegetarians in India or Israel is even higher institutions and, crucially, the broader public.
than in the UK. In the EU, activists seeking legis- It is thus important to note that social move-
lative change in favour of animals managed to ments are only one of many drivers of societal
collect the required one million signatures for a change, even though they are often essential
European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) on six differ- for putting issues on the public agenda and
ent occasions—more than for any other issue. pushing for alternatives.8
In the Netherlands and Portugal, animal welfare Examining the gains and losses of the ani-
parties have entered parliaments. mal rights movement, this article makes the
It was the importance of ‘postmaterial’ moral following main points. First, despite compre-
issues that has triggered the rise of the modern hensive animal welfare policies, state regula-
animal rights movement in the past fifty years. tion has so far remained rather ineffective in
The period has been marked by the strong mobi- reducing animal suffering, especially in those
lisation of several ‘progressive’ social movements, areas where the overwhelming majority of ani-
in particular, environmentalists. Increasing mals are being harmed. Second, consumer
urbanisation and new human-animal relations choices, lifestyles and markets have changed
have changed attitudes—with the vast majority substantially, most importantly reflected in
of people, at least in the West, now experiencing the recent rise of veganism—but only a rela-
animals as ‘pets’ in towns instead of production tively small proportion of the population have
‘livestock’ in the countryside. At the same time, made the choice to abstain from most or even
science has time and again emphasised similar-
ities between animals and ‘human animals’, J. Jasper and D. Nelkin, The Animal Rights Crusade:
which philosophers have backed up with trea- The Growth of a Moral Protest, New York, Free Press,
tises on the normative consequences of these 1992, pp. 11–25; M. Roscher, Ein Königreich für Tiere:
findings. Last, but certainly not least, grievances Die Geschichte der britischen Tierrechtsbewegung,
concerning animal welfare, especially animal New York, Tectum, 2011, pp. 251–289.
7
exploitation in factory farming, have reached J. Jasper, et al., Gains and Losses: How Protestors Win
and Lose, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2022.
record highs.6 8
D. McAdam and H. Boudet, Putting Social Move-
ments in their place. Explaining Opposition to Energy
5
L. Munro, ‘Strategies, action repertoires and DIY Projects in the United States, 2000–2005, Cambridge,
activism in the animal rights movement’, Social Cambridge University Press, 2012; P. Burstein,
Movement Studies, vol. 4, no. 1, 2005, pp. 75–94. American Public Opinion, Advocacy, and Policy in Con-
6
R. Garner, Animals, Politics, and Morality, Manches- gress. What the Public Wants and what it Gets,
ter, Manchester University Press, 2004, pp. 74–81; Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2014.
334 MANÈS WEISSKIRCHER
The Political Quarterly, Vol. 95, No. 2 © 2024 The Author(s). The Political Quarterly published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The
Political Quarterly Publishing Co. Ltd.
all animal products. Third, long-term eco- This pattern can be illustrated by major pieces
nomic and demographic trends in human soci- of EU legislation in the areas of egg production
ety constitute crucial challenges for reducing and animal experimentation, which were often
animal suffering globally. Fourth, cultured deemed particularly progressive in interna-
meat may offer significant potential for animal tional comparison.11
advocates to make lasting future gains if some In the 1990s, major NGOs such as the
important obstacles can be overcome. Arguing Eurogroup for Animal Welfare—an umbrella
this, and in acknowledgement of the transna- organisation that, for example, includes Com-
tional dimension of animal advocacy, an inter- passion in World Farming—campaigned for
national perspective is taken, with evidence an EU ban of battery cages in egg production.
from a variety of countries—often, but not Their long-term mobilisation efforts included
only, European—to illustrate broader trends. mass mailing, lobbying, public demonstra-
tions and even a hunger strike by an Italian
activist.12 Ultimately, Directive 1999/74/EC
Comprehensive but weak state on ‘minimum standards for the protection of
laying hens’ banned the use of ‘unenriched
regulation cages’. At first, many celebrated the directive
Early examples of modern states regulating as major accomplishment—not least Singer,
animal welfare date back to the first half of who praised ‘Europe’s ethical eggs’.13 How-
the nineteenth century and mainly protected ever, many producers adopted still-legal
horses and donkeys used as draft animals or ‘enriched cages’, providing only minimal
bulls abused during ‘bull baiting’ blood improvement for the welfare of layer chickens.
sports—in short, animal mistreatment by the Moreover, when the use of conventional cages
working classes, often condemned by upper- was supposed to fade out in 2012, thirteen
class gentlemen. Soon, animal experimenta- member states still needed more time to imple-
tion, then known as ‘vivisection’, became ment the ban. Given the small gains made, it is
another bone of contention. Since the last third no surprise that animal advocates in Europe
of the twentieth century, animal-exploiting again mobilised on the issue. In 2019, more
businesses such as factory farming and the than two decades later, a campaign that also
pharmaceutical industry have come under involved organisations and individuals
strong attack, often after activists managed to already active in the 1990s, collected around
enter facilities secretly to record animal abuse. 1.4 million signatures for an ‘End the Cage
Thus, by the twenty-first century, animal Age’ ECI, demanding a ban of the use of all
welfare had long been an issue of comprehen- cages—not only in egg production, but in ani-
sive legal regulation.9 Typically, it has been mal agriculture more generally. Even though
left-wing and green parties which advocated the European Commission initially responded
regulatory attempts.10 However, even in coun- positively, it has not fulfilled its announce-
tries with comparatively strict rules, the ment to initiate concrete measures by the end
impact of laws on the wellbeing of animals of 2023.
has been rather limited—especially for prac- Animal experimentation has been another
tices that harm the highest number of animals. issue where legal regulation has led only to
limited results. Here, too, activists often had
9
R. Garner, Political Animals: Animal Protection Poli- high hopes. In 1990, several NGOs formed
tics in Britain and the United States, Basingstoke,
Macmillan, 1998; K. Smith, Governing Animals:
Animal Welfare and the Liberal State, Oxford, Oxford 11
M. Weisskircher, ‘L’impatto dei movimenti ani-
University Press, 2012. malisti. Il caso della produzione di uova e la speri-
10
P. Chaney, ‘Public policy for non-humans: explor- mentazione scientifica’, Ricerche di storia politica,
ing UK state-wide parties’ formative policy record vol. 22, no. 3, 2019, pp. 339–352.
12
on animal welfare, 1979–2010’, Parliamentary Affairs, H. Ellies, Planet Chicken: the Shameful Story of the
vol. 67, no. 4, pp. 907–934; C. Vogeler, J. Hornung Bird on your Plate, London, Sceptre, 2007.
and N. Bandelow, ‘Farm animal welfare policymak- 13
P. Singer, ‘Europe’s ethical eggs’, Project Syndicate,
ing in the European Parliament—a social identity 17 January 2012; https://www.project-syndicate.
perspective on voting behaviour’, Journal of Environ- org/commentary/europe-s-ethical-eggs?barrier=
mental Policy & Planning, vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 518–530. accesspaylog.
FIFTY YEARS AFTER PETER SINGER’S ANIMAL LIBERATION 335
© 2024 The Author(s). The Political Quarterly published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The The Political Quarterly, Vol. 95, No. 2
the European Coalition to End Animal Experi- Beyond ordinary legislation, animal advo-
ments (ECEAE) to start a long-term campaign. cates also managed to push for the inclusion
In 2003, many activists celebrated the Seventh of animal protection as a state goal in several
Amendment to EU Directive 76/768/EEC, constitutions, for example, in Germany and
which banned animal experimentation in cos- Switzerland.16 However, these constitutional
metics, as a breakthrough. But the measure references are largely symbolic, without direct
suffered from two important shortcomings: constraints to industry or science, even though
first, a high share of chemical ingredients— they may sometimes have legal consequences.
those of potential harm to workers or the envi- In Austria, a constitutional provision was
ronment and also used for non-cosmetic passed in 2013, after twenty years of mobilisa-
purposes—were exempted from the ban. Con- tion. In parallel, though, the Austrian parlia-
sequently, in 2023, ECEAE, the Eurogroup, ment also passed constitutional provisions on
PETA and others submitted another ECI cam- ‘the relevance of basic research’ and the ‘pro-
paign (‘Save Cruelty Free Cosmetics—Com- vision of the population with high-quality
mit to a Europe without Animal Testing’) food of animal and plant origin’, which further
supported by 1.2 million EU citizens. Second, reduced the potential impact of the constitu-
the number of animals used in science is sub- tional reference to animal welfare, as critically
stantially higher than in cosmetics. Directive assessed by an NGO driving the reform.17 So
2010/63/EU ‘on the protection of animals far, the potential offered by constitutional law
used for scientific purposes’ introduced new to regulate animal exploitation has remained
animal welfare provisions at EU level, reflect- unfulfilled.18
ing leading British standards, without putting More direct gains would arise from the
an end to the practice. Activists critical of granting of personhood, including certain
major animal welfare NGOs mobilised for a basic rights, to specific animals. Some activists
‘Stop Vivisection’ ECI to ban all animal exper- have made such attempts, especially with
imentation in science, submitting the required respect to great apes. In the USA, the
number of signatures in 2015. The European Nonhuman Rights Project has engaged in the
Commission rejected the proposal.14 long-term strategy of legal activism, so far,
Apart from these modest legislative gains in unsuccessfully. Entering the political arena
crucial areas of animal exploitation, some coun- more directly, the NGO Sentience Politics initi-
tries indeed banned certain harmful practices— ated a referendum in the Swiss city of Basel to
usually those affecting only a limited number grant fundamental rights to primates. After a
of animals. For example, the UK and fourteen long legal battle on whether the motion could
EU member states outlawed fur production— be voted upon at all, it failed to convince a
sometimes only after domestic production majority in 2022—but it at least gained sup-
had already declined in the face of changing port of a quarter of the voters.19
consumer choices and international competi- Animal advocates have long debated the
tion. Legal progress is certainly not only a merits of promoting either the ‘abolition or
European story: in 2009, Bolivia became the regulation’ of animal exploitation—and what
first country to ban the use of all animals in
circuses. In 2013, India announced a ban of dol- 16
E. Evans, ‘Constitutional inclusion of animal
phinariums. But even measures that nowadays rights in Germany and Switzerland: how did
seem quite uncontroversial—such as the ban animal protection become an issue of national
of dog slaughtering in Germany in 1986— importance?’, Society and Animals, vol. 18, no. 3,
required decades of targeted activism.15 2010, pp. 231–250.
17
‘Das Ergebnis der Kampagne für Tierschutz in
der Verfassung’, Verein gegen Tierfabriken, 29 July
2022; https://vgt.at/presse/news/2022/news2022
14
M. Weisskircher, ‘The European Citizens’ Initia- 0729ff.php.
18
tive: mobilization strategies and consequences’, B. Herbrich, Das System Massentierhaltung im Ver-
Political Studies, vol. 68, no. 3, 2020, pp. 797–815. fassungsrecht, Berlin, Duncker & Humblot, 2022.
15
M. Sebastian, ‘The influence of social movements 19
C. Blattner and R. Fasel, ‘The Swiss primate case:
on policy change: delayed success in banning dog how courts have paved the way for the first direct
slaughter in Germany’, Social Movement Studies, democratic vote on animal rights’, Transnational
vol. 21, no. 6, 2022, pp. 766–781. Environmental Law, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 201–214.
to expect from targeting the state as a vehicle substantial number of followers in many
for change.20 In the food industry or in animal European countries—the oldest operating
experimentation, the long struggle for reform vegetarian restaurant, the Zürich-based Hiltl,
has brought only minor gains. Even in cases has been in existence since 1898. The term
of strict regulation, the risk of industries mov- veganism was coined in the 1940s. But only
ing to locations with looser laws remains.21 recent decades have seen substantial changes
At the same time, public opinion data indi- in consumer choices, lifestyles and markets
cates high demand for stricter animal welfare concerning vegetarianism, flexitarianism and
regulation. In the EU, for example, 89 per cent veganism.24
are against keeping animals ‘in individual The shift from vegetarianism to veganism
cages’, 75 per cent consider the killing of male represents an important change within the
baby chicks in egg production as ‘totally unac- movement. Over recent decades, even though
ceptable’ even if a ban would result in higher the biggest NGOs are still cautious about such
egg prices, and 57 per cent support an EU- a strategy, many organisations and activists
wide ban of fur farming.22 have started to promote vegan lifestyles.25
In the face of limited gains from state Moreover, in many parts of the world, broader
regulation, some groups have primarily tar- public interest in abstaining from the con-
geted private businesses. Indeed, in several sumption of animal products has grown. An
instances, they have achieved specific out- indicator for the recent rise of veganism is pro-
comes such as the closure of animal laborato- vided by Google Trends. Globally, in the first
ries or breeding facilities, stopping the sale of decade of the twenty-first century, there were
fur in specific fashion chain stores, or have more Google search queries for the English
pushed for higher animal welfare standards term ‘vegetarian’ than for ‘vegan’. In the early
by large retailers, farmers or industry.23 Fur- 2010s, this pattern changed sharply. Ever since
ther such steps may be important prerequi- then, queries for veganism have exceeded
sites for achieving more effective state those for vegetarianism, and the gap in the
regulation in the future. popularity of the two search terms soon
became substantial (see Figure 1). Using other
languages, the trend often looks similar, but
Substantial changes in consumer delayed and with a narrower gap between
choices, lifestyles and markets both terms (in Chile, for example, ‘vegano’
became more popular than ‘vegetariano’ only
Beyond regulation, it is individual attitudes
in the second half of the 2010s).
and behaviour which, on a daily basis, decide
Cultural change and market change are
the fate of animal advocacy. More than a cen-
strongly interlinked: in 2023, almost half of
tury ago, vegetarianism already had a
all restaurants in the US offered plant-based
20
options—in 2012, it was only around 30 per
G. Francione and R. Garner, The Animal Rights cent.26 More recently, the number of vegan
Debate: Abolition or Regulation?, New York, Colum-
bia University Press, 2010.
21
C. Blattner, Protecting Animals within and across 24
E. Cherry, ‘Veganism as a cultural movement: a
Borders: Extraterritorial Jurisdiction and the Challenges relational approach’, Social Movement Studies,
of Globalization, Oxford, Oxford University vol. 5, no. 2, 2006, pp. 155–170; N. Gheihman, ‘Veg-
Press, 2019. anism as a lifestyle movement’, Sociology Compass,
22
‘Attitudes of Europeans towards animal welfare. vol. 15, no. 5, 2021.
Special eurobarometer 533’, European Commission, 2023; 25
N. Pendergrast, ‘The vegan shift in the Australian
https://europa.eu/eurobarometer/api/deliverable/ animal movement’, International Journal of Sociology
download/file?deliverableId=88297. and Social Policy, vol. 41, nos. 3/4, 2021, pp. 407–
23
R. Hårstad, ‘The politics of animal welfare: a scop- 423; C. Wrenn, ‘The Vegan Society and social move-
ing review of farm animal welfare governance’, ment professionalization, 1944–2017’, Food and
Review of Policy Research, 2023; https://onlinelibrary. Foodways, vol. 27, no. 3, 2019, pp. 190–210.
wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/ropr.12554; C. Vogeler, 26
H. Lopez, ‘PBFA’s ‘state of food service’ report
‘Market-based governance in farm animal welfare—a finds 62% growth of plant-based food in US restau-
comparative analysis of public and private policies rants’, vegconomist, 2023; https://vegconomist.
in Germany and France’, Animals, vol. 9, no. 5, com/market-and-trends/pbfa-plant-based-food-
2019, p. 269. service/.
The rise of veganism as Google search term
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
vegetarian vegan
Figure 1: The rise of veganism as Google search term, 2004–2023, worldwide.

Source: Google Trends.
restaurants has skyrocketed. The online guide Other countries have experienced similar trends.
HappyCow provides information on vege- Moreover, the stocks of leading companies in the
tarian and vegan restaurants. Since 2007, sector, such as BeyondMeat (US), Oatly (Sweden)
the reported number of vegan restaurants in or Veganz (Germany) are miles away from their
major European capitals in Western (Amster- all-time highs. It remains to be seen whether stag-
dam, Berlin, London, Paris) as well as Central nation in the sector more generally is only a
and Eastern Europe (Prague and Warsaw) temporary phenomenon, after many years of
has not only surged, but it has overtaken or two-digit growth numbers, as long as the under-
at least matched the number of vegetarian lying changes in attitudes and behaviour remain
restaurants, depending on the specific city stable.
(see Figure 2).27 Similar to Google Trends, An indicator for a lasting change of diets
the restaurant data point to the relevance of is that, in some countries, meat consump-
the 2010s, when not only the number of tion has decreased. In the UK, for example,
vegan, but the overall number of meatless a recent household survey reports record
restaurants, increased sharply. lows. In the early 2020s, an individual liv-
The trend is also reflected in the boom of ing in Britain consumed 44.4 kilograms of
vegetarian and vegan meat and dairy alterna- meat annually—in 1974, at the start of data
tives, which are now normal sights in the collection, the figure was more than 10 per
supermarket shelves of many high-income cent higher. 29 Similarly, in Germany, meat
countries. In the US, the market for plant- consumption had hit a new low in 2022—
based meat has grown massively over the numbers were first collected in 1989. How-
2010s until the early months of the Covid-19 ever, the estimated average consumption
pandemic, but it has recently stagnated—sim-
ilar to the UK, where growth also declined.28
meat gets a reality check’, Deloitte, 27 September
2022; https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/
27
R. Sapaico, ‘The growth of vegan restaurants in industry/retail-distribution/future-of-fresh-food-
Europe, 2022’, HappyCow blog, 29 May 2022; sales/plant-based-meat-sales.html.
https://www.happycow.net/blog/the-growth-of- 29
M. Goodier and V. Sunnemark, ‘UK meat con-
vegan-restaurants-in-europe-2022. sumption at lowest level since records began, data
28
‘Has the appetite for plant-based meat already reveals’, The Guardian, 24 October 2023; https://
peaked?’, Financial Times, 26 January 2022; www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/24/
https://www.ft.com/content/996330d5-5ffc-4f35- uk-meat-consumption-lowest-level-since-record-
b5f8-a18848433966; S. Young et al., ‘Plant-based began-data-reveal.
Figure 2: Number of vegetarian and vegan restaurants in major European capitals, 2007–2022.
Source: HappyCow Blog, ‘The Growth of Vegan Restaurants in Europe, 2022’, 29 May 2022; https://
www.happycow.net/blog/the-growth-of-vegan-restaurants-in-europe-22 (accessed 18 December 2023).
is still fifty-two kilograms per person each cohorts may be a supporting factor.31 Neverthe-
year.30 less, it seems far-fetched to assume that animal
Despite these substantial cultural shifts, advocates can convince majorities to avoid most
abstention from animal products has remained if not all meat products any time soon. What’s
a cause of a relatively small number of people. more, in India, where Hinduism has been key
From the perspective of animal advocacy, the for spreading vegetarianism, recent scholarship
trends discussed above point in the right direc- suggest that the share of vegetarians is only
tion. Still, everything depends on the amplifica- around 20 per cent of the population.32
tion of these developments and to what extent
they transmit to younger generations. The
strong relationship between climate change 31
K. Jürkenbeck, A. Spiller and M. Schulze, ‘Climate
awareness and individual diets among younger
change awareness of the young generation and its
impact on their diet’, Cleaner and Responsible Con-
30
‘Fleischverzehr 2022 auf Tiefstand‘, Bundesanstalt sumption, vol. 3, 2021.
für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung, 3 April 2023; 32
B. Natrajan and S. Jacob, ‘“Provincialising” vegetarian-
https://www.ble.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/ ism. Putting Indian food habits in their place’, Economic
DE/2023/230403_Fleischverzehr.html. and Political Weekly, vol. 53, no. 9, 2018, pp. 54–64.
Global economic and demographic consumption by 2030, implementation is
highly unlikely.
challenges
Some Western NGOs have strongly reflected
While some high-income economies have these global trends. US-based Mercy for Ani-
experienced a slight decline in individual meat mals has even published a Farmed Animal
consumption, the situation looks different if Opportunity Index which measures ‘potential
we take a broader perspective. Since the publi- for effective interventions’, depending on vari-
cation of Animal Liberation, the human popula- ous political, economic and geographical fac-
tion has doubled from 4 to 8 billion. tors. China, the US, Brazil, Germany and the
Correspondingly, humanity has reached UK top the list.37 Correspondingly, many of
record levels of animal killings to obtain food. the most professionalised Western European
Globally, at least 84 billion land animals, and Northern American NGOs have branches
around 75 billion of whom are chickens, are or regularly operate in countries of the Global
killed annually—and this still excludes aquatic South. In this context, the necessity of thought-
animals.33 ful activism is particularly obvious, given the
Economic growth and urbanisation are the tensions that come along with promoting
key drivers of increasing meat consumption.34 values in non-Western societies that are not
The improved living standards in Asia, where actually implemented in the West.
about 60 per cent of the human population Globally, the long-term trends of population
live, have gone hand in hand with an indus- growth, economic growth and urbanisation
trialisation of animal agriculture. China has will further increase demand for animal prod-
become the world’s biggest meat producer— ucts. Like rising CO2 emissions, it is the down-
but per capita consumption is still only half side of a positive and urgent development:
the US level.35 Outside Asia, Brazil has seen poverty reduction and an increase in quality
stark increases and many low-income econo- of life for large shares of the human popula-
mies are expected to follow. tion. In the long run, however, the Global
In ‘emerging’ economies such as China, South might also act as driver for change. In
with a collective memory of poverty and hun- March 2024, Pacific indigenous leaders signed
ger, food security is essential for legitimising a treaty granting whales legal personhood. In
political rule. ‘[T]he [meat] industry’s political addition, the public acceptance of ‘plant-based
importance has allowed the adoption of West- and clean meat’ is significantly stronger in
ern farming models and practices that enhance India and China than in the US.38
productivity with huge animal welfare conse-
quences’, which are not yet targeted by
domestic animal advocates, operating under Cultured meat: betting on new
political constraints.36 Even though Chinese technology?
authorities announced plans to halve meat
Considering the challenges discussed above,
some animal advocates, and a burgeoning
industry, hope that cultured meat will reduce
33
‘Number of land animals slaughtered for meat per animal suffering in the future.39 Cultured meat
year, 1961 to 2022’, Our World in Data, Animal Wel- (also known as in-vitro, lab, clean, or culti-
fare Data Explorer, 2023; https://ourworldindata. vated meat) is a new technology in cellular
org/explorers/animal-welfare.
agriculture that enables artificial muscle cell
34
P. Sans and P. Combris, ‘World meat consumption
patterns: an overview of the last fifty years (1961– growth in laboratories. The growth process
2011)’, Meat Science, vol. 109, no. 9, 2018, pp. 106–111.
35
A. Grimmelt, et al., ‘For love of meat: five trends in 37
‘Farmed Animal Opportunity Index’, Mercy for
China that meat executives must grasp’, McKin- Animals, n.d.; https://data.mercyforanimals.org.
sey & Company, 2023; https://www.mckinsey. 38
C. Bryant, et al., ‘A survey of consumer percep-
com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our- tions of plant-based and clean meat in the USA,
insights/for-love-of-meat-five-trends-in-china-that- India, and China’, Frontiers in Sustainable Food Sys-
meat-executives-must-grasp. tems, vol. 3, no. 11, 2019, pp. 1–11.
36 39
P. Li, Animal Welfare in China: Culture, Politics and P. Shapiro, Clean Meat: How Growing Meat without
Crisis, Sidney, Sydney University Press, 2021, Animals will Revolutionize Dinner and the World,
pp. 267–310, at p. 215. New York, Gallery Books, 2018.
requires stem cells, but not a slaughtered ani- In May 2024, Florida and Alabama, governed
mal, and the end product is chemically identi- by the Republicans, followed.
cal to ‘real’ meat. Therefore, it offers the In the worst-case scenario, cultured meat
potential for the replacement of animals in may be just another example of progressive
food production. In theory, the method does techno-utopianism. In the past, after all, the
not involve any animal suffering. In practice, technological progress of industrialised agri-
scientists are optimistic about finding alterna- culture proved highly detrimental to the wel-
tives to the substance typically used to boost fare of animals. Still, there are examples of
cell growth—foetal bovine serum—for which technological shifts that have reduced animal
a pregnant cow and her calf need to be killed. exploitation. Most prominently, it was the
Beyond animal ethics, further advantages of invention of the combustion engine which
cultured meat might be less land and water replaced the use of horses and donkeys in
use than in factory farming and potentially transport. The development of alternatives to
healthier meat products. The biggest chal- animal experimentation, triggered by activists
lenges to mass production are those of themselves, changed the way cosmetic com-
an infant technology and high energy panies tested their products.42 For example,
requirements—and along with it, the question in-vitro techniques have provided alterna-
of costs and climate sustainability.40 tives to the infamous ‘Draize test’ which tests
Nevertheless, the last decade has seen pro- the toxicity of substances on the eyes of rab-
gress. In 2013, researchers at the University of bits. In egg production, in-ovo sexing has
Maastricht presented the first cultured meat recently provided an alternative to the killing
burger in London—the reported production of ‘superfluous’ male chickens. The method
costs of the patty were about $300,000. Since identifies the sex of the chicken before hatching,
then, venture capital has been flowing into rel- thus avoiding the hatching of eggs with male
evant start-ups. The first state authorities have embryos. As a result, in 2022 both France and
already legalised the selling of specific prod- Germany announced a ban on chicken culling.
ucts and in 2020, Singapore became the first Should the production of cultured meat on
country to allow marketisation. Three years a massive scale indeed proof feasible, cheap
later, the US followed. and climate-friendly, the next hurdle will be
Some representatives of the traditional meat consumer acceptance. While the proof of the
industry also point to the speed of current pudding here is really in the eating, opinion
developments. The former head of the polls indicate a certain degree of openness.
Austrian Association of the Meat Industry, From the UK, a survey commissioned by the
for example, stated that ‘[w]e can’t get around Food Standards Agency shows that about a
it. Topics like these are more advanced than third of the respondents would try ‘lab grown
one might think’.41 Consequently, major US meat’, but some of the likely challenges are
meat producers such as Tyson and Cargill already indicated by the many respondents
have invested in cultured meat companies. At perceiving the product as ‘off-putting’, while
the same time, the product is increasingly con- referring to food safety and effective regula-
tested by other traditional meat producers and tion as promising prospects.43
their efforts have already had striking policy Societal ‘progress’ hardly ever happens pri-
consequences: for example, in 2023, the far- marily because of ethical considerations. Were
right Italian government banned the produc- cultured meat to be marketised on a large
tion and selling of cultured meat altogether. scale, it could gain relevant market shares.
That does not mean that its spread would soon
lead to the end of all factory farming, but in the
40
N. Stephens, et al., ‘Bringing cultured meat to mar-
ket: technical, socio-political, and regulatory chal-
lenges in cellular agriculture’, Trends in Food 42
M. Weisskircher, ‘New technologies as a neglected
Science & Technology, vol. 78, 2018, pp. 155–66. social movement outcome: the case of activism
41
‘Wiesbauer-Chef Schmiedbauer: “Ich bin kein against animal experimentation’, Sociological Per-
Fleischkaiser”’, Der Standard, 11 November 2023; spectives, vol. 62, no. 1, 2019, pp. 59–76.
https://www.derstandard.at/story/3000000194 43
‘Alternative proteins: consumer survey’, Food
709/wiesbauer-chef-schmiedbauer-ich-bin-kein- Standards Agency, 2022; https://doi.org/10.
fleischkaiser. 46756/sci.fsa.ncn554.
long run it might cause a substantial reduction welfare being instrumentalised for far-right
in the killing of animals for meat consumption. identity politics.44 In this context, movement
Moreover, such a development could have fur- actors need to maintain distance by focus-
ther consequences for humans’ ethical stance sing on structural, large-scale animal exploi-
on animal exploitation, as well as the regula- tation instead of religious slaughter, for
tion of factory farming such as the outlawing example.
of particularly gruesome practices. Crucially, Crucially, it will be key for activists to
new technologies also often have the advan- strengthen cooperation with other organised
tage of relatively quick diffusion—which political actors. Many animal rights activists
might also offset the global trend of growing have felt the mainstream left’s distance, even
meat consumption. though vegans tend to be politically engaged
and to hold left-wing views.45 Here, a lot of
persuasion is still needed.46 In a similar vein,
Conclusions many activists and policymakers that try
Since the emergence of a modern animal rights to combat climate change have been rather
movement, animal advocates have seen signif- unwilling to emphasise the detrimental effects
icant changes, in particular concerning public of animal agriculture and the necessity for
awareness and consumption behaviour, and changes in individual diets to reduce CO2
to a lesser extent in terms of state regulation. emissions. Given that about 15 per cent of
However, these positive developments do global CO2 emissions derive from livestock,
not nearly correspond to the far-reaching goals there is still a lot of potential for environmen-
of the movement. Still, this article also under- talists and animal advocates to link their
lined important reasons to expect that a cen- urgent causes.47
tury after the publication of Animal Liberation,
the animal rights movement will be able to
look back at more progress.
Most certainly, animal-exploiting industries
regard animal advocacy as a relevant force—
44
A. Backlund and A. C. Jungar, ‘Animal advocacy
and the radical right: the case of Sweden’, Journal of
and lobby governments to act on their behalf.
Political Ideologies, 2022, pp. 1–20; https://www.
This was not only the case in the 1990s and tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13569317.2022.
2000s, when militant activism was at its height 2138292; H. Lelieveldt, ‘Do political parties instru-
in the UK and the US. Today, some major mentalize animal rights? A comparison of votes
examples of a ‘backlash’—apart from the pro- and arguments in two parliamentary debates’, in
hibition of cultured meat in Italy and some US L. Cordeiro-Rodrigues and L. Mitchel, eds., Animals,
states—are restrictive labelling laws for plant- Race and Multiculturalism. Contemporary Moral and
based meat in several US states or plant-based Political Debates, London, Palgrave Macmillan,
dairy in the EU and the prohibition of vegan 2017, pp. 201–224.
cheese products in Turkey.
45
D. Kalte, ‘Political veganism: an empirical analysis
of vegans’ motives, aims, and political engagement’,
Pushing for legislative, cultural and techno-
Political Studies, vol. 69, no. 4, 2021, pp. 814–833;
logical change remains a highly demanding C. Wrenn, ‘Trump veganism: a political survey of
task, whether at the local, national or interna- American vegans in the era of identity politics’, Soci-
tional level. Among the most important strate- eties, vol. 7, no. 4, 2017, at p. 32.
gic challenges is the question of finding allies 46
T. Benton and S. Redfearn, ‘The politics of animal
beyond the movement itself. Like many other rights—where is the left?’, New Left Review,
activists pursuing ‘postmaterial’ causes, ani- vol. 215, no. 1, 1966, pp. 43–58; W. Kymlicka
mal advocates have often struggled to reach ‘Human supremacism: why are animal rights activ-
out beyond urban liberal milieus. Here, it will ists still the “orphans of the left”?’ New Statesman,
be essential to guarantee the affordability of 2019; https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/
2019/04/human-supremacism-why-are-animal-
alternatives to animal products as well as to
rights-activists-still-the-orphans-of-the-left-2.
navigate the fine line between propagating 47
P. J. Gerber, et al., ‘Tackling climate change
veganism and being patronising towards parts through livestock. A global assessment of emissions
of society who already feel culturally ‘left and mitigation opportunities’, Food and Agriculture
behind’. At the same time, many multicultural Organization of the United Nations, 2013; https://
Western societies face the danger of animal www.fao.org/3/i3437e/i3437e.pdf.
Acknowledgements Open Access funding enabled and organized
by Projekt DEAL.
I thank Anna-Sophie Heinze, Zadekia Kron-
dorfer, Marcel Sebastian and Veronika Manès Weisskircher is a political scientist and
Weisskircher for their valuable comments. I leads the research group REXKLIMA on
am also grateful for the support of Germany’s far-right politics and climate change at TU
Federal Ministry of Education and Research Dresden.
(REXKLIMA, grant number 01UG2240A).

Political Quarterly - 2024 - Weisskircher - Fifty Years After Peter Singer S Animal Liberation What Has The Animal Rights

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Political Quarterly - 2024 - Weisskircher - Fifty Years After Peter Singer S Animal Liberation What Has The Animal Rights

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The Political Quarterly, Vol. 95, No.

Fifty Years after Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation:

Introduction of EU citizens support improving standards

334 MANÈS WEISSKIRCHER

FIFTY YEARS AFTER PETER SINGER’S ANIMAL LIBERATION 335

336 MANÈS WEISSKIRCHER

FIFTY YEARS AFTER PETER SINGER’S ANIMAL LIBERATION 337

Figure 1: The rise of veganism as Google search term, 2004–2023, worldwide.

338 MANÈS WEISSKIRCHER

FIFTY YEARS AFTER PETER SINGER’S ANIMAL LIBERATION 339

340 MANÈS WEISSKIRCHER

FIFTY YEARS AFTER PETER SINGER’S ANIMAL LIBERATION 341

342 MANÈS WEISSKIRCHER

FIFTY YEARS AFTER PETER SINGER’S ANIMAL LIBERATION 343

You might also like