About a month ago, ethologist and author Jordi Casamitjana asked me if he could interview me about my ethological (animal behavior) research and my journey into veganism. I agreed, and as I read his book Ethical Vegan: A Personal and Political Journey to Change the World, I came to realize that it is an excellent introduction to the broad meaning of a non-speciesist, nonviolent, compassionate vegan ethic that touches on numerous aspects of how we choose to live in addition to our meal plans and who we choose to eat. In fact, plant-based diets and lifestyles are gaining popularity, and not only are they urgent, but they’re also user-friendly and simple to follow.
Source: mali maeder/Pexelsupdownedit
Carefully watching animals—Jordi focusing on insects and my studying mostly mammals—offers a window into who they are as members of vastly different species and also what they want and need from us so that we all can compassionately coexist in an increasingly human-dominated world.1,2 It isn’t a radical view but rather one that benefits other animals and us at the same time. Here is what Jordi had to say about the broad positive impact of adopting the mindset and coherent philosophical beliefs of an eclectic vegan ethic.
The trigger that made me write the book was my two-year litigation that led to ethical veganism being recognized as a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010 in Great Britain. After I won, a publisher approached me, asking me to write a book about “how I did it.” For a long time, I wanted to write books on veganism about the history of veganism, its philosophical dimensions, the anthropology of vegans, and the vegan world of the future.
Ethical Vegan tells three intertwined stories: the story of my legal case, the story of veganism, and the story of my life as the ethical vegan I became. The autobiographical nature of the first and third stories extensively covers my background. However, the fact that I am also a zoologist clearly shows in my approach to several chapters of the book.
For instance, it can be seen when I discuss how I believe that ahimsa (“non-violence”), one of the main axioms of the philosophy of veganism, is biological in nature. Since veganism is my current main area of interest, this forms an integral structural part of the entire book, but my interest in animals of all species can also be seen scattered all around it with stories of several animal encounters I had throughout my life.
I wrote the book with a diverse audience in mind. Firstly, well-established vegans who perhaps have not read that much about veganism and would like to consolidate their philosophy by learning about its foundations. Secondly, pre-vegans or new vegans who are still not sure about how to manifest this philosophy. Thirdly, those people who followed my legal case from the press and want to know more. And, finally, people interested in sociology, political theory, philosophy, anthropology, and psychology will be able to dig deeper into this philosophy, which leads to an increasingly popular lifestyle and to a transformative socio-political movement.
What it means to be a vegan is the main subject of this book. Contrary to what many people believe, veganism is not a diet. It’s a philosophy that seeks to exclude all forms of animal exploitation, not just those related to food. Although it’s a millenarian philosophy, since the 1940s, it has also become a socio-political movement aimed at building the vegan world of the future. People enter this philosophy via several gateways (animals, the environment, spirituality, social justice, and health) and then manifest it in different ways depending on their circumstances.
When digging deeper into the subject, I discuss various concepts such as animal sentience, speciesism, the environmental approach of veganism, the blood footprint, and ahimsa (a Sanskrit word meaning “do no harm”). I also consider the difference between an ethical vegan and other types of vegans, as well as analyze the types of non-vegans who co-exist with us. Additionally, I discuss many of the grey areas of veganism, showing how I approach them, as well as controversial topics not all vegans agree on, such as how to deal with wild animal suffering and rewilding.
One of the things that could make my book unique in its field is its narrative structure. By intertwining three stories without giving clues about when each will be continued, the readers will have to absorb them even if they are only interested in one. Rather than an academic format, I opted for a storytelling format, replicating more of a conversational style than a lecture, and because of this, I believe it is quite an accessible book that almost reads as fiction. This is also the only book I know that deals with all the types of vegans there are and that goes into detail about the history of veganism.
As a vegan helping to build the vegan world we dream about, I am hoping that my book will not only encourage more people to adopt this philosophy that could save the planet and all its inhabitants but will also make those already holding it “vegans for life,” consolidating their beliefs. I also hope people will understand how veganism, far from being extreme, is the ultimate solution to most of our current global crises, and it’s the unrivaled top ethical choice for anyone who cares about others.
References
In conversation with Jordi Casamitjana. Jordi is a vegan ethologist who has been involved in animal protection for many years. He has worked as an undercover animal rights investigator, animal welfare consultant, and animal protection campaigner for several organizations. In 2020, he became well-known for securing the legal protection of ethical vegans in Great Britain from discrimination in a landmark Employment Tribunal case discussed all over the world. He has now become a writer on veganism and animal protection issues. (Relevant websites: https://jordi-casamitjana.animal-protection-consult.com; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jordi_Casamitjana; https://muckrack.com/jordi-casamitjana)
1) Vegan Entanglements: The Far-Reaching Webs of Speciesism; The Vegan Evolution: Transforming Diets and Agriculture; The Broad Relevance of Vegan Ethics in Everyday Life; Who We Eat Is a Moral Question: Vegans Have Nothing to Defend.
2) A "vegan ethic" also smoothly weaves its way into the field of compassionate conservation that stresses that the life of every individual is valuable because of their intrinsic or inherent value and coexistence needs to be favored over domination.
Marc Bekoff, the Compassionate Vegan Ethologist and Conservationist, Vegan FTA, April 15, 2024.
An Exploration of the Mindset of a Compassionate Vegan Ethic
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About a month ago, ethologist and author Jordi Casamitjana asked me if he could interview me about my ethological (animal behavior) research and my journey into veganism. I agreed, and as I read his book Ethical Vegan: A Personal and Political Journey to Change the World, I came to realize that it is an excellent introduction to the broad meaning of a non-speciesist, nonviolent, compassionate vegan ethic that touches on numerous aspects of how we choose to live in addition to our meal plans and who we choose to eat. In fact, plant-based diets and lifestyles are gaining popularity, and not only are they urgent, but they’re also user-friendly and simple to follow.
Source: mali maeder/Pexelsupdownedit
Carefully watching animals—Jordi focusing on insects and my studying mostly mammals—offers a window into who they are as members of vastly different species and also what they want and need from us so that we all can compassionately coexist in an increasingly human-dominated world.1,2 It isn’t a radical view but rather one that benefits other animals and us at the same time. Here is what Jordi had to say about the broad positive impact of adopting the mindset and coherent philosophical beliefs of an eclectic vegan ethic.
The trigger that made me write the book was my two-year litigation that led to ethical veganism being recognized as a protected philosophical belief under the Equality Act 2010 in Great Britain. After I won, a publisher approached me, asking me to write a book about “how I did it.” For a long time, I wanted to write books on veganism about the history of veganism, its philosophical dimensions, the anthropology of........
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