Criticising and “Shaming” are Not the Same Things

[Carolyn Bailey]

Criticising and “Shaming” are Not the Same Things

Written by Dr. Roger Yates

Melanie Joy is best known in the animal advocacy movement for developing a concept that describes a sub-ideology of speciesism called “carnism.”

She recently wrote a blog entry about “vegans shaming other vegans.” She was angered that a small non-violent protest occurred at the International Animal Rights Conference in Luxembourg, where she was speaking along with colleagues Sebastian Zösch, the managing director of the German Vegetarian Association (VEBU), and Tobias Leenaert, founder of a government-funded vegetarian organisation in Belgium.

Two activists disrupted Zösch’s talk. One held up a banner reading: “Animal Rights NOT Animal Profit. VEBU: Effectively Wasting Veganism,” while another made an announcement about what many vegan advocates seem to think are problematic elements of VEBU’s activities. From what I can gather, the protest was entirely non-violent, although one source suggested that the body of a chicken had been thrown during the protest.

The activist’s main complaint seems to be that Zösch’s organisation is working with those they describe as the “worst animal exploiters.” I was subsequently sent this picture of a VEBU approved product which is 71% made from hens’ eggs.

Melanie Joy claims that this action amounted to “vegans shaming vegans” and called for the establishment of a “shame free culture.” She recognises something that is reflected in social movement theory: that discussion is important in social movements but urges that, “we approach our disagreements with curiosity and compassion.”

This all seems fairly reasonable – but I fear that Dr. Joy is confusing “shaming” with criticising and protesting. This action appeared to “fit” into the long tradition of non-violent direct action and, let’s not forget, it took place at the International Animal Rights Conference which is overwhelmingly vegan in orientation and is attended in the main by animal activists from all over Europe and beyond.

Rather than even being surprised by this protest and its alleged “shaming” content, perhaps the question is more fundamental: how appropriate is it that vegetarian organisations present at animal rights events?

Melanie Joy, Mr. Zösch, and Mr. Leenaert are leading figures in an ongoing backlash against consistent veganism, criticising the concept of veganism being the “moral baseline” of the movement, trying to reduce the philosophy of veganism to a diet and, in the case of Zösch and Leenaert, being involved in a crude social construction of consistent vegan advocacy as the product of robotic people who may be mentally ill.

Given this context of the current backlash against the philosophy of veganism, perhaps the non-violent protest at Luxembourg was to be expected and, moreover, who is shaming whom?

Roger Yates has been an ethical vegan and rights-based animal advocate since the late 1970s. He’s been an active hunt saboteur and crew member for Sea Shepherd in Scotland. He began a series of animal rights “action groups” in the 1980s and was involved as a press officer with the Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group Press Office. He’s also an academic with research interests in social movement theory, the history of social movements, and the social construction of cultural speciesism. He’s currently a volunteer for Dublin-based Animal Education Outreach, giving talks to all levels of the Irish education curriculum, and the Vegan Information Project, running “mini-courses” in animal rights, talks, film shows, and weekly outreach events based on gazebo stalls. You can enjoy Roger Yates’ talk about “How we grow up to be animal loving animal users” at Dublin Vegfest 2015.

 

[Cameron B]

This is an interesting response to the article that Melanie Joy asked Tobias to post on his site.

While Roger has been diplomatic in not mentioning that it was Melanie's fiance who was "shamed", I think we need to ask has he done something that he is "ashamed" of?
If he hasn't then no amount of "shaming" will have an impact on him. Whereas if he has, the article from Melanie is a "typical" response.

According to Merriam-Webster, Shame is:
: a feeling of guilt, regret, or sadness that you have because you know you have done something wrong
: ability to feel guilt, regret, or embarrassment
: dishonor or disgrace
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/shame

For Sebastian or Melanie to feel "shame" about the "stunt", then they must realise that what was done was quite possibly the wrong thing to do.