Liberate

Animal rights activism was probably the first grassroots activism I became involved in when I first became politically active. As someone that has been involved in animal rights activism for three years, I have seen some of the ups and downs of the movement. I have deep admiration for many of the people within the movement and the work they have done and are still doing, but there are a few criticisms I have to make just based on personal experience. The personal conflicts, personality clashes, political splits that exist in virtually every socio-political movement is a challenge for us all. But we cannot forget that beyond all the personal shit, we’re all in it for the animals. We’re in it for the animals that are killed, tortured, caged, enslaved, milked, skinned, abused and exploited everyday because of the profit-driven industrial capitalist system we all live under.

When I first got involved in animal rights activism in Auckland, it was through Auckland Animal Action. And I realised that it was one of the few groups in Aotearoa that constantly used direct action in campaigns. It was empowering to be part of a group that was actually effective and organised. The weekly demonstrations outside of fur shops would achieve immediate results and we would have minor victories along the way. It didn’t just stop shops selling fur; it also raised public consciousness about fur and the cruelty of the fur industry. Many pedestrians would support us, sometimes joining in or engaging in heated debates about possum fur. Eggs have been thrown at us (although some missed and hit the shop windows), water spilt on us, aggressive shop owners threatening to murder us and hit us with metal bars. It’s all part of the fun. Can’t forget the regular harassment from cops or security guards telling us to stop using whistles. I learnt my rights with the police and the importance of security culture through animal rights activism.

The longer I’d been involved, the more I noticed the underlying hierarchy within the group and the elitism and clique-ness within the animal rights movement. Part of it is understandable, considering the nature of direct action and the constant state and corporate surveillance of activism that threatens their profits and power. Of course new people cannot be trusted immediately to engage in illegal direct action. But it is important to be as inclusive as possible in meetings and decision-making to plan public actions. I can however understand if new people want to abstain from decision-making if they are completely new to activism altogether. It can be a really intimidating atmosphere if you are new because grassroots activism is very different to organizing in daily life. From school to work, you are constantly given orders and being told what to do. So it takes a while to adapt to grassroots consensus decision-making, to feel confident enough to participate and to feel like your point of view is valid enough for consideration. It can take a while for new people to start taking on responsibilities, to think about strategy, tactics and the direction of the group.

The elitism, the personality clashes, the political disagreements and ego battles isn’t just a problem with the animal rights movement. It happens in pretty much all social, political and environmental movements around the world. It’s a problem with the individualistic, patriarchal, competitive and hierarchical culture we all live in. But we cannot let this get in the way of animal liberation and social revolution. I don’t have any answers as to how to deal with these issues as I’ve mainly observed it from the sideline. I guess it’s something the people involved need to work through. But if it is a question of tactics and strategy, people can always work on something different.

We have to be careful that our movement doesn’t become so fragmented that we can’t be effective anymore. We ultimately need each other to be as effective as we can, because if you look around, there aren’t that many of us. And there won’t be that many more left if people drop out because of personal issues, there will be even less if we don’t make an effort to be inclusive of all people interested in fighting for animal liberation. We simply cannot win this fight with small cliques and affinity groups alone. Essentially, for all animals in this world to be free, we need major social, political, economic and cultural change. It requires a major shift of values and worldviews particularly in the western world where people view themselves as separate from the environment and animals. We need a revolution that liberates all living beings, which is extremely difficult to achieve as a minority in the global population. We need a big and inclusive movement that allows for diversity of tactics. While ALF-style direct action done by a small group is important and effective in directly saving lives and exposing the industries of death, we also need engage with the public in the streets to bring more people, thus more ideas and resources to build an effective movement.

As radical animal rights activists, we perhaps have fundamentally different views to “liberal” advocates of animal rights, which tend to be most new people. I’m sure we’ve all been there. Having been exposed to animal suffering and wanting to do something about it, most people go to liberal NGO-type organizations such as SAFE with the genuine intention of wanting to help the animals and make a difference. Like most people in the radical AR movement, I got frustrated with the bureaucracy and the lack of real action for animals and the single-issued nature of such organizations that don’t take into consideration other forms of oppression in their quest to popularise animal liberation ideas (e.g. sexist advertising).

For new people who’s only experience of animal rights is from volunteering or working with those bureaucratic organizations, it’s important to not think of us radical activists as somehow superior to those who may not have read the right books, or have the right ideas. Most people have an emotional response rather than an intellectual response to animal suffering and that’s a very human response. So we can only really expect people to be liberals when they first get involved. Radicalisation and politicisation of new people is a process that might need some patience. It’s usually easier when the people are younger and open to new and more radical ideas.

Despite the liberal politics and bureaucracies of organisations such as SAFE and Greenpeace who seem to be more worried about public image that getting shit done, they do play a useful role in animal rights activism. They serve as the bridge between mainstream apathetic society to radical activism. They have more money and resources than us. They can reach more people than us. Those who are involved in grassroots activism and work for liberal NGOs can aid the process of radicalizing new people, introducing them to other groups and bring more people into grassroots activism. In that sense, liberal organisations can play an important role in strengthening the radical animal rights movement and potentially other radical movements as well.

A lot of us radical animal rights activists are also involved in other forms of grassroots activism for social and/or environmental justice. Most of us are for human equality and fight oppression based on gender, ethnicity, class, sexuality, age etc. Some of us may not be interested in fighting other forms of oppression because we are privileged by them – if you’re a rich, white, heterosexual, middle-aged man, you’re the most privileged of us all. If you can empathise with animals, you should be able to empathise with the poor, the colonised, the raped, the abused and exploited and likewise the people who can empathise with oppressed humans should also be able to empathise with suffering animals. It’s useful to make those links not only to gain support for the AR movement but because we are all fighting the same system that oppresses most of the earth’s inhabitants, human and non-human. We need to build solidarity between human struggles for liberation and animal liberation because it really is “One struggle. One fight. Human freedom. Animal rights!”