2024-03-18 00:00:00
1Who has never heard of sensationalist videos filmed clandestinely in slaughterhouses or in certain pig and poultry farms? Very few people, no doubt. However, these widely publicized images are only the tree that hides the forest of the animal cause, with plural demands and multiple repertoires of action. This vast constellation, at once scientific, media and political, deserves to use the glasses of sociology to try to see more clearly. It is in this sense that the work written by F. Carrié, A. Doré and J. Michalon perfectly meets this objective.
2This small manual, with clear language and rigorously ordered content, is accessible to both the layman and the informed reader. We can only welcome the publication of this sociological toolbox, at a time when debates around work relationships, consumption and cohabitation between humans and animals are increasingly questioned. The violence of certain abolitionist activists, like those who do not hesitate to cover butcher’s windows with fake blood, masks more nuanced voices, in particular associations working for an improvement in breeding conditions without calling into question work relationships between humans and animals. As for social agents critical of these activists, whether they are breeders, industrialists or political leaders, the temptation to caricature, or even ostracize, the promoters of the animal cause is great.
- 1 Carrie et al. (2023), p. 5.
3Difficult, therefore, to see clearly in a debate where arguments, feelings and morality are confused. Added to this are economic interests amounting to billions of euros, on the one hand the sustainability of livestock sectors, on the other the flourishing market for substitutes for animal products. Faced with this confusion, the work of Fabien Carrié et al. appears to be a remedy to be prescribed without hesitation. For the authors, the contribution of this book is obvious, as “the French-speaking readership does not have[ait] no distanced synthesis, taking stock of knowledge of the social, political and moral properties of animal defense movements”1.
- 2 Jocelyne Porcher (2019). Animal cause, cause of capital. Lormont, Le Bord de l’eau, 115 p.
4The first three chapters are dedicated to the history of the animal cause, which emerged in Great Britain at the beginning of the 19th century.e century. A certain social elite is indeed offended by the violence committed once morest draft animals, particularly horses. Like the thesis defended by sociologist Jocelyne Porcher2the gentry takes up the animal cause out of moral consideration, concerned with maintaining social order. The British aristocracy and bourgeoisie prefer to worry regarding the fate of carriage horses, rather than that of their fellows pulling wagons deep in the mines. Addressing the working conditions of the latter would amount to talking regarding the fate of workers in a historical phase which sees the affirmation of British industry, a cause which would considerably undermine the interests of the possessing class, despite all the charity felt by the promoters of the animal cause.
- 3 Carrié et al., on. cit., p. 5.
5The animalist movement eventually crossed the Channel. It reached France from the second half of the 19th centurye century, through the antivivisectionist fight (dissection of animals for scientific purposes) and the protection of stray animals (the Society for the Protection of Animals was created in 1845). Then come anti-bullfighting and anti-hunting demands, but also “welfarist” considerations critical of the concept of “animal machine” used by zootechnicians in a context of industrialization of the ‘breeding. F. Carrie et al. characterize these animalist demands which span the 19the century and the first half of the 20the century as “sectoral conceptions of the cause”, or “currents which focus on specific practices concerning animals (such as hunting or animal experimentation) which they intend either to reform or to have banned”3.
6The second half of the 20th centurye century marks the appearance of “systemic” conceptions of the animal cause, namely “currents which contest all the practices in which animals are used for the benefit of humans, these forming a generalized system which is acts to call into question and abolish”4. “Systemic” conceptions of the cause are inspired by the work of scientists, such as the American biologist Richard Ryder who theorized “speciesism” in 1970, or the emergence at the same time of Animal Studies in academic circles. These “systemic” demands are accompanied by repertoires of action that are more visible to the general public, whether sit-in, public meetings open to all, or “acts”, such as sabotage of infrastructures, “liberation” of farm animals and the use of hidden cameras.
7Very dynamic in the United States from the 1960s, it was not until the 1980s that animalist movements penetrated French society, perceived by philosophers like Jacques Derrida or Élisabeth de Fontenay as a manifestation of the expansion of Anglo moral philosophy. -Saxon in other northern countries. It is especially since the 2000s that animalist movements have multiplied in France. F. Carrie et al. To this end, they offer a welcome, very educational timeline which provides an overview of all the French organizations involved in the animal cause.
8After this historical perspective, the authors attempt in a fourth chapter to characterize the social profile of French animal rights activists, returning to the origins of their commitment and the repertoires of actions used. Reserved for a social elite in the 19th centurye century, animal rights began to become more democratic in the mid-20th centurye century (notably on the occasion of sabotage of hunting parties), then from the 1970s when animalism became more ethical and less political, therefore accessible to a greater number of people. Activists seek to exploit the emotional register, like videos which “are supposed to produce a moral shock” and “other visual communication media, representing fictional situations, where the animal condition and the human condition are compared”5. Nevertheless, for F. Carrié et al., this cause does not penetrate the working classes and remains the responsibility of populations with strong cultural capital.
9The fifth and final chapter focuses on the effects of the animal cause on society. Indeed, the repertoires of action mobilized by the supporters of the cause have been able to influence public policies, the entrepreneurial sphere as well as the academic environment.
10F. Carrie et al. we learn that the action of public authorities in favor of breeding and slaughter conditions is old and dates back to the 19the century with the creation of slaughterhouses. From the 1980s and especially from the 2000s, the notion of animal welfare has penetrated public institutions and policies, such as the creation of the animal protection office (which became the animal welfare office in 2021). ) set up in 1980 within the Ministry of Agriculture, to prepare, implement and evaluate regulations related to animal protection or animal welfare.
11Beyond public institutions, animal rights activists do not hesitate to penetrate the entrepreneurial sphere, bringing F. Carrié et al. to indicate that “alliances between animal rights organizations and private actors are increasing”6. These alliances lead to concrete actions, such as labeling incorporating animal welfare criteria, the development of a vegan segment as well as the growth of the market for goods and services intended for pets.
12The animal cause has also been gaining ground in universities and the academic world in general since the end of the 2000s. We will cite in particular the example of the university diploma “animals and society” delivered by the University of Rennes II or the chair “ animal welfare” associating VetAgroSup and the General Directorate of Food of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty. Despite persistent reluctance in certain academic circles, the issue of animal welfare is gradually finding a place in higher education programs.
13We therefore recommend reading this enlightening work to anyone interested in the origins of the animal cause, but also in its organization and scope. The sociological analysis of this object is of great importance, as the discourse seems to crystallize on extremist positions, both among the supporters of the cause and among the economic agents singled out by animal activists. The “Repères” collection from Éditions de la Découverte stands out once once more for an educational and accessible work that it does not seem unreasonable to qualify as a reference publication. ■
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