Speciesism and its Discontents

Submitted by Brady:

The following essay appears in the current issue of "The 'A' Word", a little magazine out of Seattle. It is currently on it's third issue, and I plan on doing it at least on a bi-monthly basis.

This is the first version of the essay, "Speciesism and its Discontents", and I would happily and thankfully take constructive criticism, in the hopes of developing the ideas further.

We are interested in expanding our distribution (currently on Seattle), so, if you are interesting in carrying "The 'A' Word" at your local anarchist bookshop, please contact us at: the_a_word@yahoo.com

To preview the magazine, please see:
http://explode.to/theaword/

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Speciesism and it's Discontents
by darby carrgym
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I look at the term species as one arbitrarily given for the sake of convenience to a set of individuals closely resembling each other...
-Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species

Animals whom we have made our slaves, we do not like to consider our equals. -Charles Darwin, Metaphysics, Materialism, and the Evolution of Mind

All the arguments to prove human superiority cannot shatter this hard fact: in suffering, the animals are our equals. -Peter Singer, Animal Liberation
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Introduction

The constant and ignorant claim that "animal issues" are not "human issues" is as idiotic as saying that "feminism" is exclusively a "women's issue". Similiarly, we see the marginalization of the Animal Right's (AR) movement from the mainstream anti-corporate globalization movement just as often. The consistent isolation of the AR movement from the anti-corporate globalization and the ideology that maintains that isolation, speciesism, is just as detrimental to the our struggle as sexism or racism.
The goal of this essay is not to convince you to be against speciesism per se, but instead to show how speciesism has blinded us from applying useful models from the AR struggle to our own, and, to suggest tactics and strategies for the future.

It should be explicitly understood that the author of this essay agrees with the common criticism of the AR movement, that most of those involved are privileged
middle class white people who don't get involved in other issues, simply because they are naive to them. It should also be understood that the AR movement is entrenched in racism and sexism, and needs to address these issues if it hopes to ultimately advance.
Furthermore, to simply fight for the freedom of animals and the earth, and not for the abolition of capitalism and the state, is an ultimately futile attempt. Now, this being said, you cannot fall back on silly arguments like "they are just animals!" or "animals and humans are different” that usually come up when reading about these issues.

The marginalization of certain "issues" in the anti-corporate globalization movement is obvious and apparent. We see it everyday, whether this be at a meeting, or at a demonstration. It can be the annoying white male on the megaphone, "leading" the march, or the activist in the meeting who declares that "identity politics aren't revolutionary". We see many issues being dismissed as being either "irrelevant" or "divisive". This line of thought, of course, has most visibly emerged from labor based, white male activists, who don't want to address their relative privilege in this society.

Shallow Ecology

Anthropocentrism (human centered thought) is the legacy of 10,000 years of European and "white" conquest of the earth and its dwellers (human and non-human!). In contrast to the savages who conquered the earth with massive violence, some of their
victims, Native Americans, believed the polar opposite. They believed that the earth, including everything on it, was "sacred" . As Chief Seal'th (Seattle) said, "The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected, like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is but a strand in it; whatever he does to the web, he does to himself." This view of the earth is known as Deep Ecology. It is the antithesis of human centered thought.
Anthropocentrism (speciesism) plays out in our daily activist lives just as much as racism or sexism does. Just as often as men will get to do "flashy" work, while women do the "shit work", activists of all stripes will consider ONLY human consequences, while dismissing others as "silly". Striking examples of speciesism are everywhere. Most mainstream environmental groups (such as the Sierra Club) will
only work on "legitimate" campaigns, shrugging off animal protections. This is also apparent in some of the animal welfare groups, who only work on issues that relate to "cute" animals, such as cats and dogs.

Actions Speak Louder than Words

As mentioned above, we cannot bring down the system simply trying to defeat it's symptoms. We have to conceptualize the struggle in terms of eliminating ALL
domination. If we aren't doing that, what exactly are we doing? Only ending some coercion and hierarchy?
Our job as revolutionaries is to make the connections between struggles and oppressions conrete and real. We need to move out of the realm of theory. We need to
transcend study groups and well written essays. History has shown that the only way to make these connections is through concrete struggle and action. When struggles are shown to be tangibly (that is, off of paper) similiar, then the chances for change and
radicalization exponentially increase.
There are a lot of examples of this dynamic. One striking example is the case of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), and the development of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). The first ALF action in the US was in 1979, at the New York University Medical Center. A total of five animals were liberated. As time went on, ALF strategy developed and diversified, moving beyond simply liberating animals (which has no significant effect on the entity, and does not pose as a deterent to an entity that is being naughty), and
has in more recent years focused on economic sabotage in order to achieve its goals. The ELF officially started in England in 1992, out of the Earth First! (EF!) movement, with activists who felt more radical tactics needed to be employed in order to make gains
in the environmental movement. The development of the ELF is a concrete example of activists using a tactical strategy, and theory, and putting it into practice. By doing this, they made concrete connections between the radical environmental movement, and the struggle for Animal Rights. The effects of the development of the ELF tactic, and the
obvious connections between the ALF and ELF, has concretely shown the similiarity in the struggle for AR and the sanctity of the earth. Now, as new AR activists become acquainted with the ALF, they are also introduced to the philosophy of the ELF. This is
an amazing and inspiring example of how struggles can be shown to be connected.
Another less contemporary example of the "making connections" dynamic, is when white activists began to support the Black Panther Party (BPP). The unification of white activists under the leadership of the BPP came out of an analysis of white privilege,
and the necessity to abolish it in order to succeed in the class struggle. The Weather Underground Organization (WUO) took a similiar position, attempting to organize an army of white youth who would assist the "black colonies within the US" in "ultimately overthrowing US imperialism from within the belly of the beast". Of course, as we know now, the WUO's strategy was ultimately very unsuccessful and counterproductive. The WUO's thesis was that if they could engaged in armed struggle, they could take "heat" off of Black and Latino groups, and be true allies. Although the WUO was ultimately a failure, the philosophy of white alliances and militant struggle should be maintained for the future.

Ideas for the Near Future

Where to go from here? Other than advancing anarchist ideals (democracy, autonomy, and direct action) within the anti-war/anti-corporate globalization movements,
we should be thinking of concrete ways to make connections between oppressions and struggles.
One of the biggest obstacles to mounting effective campaigns in the US, has historically been pacifism. Pacifism has entrenched our conception of what is possible, and therefore blinded us to many successful tactics. By embracing a diversity of tactics, we open up many new avenues for pursuing social change.
One idea, since this essay is about speciesism, is to look at AR groups, and their current campaigns. One notable group, Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty (SHAC), is using the "diversity of tactics" model in an exemplary way. SHAC "is comprised of above ground volunteers who spearhead an international, legal campaign to close Huntingdon Life Sciences. We operate within the boundaries of the law, but recognize, and support, those who choose to operate outside the confines of the legal system [eg. use illegal underground direct action]." (http://www.shacamerica.org) SHAC has, in its short history, forced the divestment of some of the biggest companies in the world from Huntingdon Life Sciences: Bank of America, Marsh Inc. (the biggest insurance company in the world!), Citibank, HSBC (the world’s second largest bank), Merrill Lynch, and Charles Schwab (world’s largest online broker), among many others. They have also very recently forced the resignation of two of it's senior board members, who were major players in HLS. Using "a multi-pronged attack on the workers, shareholders, and clients [the campaign has] resulted in all-time low worker morale, a rock bottom share price, and a loss of customer confidence." (SHAC website) As they say, "The method of attack has also broken new ground in the struggle for animal liberation. Instead of targeting just the
lab itself, SHAC has gone after those affiliated with HLS. By attacking the lab's necessary and crucial support structures we will systematically destroy HLS ... get active - and SMASH HLS!" (SHAC website)
As revolutionary anarchists, our goals are simple: to make vital connections between ALL movements for liberation, and to escalate the struggle beyond symbolic protest. Our role as anarchists, is not to be "the vanguard" or attempt to "lead" these struggles, but instead to agitate in radical ways, and continually push the boundaries of struggle. Our role as revolutionaries is to make unification between movements tangible, and real. One way we could do this, is incorporate strategies that SHAC is using in the AR movement, and apply them to the growing anti-war movement. By showing the connections between Oil companies, racist military recruitment, and imperialism -- we certainly wouldn't have a hard time finding a mass base of support in the American public. We need to stop isolating issues that we are not necessarily involved in, (for example, white activists virtually ignoring police accountability campaigns unless it involves "protestors") and expand our scope of influence.
In conclusion, I would suggest that activists educate themselves on issues and campaigns that they don't know about. Just imagine if campaigns focused on police accountability started employing tactics usually associated with radical environmentalism in the city? Just imagine anti-war groups mounting campaigns against military recruitment centers in their hometowns, using a "diversity of tactics"? The possibilities are infinite. Make them real! Onward!

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further reading:
http://www.shacamerica.org/
http://www.shac.net/ (SHAC UK)
http://www.earthliberationfront.com/
http://www.animalliberation.net/
http://www.ocap.ca/