The five stages illustrate the transition animal advocates must make from moral crusader to political activist and the animal rights movement from a moral crusade to a political movement. We can never assume a growing collective of personal lifestyle change automatically leads to institutional, societal change. The capriciousness of human nature is subject to change. Institutionalised regulations and laws are much more entrenched expressions of society’s values.
History shows that social movements, including animal rights, are accused routinely of seeking change which will adversely impact society if they achieve their objective. But it rarely, if ever, turns out to be true. Indeed, it is surprising any social and economic progress has been made, given these outrageous claims. The challenges other social movements confronted for various human interests are clearly different from those which the animal rights movement faces. To make this statement is not to underestimate their significant accomplishments; nevertheless, the animal rights movement asks one species to change thousands of years of custom with its relationship with all other species.
Those who maintain we must use animals will say any rights animals may have must be subordinate to dominant human interests. This frames human and animal interests as a competition. A strategic dichotomy all too prevalent in human history: men superior to women; whites to blacks; natives to immigrants; heterosexuals to homosexuals; and so on. In our case, it is humans are superior to animals, which is called speciesism. As society evolves and we become aware of our superiority prejudices, we seek to resolve them, as we become more aware of the resulting injustices. We readjust, accommodate and move on, in all likelihood, all the better for it.
The same, no doubt, will be true for animal rights; particularly when it is understood that to feed the world’s population and encourage well-being, animal exploitation in animal agriculture and animal research are fundamentally problematic. This is why it is vital for the animal rights movement to be viewed as more than just as a moral crusade.
I conclude the animal rights movement is mostly in Stage One (Public Education), with some presence in Stages Two (Public Policy), Three (Legislation) and Four (Implementation). If Stages One and Two are the moral crusade, Stages Three and Four are the political movement.
The animal rights movement has not progressed much beyond the first stage of a moral crusade. Should I spay or neuter my companion animal? Should I stop eating meat? Should I visit a zoo? This consumer-based advocacy is more usually known as vegetarianism and cruelty-free, vegan living. Inevitably, the animal rights movement confronts the animal industrial complex because of its instrumental use of animals. The arenas in which this conflict is played out include public opinion, public policy, legislation, law and society generally. But the animal rights movement is not competent for these encounters. Its understanding of the animal industrial complex, and institutional animal exploitation, is limited to optional personal lifestyle choice. Animal rights is not understood as a mainstream political issue.
In contrast to the animal rights movement, the animal industrial complex, which does understand the politics of animal exploitation, is resolutely entrenched and fully engaged in all five stages. Which stage would the animal industrial complex want the animal rights movement to be in? Its answer would be the stage we currently occupy, Stage One Public Education. Further, it will do everything in its power to ensure the animal rights movement maintains this position. This is because the first stage is the beginning and the stage with least influence of all the five stages. Remember: the further along the five stages that a social movement progresses, the greater its ability to resist its opponents, thereby increasing its ability to succeed. In other words, the animal industrial complex is largely unchallenged by the animal rights movement in its present form, as it is in Stage One and functions as a moral crusade. Whereas the animal industrial complex is fully engaged in all five stages.
Why is the animal rights movement entrenched in Stage One?
The answer lies in how we become animal advocates.
With the exception of those who were raised by vegans or vegetarians and educated about animal cruelty and exploitation, people become animal advocates because they experience a personal transformative moment.
Everyone who is an advocate for animals has a compelling personal story. These unique narratives describe how they were transformed from someone who ate meat and fish to a vegetarian or vegan. Personal transformative moments may be triggered by a variety of experiences, including reading a book, watching a film, speaking with a friend, witnessing animal cruelty, experiencing a profound relationship with a companion animal and so on.
Philosopher Tom Regan describes in Empty Cages three types of animal advocates. (Regan 2004: 21-28) The Damascan, who has a startling revelation. The Muddler, who struggles with the challenge of animal rights throughout their life. The Davincian, who intuitively understood all along. Scholar Ken Shapiro also characterises animal advocates as Caring Sleuths, who discover, seek and embrace the suffering of animals.
These personality types help to illustrate who animal advocates are and how they each arrived from different places. Also, they help to explain why animal advocates are a diverse group of people who do not always agree. Regardless, each personal narrative is unique. Everyone experiences a personal transformative moment when, what was previously hidden from view and what we are trained not to see, reveals itself for what it is: animal cruelty and exploitation. Meat is not seen as delicious steak but as the charred remains of dead animal body parts.
The personal transformative moment is powerful. So compelling, in fact, that it overwhelmingly informs the rationale of most of the animal rights movement’s current strategy to educate the public. This is why the calendar of the animal rights movement falls mostly into Stage One Public Education: media stunts, information dissemination, demonstrations, advertising campaigns, personal appeals by celebrities and so on. These are all attempts by the animal rights movement to influence people, essentially, to go vegan.
The modern animal rights movement has increased public awareness about animal exploitation; encouraged people to live cruelty-free lifestyles, particularly as vegetarians and vegans; persuaded corporations, charities, non-governmental organisations, churches and other entities like them that constitute society, to adopt various pro-animal policies; and lobby local, national and international governments and their agencies to implement regulations and pass laws limiting or prohibiting some animal use. Most of these accomplishments, but certainly not all, fall within the First Stage of Public Education, or they began in that stage and later developed into Stages Two, Three and Four.
These accomplishments are remarkable. Not only for the prevalence and range of animal cruelty and exploitation but also for the two key differences uniquely distinguishing the animal rights movement from other social movements. Indeed, all social movements face significant challenges, internally (e.g., limited resources) and externally (e.g., disinterested public and unsympathetic media). But these two key differences add significantly to its challenges, making the mission of the animal rights movement even more daunting and its accomplishments even more impressive. Also, it helps to explain why animal rights is often thought of as a moral crusade.
The first of the two key differences speak to the nature of social movements and their protagonists and beneficiaries (‘agency’). It is customary that social movements are populated and supported by those whose self-interests are sought. They are the agents of their change. Protagonists seek legal status withheld from them usually because of a prejudice more widely felt by society. They wish to redress wrongs committed against them or improve their well-being and legal standing. With respect to the animal rights movement, the protagonists are mobilised in the interests of beneficiaries who are not even the same species. The beneficiaries — all animals who are instrumentally used by humans — are unable to form their own social movement to advance their own agenda. The protagonists who seek animal rights come from one species, which is the same species that oppresses all others. The animal rights movement is the only social movement whose beneficiaries are not the protagonists and not the same species.
The question of benefits enjoyed by humans from exploiting animals is the focus of the second difference between the animal rights movement and all other social movements. Although there are benefits to humans from liberating animals from our exploitation, the perception of animal rights is that, if it is accomplished, it would adversely impact human interests. Animal rights requires humans to relinquish all benefits gained from animal exploitation, regardless of whatever harm it may cause to humans. It is customary among social movements that any benefits gained by protagonists and enjoyed by them as beneficiaries, also brings some benefits to others with minimal impact or little cost to society.
Notwithstanding these two key differences, animal advocates want to persuade people to change their hearts and minds, as well as their lifestyles, with respect to their relations with animals. The personal transformative moment is the currency of the animal rights movement, which seeks to foment in others similar conversion experiences. Indeed, personal change does change one person at a time. But institutional change