Veganism as a Social Justice Movement Is in Crisis – Here’s Why

Veganism has become a symbol of white privilege and social currency despite its historical roots in radical activism.

By Lisa Betty

Recent iterations of anti-Black and antisemitic social media posts by influencer-activist vegans vividly exposed white supremacy in veganism - or white veganism. Black, Latinx, Indigenous, POC, and ally advocates have pushed for more introspection in response.

These racist posts harken to early campaigns of vegan-centered animal rights organizations. PETA, for example, throughout the 2000s and 2010s, vividly compared nonhuman animal suffering with U.S. chattel slavery and the Holocaust in Europe. White vegan influencer James Aspey responded to the protests of BIPOC and allies by spewing indignities and more racism. This response exposed the lack of consensus on veganism’s function as an anti-oppression social justice movement.

However, whiteness is rooted well within veganism as a movement. Donald Watson coined the term “vegan” in 1944. In England, he founded the Vegan Society to emphasize a dairy-free form of vegetarianism and animal rights. From its beginnings, veganism, as structured by this organization and its offshoots, was unequivocally colonial, white centered-supremacist, and elitist. Culturally Eurocentric, veganism required moral astuteness, restriction, vigilance, and shame. It was not liberatory, intersectional, radical, or decolonial.

There may have been a reference to Mahatma Gandhi (an early member of The Vegetarian Society), Buddhism, and Jainism. But, veganism did not emphasize or give reference to Black, Latinx, Indigenous cultures throughout the world that practiced veganism and other forms of conscientious consumption. This deletion is critical because of the historical use of veganism as radical resistance against imperialism and European-American colonial culture, such as Rastafarianism in Jamaica formalized in the 1930s.

The Vegan Society describes veganism as “a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude — as far as is possible and practicable — all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals.”

The forms of veganism are split into three:

Dietary vegans (or plant-based)

People who practice a vegan lifestyle as a short-term or long-life diet.

Health vegans (or plant-based)

People who practice a vegan lifestyle as a short-term or long-life dietary health intervention.

Ethical vegans

People who practice veganism “for the animals, the environment and/or social justice.” Ethical veganism includes lifestyle alternatives (such as clothes, entertainment, household products, cosmetics, hobbies).

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Lisa Betty is a Ph.D. Candidate in History and Course Instructor at Fordham University.