The Power of Environmental Vegetarianism

Abstract: The idea of the human as a rational man is deeply engrained into the thinking and the construction of the human culture within industrialized societies. It enables the domination and commodification of nonhuman species and the natural world (the Other). This has led to the creation of a highly technologized, industrialized and environmentally destructive food system. Such system centers around the production and consumption of meat whereas meat symbolizes the dominant culture. It stands for hegemonic masculinity, rationalism and the subordination of the Other. In the 1970s, the ethical vegetarian movement arose, tackling the environmental destruction from a non-anthropocentric angle. Although the movement has not achieved the value shift it asks for, it identified the commodification of the Other as majorly problematic.Today, human induced climate change puts increasing pressure on humanity. Without inherent social change and restructuring, global warming may cause the extinction of the human and many other species.That is why, a new generation of activists has arisen. They use the environmental vegetarian argument to abolish commodification. It is an anthropocentric argumentation that aims to replace the exploitative, violent rationalist and industrialized society with the creation of a compassionate society that lives temperate lives. Environmental vegetarianism becomes powerful because it threatens the dominant culture daily. It challenges hegemonic masculinity because it embraces feminine virtues which build the basis for an ethics of care that centers around compassion. The argument’s power is reinforced by the natural scientific argument the confirms the reduction of meat consumption as important for the counteraction of climate change.