'Veganwashing' 2-part series
In my fast fashion series, I concluded with the quote that there is ‘no ethical consumption under capitalism’, related to the topic of consuming ‘ethically-sourced clothing’ versus fast fashion brands. However, I would like to turn from the garment industry to the food industry with this two-part series on the idea of veganism and ‘veganwashing’ in the search for ‘ethical consumption’ (Bertuzzi 2022).
This first instalment will deal with an article by Bertuzzi, helping us to define 'veganwashing'.
The second instalment will be my own case study in the UK. Bertuzzi’s article argues the change in vegan discourse, how it was once a punk subculture and so was counter-hegemony, but in recent years has shifted towards a trendy and a-political approach, undergoing a process of individualisation, de-politicisation, and mass consumption (2022, 208).
Gramsci’s Hegemony
The theory and methodology applied is Gramsci’s theory of hegemony, which states that the dominant class presents an ideology and presents it as the status quo, imposing it over the majority working class (Gramsci 1971). I would argue that it is not just a matter of ‘hegemony’, but of ‘cultural hegemony’ (Gramsci 1971), the idea that the dominant class presents an ideology (e.g., veganism) as a progressive, natural good as opposed to a form of subordination. The difference between the two is that ‘cultural hegemony’ is far more subtle as it is done indirectly through ‘culture’ rather than directly towards the masses via policies for example.
Bertuzzi’s Two Groups
Bertuzzi identified two main groups of animal-welfare groups in Italy.
1. Passive Revolution – “the objective is no longer to subvert hegemony […] but to be included in the current political and economic hegemonic structure, and become one of its possible elements” (216)
2. War of Position – don’t want to be included in the mainstream, they want to instead replace the current status quo with a radical alternative and discuss other social issues (e.g., social justice, poverty) (216-217)
In this post I will be using Bertuzzi’s methodology to analyse the UK as a case study, using The Vegan Society’s website as an example, to see which category it fits into, whether I believe it sees veganism and anti-animal cruelty to subvert the status quo or whether it is to become included in the hegemonic structure and eventually, a part of that very existing status quo, and ‘wash-over’ systemic social issues like social justice and poverty.
What is ‘veganwashing’?
Palestinian Animal League Logo Twitter
The term originally comes from the Palestinian Animal League which criticises “the rhetoric adopted by the Israeli government […] presenting Israel, and in particular, the Israeli Army, as vegan-friendly in order to attract the sympathy of vegan audiences” to ‘wash-over’ its treatment of Palestinians (Bertuzzi 2022, 223). Bertuzzi defines it more broadly as the attempt to cover up other relevant social issues like labour rights, territorial exploitations, and neo-colonial capitalism, “with an insistence on the ethical values and the dialectic virtues of the vegan diet” (Bertuzzi, 2022, 21).
Image of Animal Liberation & Palestinian Solidarity Campaign against Israeli Army Veganwashing
The term also resembles terms like ‘greenwashing’ or ‘rainbow washing’, in which a company will brand themselves as ‘green’ on World Earth Day or use a Pride Flag on their marketing during Pride Month to appear as ‘ethical’ companies, despite their contribution to waste and CO2 emissions (see McDonald’s paper straws and Oatly) or the CEO investing in anti-LGBTQ+ organisations (see Urban Outfitters). Veganwashing works similarly, whereby a company will offer and advertise vegan products, and gain support from the vegan community, despite being a company that perhaps also engages in the unethical treatment of animals, and even its workers. A good example of this is KFC advertising a Vegan burger, yet its whole business model relies on factory farming chickens, rationalization and use of non-human technology, in line with the theory of ‘McDonaldization’ (Ritzer 2004). In the next instalment, I will discuss The Vegan Society as an example of a UK based case study on the topic.
Image of McDonald's Advertisement for Paper Straws
In the next instalment, I will discuss The Vegan Society as an example of a UK based case study on the topic.
Bibliography
Bertuzzi, N. 2022. Becoming hegemony: The case for the (Italian) animal advocacy and veganwashing operations. Journal of Consumer Culture 22(1), pp. 207–226. DOI: 10.1177/1469540520926234.
Gramsci, A. 1971. Prison Notebooks. Hoare, Q. and Smith, G. eds. New York: International Publishers.
Ritzer, G. 2004. The McDonaldization of society. Rev. new c. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Pine Forge Press.
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