Political Veganism: An Empirical Analysis of Vegans’ Motives, Aims, and Political Engagement

Abstract

Scholars increasingly argue that the vegan lifestyle reflects a broader pattern of how political behavior is becoming more individualized and private. Veganism is particularly viewed as an unconventional form of political participation, as it is conducted to address ethical concerns and to change market practices. However, this argumentation lacks detailed empirical data. By means of an original standardized survey of a purposive sample of 648 vegans in Switzerland, this study shows that (1) a vast majority of vegans is politically motivated and aims to induce change in society at large; (2) they are highly engaged in a broad variety of political activities; and (3) politically motivated vegans live vegan more strictly and are more politically active than vegans motivated by personal concerns. This study contributes to the understanding of political participation in current times, and the insights gained may prove useful to vegan movement groups or the food industry.

Veganism during the COVID-19 pandemic: Vegans' and nonvegans' perspectives

“…To answer the second research question, this study explored both vegans' and nonvegans' opinions to identify various motivations and personal reasons for pursuing or opposing veganism. Although veganism has recently gained popularity, many nonvegans still perceive strict veganism to be too radical or unreasonable ( Kalte, 2020 ). This study confirmed this idea from vegans' statements about their experiences of social isolation.…”

Beyond the Choice of What You Put in Your Mouth: A Systematic Mapping Review of Veganism and Vegan Identity

“…More than 70% of surveyed vegans consider animal rights the most important reason to being vegan (Kalte, 2021). Hodson and Earle (2018) explored reasons for lapsing back to meat eating after being vegan and found that former vegans, compared to current vegans, were less likely to be motivated by social justice along with scoring higher in conservatism.…”

“…One of the most neglected areas of social psychological studies on vegans is activism and social movement aspects of veganism. While seeking the answer to whether veganism is an individualized form of political participation Kalte (2021) showed that a majority of vegans are politically motivated. However, when focussing on social movements, veganism as activism, and collective identity processes there is very sparse research.…”

“…Furthermore, vegan identity is often politicized whereas vegetarian identity may or may not be politicized. For example, vegans are often politically active (Stuart et al, 2013;Kalte, 2021) and radical animal rights activists are often vegan (Stuart et al, 2013). Kalte (2021) found that 89% of the vegans reported political reasons for being vegan.…”

The Vegan Food Justice Movement

“…Therefore, gaining support for veganism and other dietary choices that reduce or eliminate the consumption of animal products is an important step toward achieving animal and social justice. While veganism is often labeled simply as a diet, many vegan activists, scholars, and organizations are increasingly adopting a more ideological definition, referring to veganism as "a philosophy and way of living which seeks to excludeas far as is possible and practicableall forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; [which] by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment" (The Vegan Society n.d.; Greenebaum 2012;Kalte 2020). Under this definition, veganism is more than just a dietary preference: it is a conscious choice to participate in a movement that seeks to promote justice and equality, not just for farmed animals, but among all human and nonhuman species.…”