Is veganism a social movement? (FR)

Biography

Alexia Renard is a doctoral candidate in political science at the University of Montreal. Her thesis focuses on young people aged between 12 to 17 who have been involved in vegan and anti-speciesist movements in France and in Quebec. She has a master’s degree in environment and sustainable development focusing on the vegan movement in Quebec.

Synopsis

For a long time, veganism has been considered as a lifestyle. With the proliferation of anti-speciesist actions and the increasing visibility of veganism, the emphasis has been placed on the collective, even political extent of this individual action. In this conference, we will try to define what a social movement is from the opposition between individual and collective action. We will see that many contemporary social movements, including feminist and environmental movements are characterized by a form of fluidity among several types of actions, and that the categories traditionally used to think about engagement, such as the distinction between cultural and political or institutional change are not necessarily pertinent for understanding veganism.

Finally, I will use the concept of “community of social movement” (Bereni and Revillard 2012) which allows to better understand the vegan movement, in my opinion.