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I'm writing a paper on animal exploitation, give me resource ideas!

Hi everyoneeee

so I'm taking this summer course called Philosophy of the Environment. For my final paper I've decided to write about farmed animals and ethics. (I know this is a huge topic!) My focus is going to be on linked oppressions so I want to include things like feminist works (Carol J Adams for sure!) as references. The problem is I don't know where to look for resources that relate animal suffering and the plight of other oppressed groups.

If you've read some good books about the ways oppressed people relate to animals I would love to hear about them. What I'm ultimately arguing is that animal farming enforces an oppressive attitude in humans. I'll probably conclude with something along the lines of animal farming being unethical due to the unnecessary suffering it causes for the animals, and that a change in attitude towards them (as well as other oppressed groups) needs to be made (ie. we need to break down power structures and re-examine our way of life in order to empower those who get little to no consideration).

Anyway. That was longer than I'd hoped for a description, but hopefully you get the idea. Please, give me your suggestions! I will be using Peter Singer as well, though I'm not sure which work(s) yet. I would really like to avoid having references written only by white straight able wealthy men, and/or white straight able wealthy women...there's so much more that needs to be covered!!

thank you!! :)

Your topic rocks. I'll try to think of some, i did a paper on farmed animals and ethics, but it did correspond with others views on humans as well. I'll see if anything i read had anything about that in it.


I don't think it's exactly what you're looking for, but there are a couple chapters in The Vegan Sourcebook by Joanne Stepaniak that talk about human oppression related to animal exploitation. It's mostly about exploited workers in slaughterhouses/factory farms (women, illegal immigrants, etc.), though.


I don't know how this applies but I will tell an experience I had. I was hitchhiking from university home to visit my parents and got picked up by three guys who were going the whole way. I discovered that it was a father and his two sons in their twenties. One of the sons had just been released from prison and the father and his brother had picked him up. This prison had a meat slaughtering plant where they trained inmates in this cruel buisness and the son had taken part in this program. I thought this was very starnge that they would take inmates who were in jail for violent offences and train them in such a violent occupation. That would be an interesting study right there. My trip home was not pleasant as they all began to drink and got pretty drunk long before they arrived at my home. I should have gotten out somewhere but they already knew where I was going and their behaviour was becoming more and more threatening and scary as we travelled. I learned that they were going to play a visit to the guy who was responsible for putting the son in prison and they showed me a gun they were carrying for the visit! They stopped at a fast food place and came the father went in and brought back food for us all. Of course it was hamburgers and me being a vegetarian said "no thanks" and hoped that someone else would eat my share. The father looked at me and in a gruff voice demanded that I eat it. Now what do I do? Would he shoot me for refusing his generousity? Thankfully, when we were on the road again,  the son sitting beside me on the back seat quietly offered to eat my share so I was delivered from that trouble. The next problem I had was that I didn't want them to know where my parents lived as they had a restauant and tea room right on the side of the highway where they would be driving by. I thought possibly they may come back there later to ask for favors in return for the ride they had given me. So as we came into the little town I told them to drop me off at a corner away from my parents business and I would walk to my destination from there. But it was no use, they said they would take me right to the door. So I directed them to a farm house off the main highway and made some excuse for them to just drop me at the end of the long lane which to my relief they did. But my dilemma was not over so easy as they just sat there in the car at the end of the lane while I started walking up the driveway towards the farmhouse. First the dog came out barking, they were still there waiting, then the folks from the house came out to see who was coming up their driveway, they were still there. Finally just as I was thinking about what i was going to say to these farm couple the car drove away and I turned around and headed home. Whew!
Anyway the thought of using prisoners in a slaughtering plant always bothered me and the violence of the son who worked there was surely part of the reason for his resultant behaviour after his release.


That sounds like it was extremely scary printerguy.


I was gonna say Carol Adams, but you have her!

Another one worth looking into (I haven't read it) is "Making a Killing" by Bob Torres.  I believe it relates animal exploitation to a greater hierarchy of exploitation/oppression that capitalism creates.  Something like that.

How about Gary Francione? 

Also, what you are talking about is kind of close to ecofeminism, you know?  It seems like there should be some intersection in that direction.  I'm not sure if any eco-feminist thinkers wrote books about animal rights, specifically, but maybe there is something?


Will Tuttle's  "The World Peace Diet" seriously. You need to read this. Everyone in the entire world needs to read this.


kmk, I am definitely including ecofeminism as a major part of this paper - it was sort of what directed me to this idea in the first place :) I do have a book on hold by Gary Francione as well as some others that looked promising. I'll check out the Making a Killing book too! Capitalism is definitely something I want to address...boy, too bad I only get 8 pages for this...I don't know if it's all going to fit!

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