The question of effectiveness

musings on 7 October 2011

I think many (most, all?) of us are troubled by the question of how effective what we do is. And that this question exists outside of specifics about what it is exactly that we do. I was challenged on this recently, resulting in this reflection. Reflection is something we should all do, regularly and repeatedly, as long as such reflection is not crippling.

More than the last 15+ years of my life have had working for a more just world as their precursor. What actions I have taken, being many and varied, have all emanated from this maxim. The first question which arises is how do we define, label and seek to categorise effectiveness. Can we even answer such a pejorative? Who and what is the arbiter?

choice, intent, and feeding companion animals

musings on 3 September 2011

A recent post on 'One Green Plant' by Leslie Irvine, a scoiologist at the University of Colorado, outlines three options for companion (nonhuman) animals, specifically related to what we feed them. Irvine provides her rationalisations to the ‘difficult position’ in the context of ‘ethical veganism’ (for me there is one form of veganism, and coming up with labels such as ethical is as problematic that for vegetarianism — see the redicularity of the term ‘pescatarian’ for example. To create a demarcation here, anyone who is not an ‘ethical vegan’ is not a vegan: they adopt a plant-based diet).

Rethinking revolution: total liberation, alliance politics, and a prolegomena to resistance movements in the 21st century

musings on 12 July 2011

One of the most notorious posts on this blog was published in 2006 (when I had more time available to pen and share thoughts), and has received more than 40,000 views. The post was quite a scathing critique of Steve Best. For example:

'The sweeping generalisations, clear lack of knowledge, awareness and understandings of that which he authoritatively comments on, and the lack of critical reflexive awareness are very surprising.'

vegansexuals

musings on 30 June 2011

The term vegansexual emerged in 2007. It was coined by Annie Potts, the co-director of the New Zealand Centre for Human and Animal Studies, and Madala White, at the University of Canterbury. They were researching cruelty-free consumption, with the findings published as Cruelty-Free Consumption in New Zealand: A National Report on the Perspectives and Experiences of Vegetarians & Other Ethical Consumers.

The challenges of introduced species

musings on 17 May 2011

The introduction of non-native species to regions and islands, and the ongoing implications of these, are a legacy of human chauvinism. Our ideological arrogance continues to shape decisions and forms of (strategic) ignorance will have long-lasting implications based on the actions we take today. Apparently we have learned, and continue to learn, little.

the techno-human condition

musings on 21 April 2011

Some time 2007 I changed the design of this website to incorporate the sunflower image that has become the symbol of veganarky, of what it means to me. The image is of one of a small number of similar sculptures of sunflowers in Front Street, Toronto (Ontario) [I have made some minor modifications to saturation and hue, and to remove any background]. I have now found some words to describe part of what the image represents for me.

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