20th North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies, 2020

20th Annual North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies

INTERESTED THEMES:
Animal Liberationists for Black Lives Matter
Stories from 90s Animal Liberation Activists
Eco-Ability Movement Voices
Fighting Political and Corporate Repression
Being a Scholar-Activist
Decolonizing Movements and Education
Hip Hoppin Movements
Total Liberation
Anti-Capitalism
Disability Justice
Youth Justice
Critical Eco-Feminism
LGBT+ Justice

22 Speakers from Around the World

All Speakers have 20 minutes to present with 10 minutes of questions and comments.

SUBMIT
All submissions for the conference need to hold to the mission and principles of CAS and ICAS and to submit in a Word Doc. as an attachment in an E-mail with the following information:
1. Title of Presentation
2. Biography third person 80 to 100 words one paragraph
3. Description/Abstract of the presentation around 200 words third person and one paragraph

SEND SUBMISSION TO:
poirinat@aquinas.edu

November 7, 2020
9:00am to 4:00pm Western Time USA
10am to 5:00pm Mountain Time USA
11:00am to 6:00pm Central Time USA
12:00pm to 7:00pm Eastern Time USA
&
November 8, 2020
9:00am to 4:00pm Western Time USA
10am to 5:00pm Mountain Time USA
11:00am to 6:00pm Central Time USA
12:00pm to 7:00pm Eastern Time USA

Facilitated by
Dr. Lea Lani Kinikini
Chief Diversity Officer, Salt Lake Community College

Free and Open to the Public.
Via Zoom


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NOV. 7, 2020 – SATURDAY

Time Zone for the conference is Mountain Time USA

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10am to 10:20am – In Vitro Meat: Protection Rhetoric or Protection Racket? 
Nathan Poirier

Few from mainstream animal protection seem to view in vitro meat critically and instead hail it as a means by which to liberate “farmed” animals and the environment from their exploitative realities. This presentation looks critically at some of the arguments put forward in support of in vitro (or cultured or cell-based) meat. From viewing videos of the entire alternative animal product conferences organized by the Good Food Institute in 2018 and 2019, video of the debate over in vitro meat at the 2019 Conscious Eating Conference, and from attending the 2020 Cellular Agriculture Conference, key strains of arguments are distilled and analyzed in terms of overall efficacy of potential for total liberation. It appears that those who support and promote in vitro meat as a form of animal and environmental protection are constrained by short-term technological fix strategies and a reliance on compliance from capitalism and the animal agriculture industry. Such approaches are highly suspect. This presentation also provides a theoretical contribution to CAS by more clearly and explicitly drawing out a close link between in vitro meat production methods and industrial animal agriculture illustrating a problematic ideological continuity between the two. Finally, it concludes by carefully considering whether there may be some room for pragmatics in thinking through in vitro meat.

Nathan Poirier is a PhD student in Sociology at Michigan State University seeking an additional specialization in Women’s & Gender Studies. He holds a B.A. in mathematics from Aquinas College, an M.A. in mathematics from Western Michigan University, and an M.S. in Anthrozoology from Canisius College. His master’s thesis for Canisius critically examined the landscape of in vitro meat, focusing on its discourse, comparisons to vegetarianism, and potential cultural implications. Nathan is a co-director of Students for Critical Animal Studies.

1020am to 10:30am Q and A

10:30am to 10:50am – And they fled, aliens in their own land: The precarious relationship between human and kangaroo
Carolyn Drew

In Australia the kangaroo, on the one hand a highly regarded icon, is often construed as a pest who represents a threat to humans or human concerns. This positioning has been captured in the various narratives used by farmers, government agencies and scientists when discussing kangaroos and their perceived encroachment on human space. It is this conflict over space and borders, so reminiscent of wars between humans, in which the kangaroos find themselves unwitting and unwilling participants of a struggle taking place within the confines of an ever-receding wilderness. From Dutch navigator Francois Pelsaert’s 1629 account of them as a “species of cats, which are very strange creatures… the forepaws…resembling those of a monkey’s forepaw” to Cook’s initial sighting where he describes them as “a Grey Hound,… but … in which it jump’d like a Hare or Deer” (Cowley & Hubber 2000) the perception of the kangaroo as alien to anything previously encountered, lingers in the cultural mind not only of the 21st century remnants of the early British intruders but also those who come seeking a new home from far flung countries around the world. Now, not only hare, deer and cats are considered, and classified, as invasive pests within Australian politics of the ecological landscape but the kangaroo is also caste as an invasive pest within its own land. The kangaroo, though, moves confidently through a land still foreign to the intruders, and their hyper-masculine-colonialist attitude, who cling, in fear, to the coastline, backs hunched against the mountains, and for this, they are unforgiving. This difficult relationship between the intruder and the kangaroo also reflects the difficult relationship the intruder still has with a continent now called Australia. In understanding the fraught relationship between the intruder and the kangaroo, and thus the intruder’s perceptions, we begin to understand the construction of kangaroo as ‘pest’ which in turn may reflect the fragile relationship between the intruder and the continent they now call home.


Carolyn Drew is an total liberationist, activist and academic. She currently teaches out of  University of Canberra College , University of Canberra. Her main focus in this work is developing critical thinking and writing skills with a twofold purpose. The first is to support access and equity for entry to university for disadvantaged groups. The second, inspired by a Neil Postman and Paulo Freiren approach to education, is to create a learning environment where the student is empowered through nurturing these important skills. Concurrent with this area of interest is her passion for non-human and human animal liberation and activism. Her early experiences showed her the sentience that all life shares, and that the divisions and hierarchies by which we view and organise the world are human constructs. Thus her main focus is the human rupture from the natural world and its basis for the exploitation and abuse of other animals throughout human history. In 2009 she co-authored ‘The Harvest’ with Ray Drew, published in the ‘Southerly’, Australia’s preeminent Australian English Association Journal. ‘The Harvest’ is a faction story based on the 2008 slaughter of 512 kangaroos trapped in a disused Naval Transmission Station in Canberra, Australia. Carolyn has a BA in Communication Honours (Canb) and a Masters in Education in Adult education (UTS).

10:50am to 11:00am Q and A

11:00am to 11:20am – How Do we Achieve Animal Liberation?
Ronnie Lee

Ronnie will talk about what he means by “animal liberation”, what he believes is necessary to achieve it, and the one thing he sees as most vital of all to the process.

Ronnie Lee has been a vegan and campaigner for animal liberation for almost 50 years. In the early 1970s he was one of the founders of the Animal Liberation Front and served three prison sentences (a total of about 9 years in prison) for animal liberation activism. Since his last release from prison, in 1992, he has been involved in various animal protection campaigns and political activities. His main focus is now on vegan outreach and on the creation of a network of local activist groups to spread the vegan message.

11:20am to 11:30am Q and A

11:30am to 11:50am – The Government’s Campaign to Repress Activists Across Various Movements
Dara Lovitz

Despite constitutional guarantees of free speech and the right to peaceably assemble, the US government has historically denied those rights to certain activist groups. This session explores the government’s campaign to repress the Black Power, Anti-War, BLM, and Animal Rights movements.

Dara Lovitz co-founded Peace Advocacy Network, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting veganism, social justice, and respect for the Earth’s inhabitants and resources. She is an Adjunct Professor of Animal Law at Temple University Beasley School of Law, and the author of three books: Muzzling A Movement: The Effects of Anti-Terrorism Law, Money, and Politics on Animal Activism,Catching Falling Cradles: A Gentle Approach to Classic Rhymesand Twinsight: A Guide to Raising Emotionally Healthy Twins. Her upcoming book Gag Reflections: Conquering a Fear of Vomit Through Exposure Therapy (working title) will be out in Spring 2021.

11:50am to 12:00pm Q and A

12:00pm to 12:20pm – Intersex Inclusion: Indeterminant Sex and Gender Acceptance for Nonhuman Animals
Amber E. George

Surprisingly, disability scholarship has not explored the linkages with intersex studies and critical animal studies, despite many parallels in how biological sex, animality, and disability are socially constructed. This essay exposes how harmful misconceptions about humans who have intersex conditions are applied to nonhumans with intersex conditions. By imposing standards of normalcy upon intersexed nonhuman animals, disability is perceived and therefore, assumed to need medical correction. Complex issues surrounding intersex conditions do not fit well into even-focused news or episodic coverage, and thus become the “face” of intersexuality to the public. Thus, stereotypes such as being abnormal, inspirational, or even loathsome persist despite being unrepresentative of intersex experience as a whole. Further analysis is given to the overlap in experience among identities for being on display, subject to curing rhetoric, and undergoing rehabilitation to become ‘normal.’ Suggestions for how to present nonhuman intersexed individuals as beings, just not just bodies are also discussed.

Amber E. George, Ph.D., is a Philosophy and Cultural Diversity Instructor at Galen College. George has co-edited several books including Critical Pedagogical Strategies to Transcend Hegemonic Masculinity (2020), Education for Total Liberation: Critical Animal Pedagogy and Teaching Against Speciesism (2019);and The Image of Disability: Essays on Media Representations (2018). She is currently working on writing numerous books and book chapters related to identity politics and social justice. Her areas of expertise are nonhuman animal liberation, disability studies, race, gender, and sexuality studies, and critical theory. She is the current editor-in-chief of the Journal for Critical Animal Studies (JCAS). In her spare time, she volunteers on the Executive Boards for various activist organizations committed to justice such as the Eco-ability Collective and the Institute for Critical Animal Studies (ICAS).

12:20pm to 12:30pm Q and A

12:30pm to 12:50pm – PLANTIFA: Antifascist Guerilla Gardening as Revolutionary Community Praxis through Multispecies Resistance toward Total Liberation 
Johnny Lupinacci, Brandon Edwards-Schuth, and Marco Gramacho Cerqueira

Responding to the interrelated exploitation of both humans and more-than-humans brought to attention by a global pandemic and the Black Lives Matter protests, this paper addresses the importance of Anti-facism (ANTIFA) together with the idea of considering multispecies resistance and what such consideration means for a pedagogical practice in solidarity with radically reimagining democracy. Drawing from Critical Animal Studies (Best, 2009; Nocella et al., 2014; 2019), Anarchism (Haworth, 2012; Suissa, 2010) and EcoJustice Education (Martusewicz et al. 2020), the presenters illustrate how human-supremacy is culturally constructed and dominant throughout not only school curriculum but also too often in our resistance movements. Furthermore, the presentation draws attention to the potential for scholar-activist educators to interrupt human supremacy together with diverse species as integral to environmental justice and inextricably linked with social justice. Highlighting the important role of diverse more-than-human (Abrams, 1996; Plumwood, 2002) species in aiding in how we as humans learn to live in accordance with Earth in ways that support ecological, environmental, and social justice, the presenters draws from their work in environmental education, critical animal studies, eco-ability, and anarchist pedagogies to share how they teach about, and learn from diverse species that include plants, animals, and even mycelial networks to model radical organizing, activism, and anarchist principles of mutual aid, anti-authoritarianism, and decentralization. This presentation will draw also from theoretical and auto-ethnographic (re)presentations of total liberation guerilla gardening that the presenters are referring to as part of PLANTIFA. The presenters suggest that guerilla gardening offers unique educational opportunities in the form of wholesome, and much needed, praxis. Utilizing anarchist, decolonial (Tuck, 2016), and eco-feminist/democratic frameworks (Merchant, 2008; Shiva, 2015), guerilla gardening presents community activism that connects people with place, history, permaculture, and subversion of hegemony. In the context of education, guerilla gardening offers learners to be immersed with their communities and local ecosystems, beyond mere classroom walls. It is a process of mapping local terrain and history, identifying non-invasive plants and suitable locations, considering food-bearing plants for community needs, as well as the afterward tasks of watering and nurturing. Questions of, “Who, what, or where ought to be included in a democracy?” “Is planting local flora legally or ethically wrong?” and “What eco dilemmas between private property, the tragedy of the commons, ‘ethical consumerism,’ and climate change?” are just some of the questions that learners can consider during this process of eco-revanchism. Ultimately, the presenters are connecting wholeheartedly with the anti-fascist movement all over the world by appropriating their acronym (Antifa) with deference as a way to plant seeds of love against hierarchies. We are Plantifa!

Johnny Lupinacci is an Associate Professor of Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education at Washington State University. His work as an ecocritical scholar-activist in teacher education, environmental education, and curriculum studies contributes to his research on teaching to address speciesism and the conditions of the Anthropocene in K-12 schools and higher education. He is co-author of the book EcoJustice Education (Routledge), and has co-edited with Anthony Nocella and Amber George Animals, Disability, and Capitalism: Voices from the Eco-ability Movement and with ICAS members the volume Education for Total Liberation: Critical Animal Pedagogy and Teaching Against Species.

Brandon Edwards-Schuth is a Doctoral Candidate in the Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education program at Washington State University. His research is situated at the intersections of anarchist pedagogies, democratic education, social ecology, and sound curriculum/podcasts and focuses on radical possibilities for reimagining education.

Marco Gramacho Cequeira a Doctoral Candidate in the Cultural Studies and Social Thought in Education program at Washington State University. His research is situated at the intersections of radical poetics, indigenous resistance, critical disability studies, and queer studies. His arts-based work addresses directly the complex ways that culture and power discipline our identities in society and he proposes a liberatory praxis from these norms through radical poetics and a living multispecies curriculum.

12:50pm to 1:00pm Q and A

1:00pm to 1:20pm – Pensar desde Latinoamérica: una lectura interseccional sobre el carnismo
Thinking from Latin America: an intersectional interpretation of Carnism
Alexandra Navarro and Gabriela Anahi Gonzalez

This presentation will be delivered in Spanish

The world weaved by the heteropatriarchal, colonial and speciesist order throws us into a desolate panorama, characterized by the devastation of planet Earth, violence, and institutionalized inequality towards women, gender minorities, racialized people, and other animals. Particularly in Argentina, during 2020, the proliferation of forest fires, as well as the potential trade agreement with China to create mega pig farms, imply policies that have become, more than ever, an incalculable risk to the conditions of reproduction of life. However, problematizing speciesism and carnism in our country has particular difficulties because the naturalization of other animals’ death under the word “food” is installed in a grammar of nationalist, patriarchal, and racist power. In the first place, meat consumption is linked to a shared idea of national identity and runs through Argentina’s history. Secondly, such consumption has a robust phallocentric dimension: the “Asado” often functions as a hetero-patriarchal meeting place. Finally, historically “animal meat” appears as the sign of “progress”. However, the cost of the expansion of the livestock industry has been the genocide of the indigenous populations and the concentration of land by the economic elites. In short, we propose to reflect, from an intersectional viewpoint, on carnism in Argentina.

El mundo tejido por el orden heteropatriarcal, colonial y especista nos arroja hacia un panorama desolador, caracterizado por la devastación del planeta Tierra, la violencia y desigualdad institucionalizada hacia las mujeres, las minorías sexo-genéricas, las personas racializadas y los demás animales. Particularmente, en Argentina, durante el 2020 la proliferación de los incendios forestales, así como el potencial acuerdo comercial con China para crear mega-granjas de cerdos, suponen políticas que se han vuelto, más que nunca, un riesgo incalculable hacia las condiciones de reproducción de la vida. Ahora bien, problematizar el especismo y el carnismo en nuestro país tiene dificultades particulares, debido a que la naturalización de la muerte de los demás animales bajo la palabra “comida” está instalada en una gramática de poder nacionalista, patriarcal y racista. En primer lugar, el consumo de carne está ligado a una idea compartida de identidad nacional y atraviesa la historia de Argentina. En segundo lugar, dicho consumo tiene una fuerte dimensión falocéntrica: el “asado” funciona, frecuentemente, como un espacio de encuentro heteropatriarcal. Por último, históricamente la “carne animal” aparece como el signo del “progreso”, pero el costo de la expansión de la industria ganadera ha sido el genocidio de las poblaciones indígenas y la concentración de tierras por las élites económicas. En suma, nos proponemos reflexionar, desde una mirada interseccional, sobre el carnismo en Argentina.

Alexandra Navarro is Graduated (2006), Professor (2005) in Social Communication and Doctor in Communication (2016) from the Faculty of Journalism and Social Communication of the National University of La Plata. She developed her doctoral thesis from a food and culture perspective, entitled “Representations and identities of the speciesist discourse: the case of beef and its derivatives in Argentina (2000-2012)”, the only one and first of its kind at the School of Journalism and Social Communication of the UNLP.  Representative in Latin America of ICAS as director of ILECA (Latin American Institute for Critical Animal Studies). Together with a colleague, she directs the Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Críticos Animales (http://www.revistaleca.org). She coordinates the UPID “Estudios Críticos Animales y transdisciplinariedad” at the Instituto de Estudios Comunicacionales en Medios, Cultura y Poder “Aníbal Ford,” of the FPyCS of the UNLP, where researchers from all over Latin America participate. She is an Adjunct Professor of the Chair I Teaching Practices, Professor of Social Communication, FPyCS, UNLP. She was a CONICET scholarship holder from 2008 to 2017.

Licenciada (2006), Profesora (2005) en Comunicación Social y Doctora en Comunicación (2016) por la Facultad de Periodismo y Comunicación Social de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Desarrolló su tesis doctoral desde una perspectiva de alimentación y cultura, titulada “Representaciones e identidades del discurso especista: el caso de la carne vacuna y sus derivados en la Argentina (2000-2012)”, única y primera en su tipo en la Facultad de Periodismo y Comunicación Social de la UNLP.  Representante en Latinoamérica del ICAS como directora del ILECA (Instituto Latinoamericano de Estudios Críticos Animales). Dirige, junto a una colega, la Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Críticos Animales (http://www.revistaleca.org)  Coordina la UPID “Estudios Críticos Animales y transdisciplinariedad” en el Instituto de Estudios Comunicacionales en Medios, Cultura y Poder “Aníbal Ford”, de la FPyCS de la UNLP, donde participan investigadores e investigadoras de todo Latinoamérica. Es Profesora Adjunta Ordinaria de la Cátedra I Prácticas de la Enseñanza, Profesorado en Comunicación Social, FPyCS, UNLP. Fue becaria de CONICET de 2008 a 2017.

Anahí Gabriela González is a postdoctoral fellow at CONICET. She holds a PhD in Philosophy in co-tutelage between Université Paris VIII and Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Degree in Philosophy from the Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Professor of Ethics at the Faculty of Philosophy, Humanities and Arts at the Universidad Nacional de San Juan.  Together with Alexandra Navarro, she directs the Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Críticos Animales (http://www.revistaleca.org). She co-coordinates the UPID “Estudios Críticos Animales y transdisciplinariedad” at the Instituto de Estudios Comunicacionales en Medios, Cultura y Poder “Aníbal Ford”, of the FPyCS of the UNLP, where researchers from all over Latin America participate. She is a member of ILECA.    

Anahí Gabriela González es becaria posdoctoral del CONICET. Doctora en Filosofía en cotutela entre la Université Paris VIII y la Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Licenciada en Filosofía por la Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Profesora Titular de la Cátedra Ética de la Facultad de Filosofía, Humanidades y Artes de la Universidad Nacional de San Juan. Dirige, junto a Alexandra Navarro, la Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Críticos Animales (http://www.revistaleca.org)  Co-coordina la UPID “Estudios Críticos Animales y transdisciplinariedad” en el Instituto de Estudios Comunicacionales en Medios, Cultura y Poder “Aníbal Ford”, de la FPyCS de la UNLP, donde participan investigadores e investigadoras de todo Latinoamérica. Es integrante del ILECA.  

1:20pm to 1:30pm Q and A

1:30pm to 1:50pm – Towards an Anarchist Necropolitics?
Sean Parson

Climate change is not only real, but it is also affecting populations today, and no major political institutions in the world are doing enough to mitigate the worst aspects of climate change. The IPCC oracle claims that as a world, we should expect to see over a billion climate refugees, massive increases in species extinction, increasing devastating natural disasters, and, overall, a severe amount of death and suffering. While many consider highlighting these realities as being an alarmist or a doomer, as political theorists, we need to explore how political theory can help us make sense of and live politically in a world full of death and disaster. This paper assumes that all environmental politics moving forward (if not theoretically always) is a form of Necropolitics and that unless there is a radical shift in our political, social, and economic worlds that current systems of inequality–capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy, and coloniality–will dictate the Necropolitics of the future. This paper attempts to theorize a radical, democratic, and egalitarian Necropolitics. Central to this is the question: How can we ensure that those populations who are at increased risk of death in the future are not the same populations targeted for violence throughout the history of industrial capitalism? How can we ensure a more egalitarian and just politics of death? How can we do so without turning to, and embracing, either neo-Malthusianism or eco-fascism?  This paper looks at Membe’s Necropolitics, Truscello’s  Infrastructural brutalism, Kohso’s  Radiation and Revolution, Groves Savage Ecology, Tyner’s Dead Labor, and the discussions around pessimistic marxism in journals like Salvage.

Sean Parson (PhD Political Science, University of Oregon) is an Associate Professor in the departments of Politics and International Affairs and Sustainable Communities at Northern Arizona University. He is the author of the forthcoming book Cooking Up a Revolution: Food Not Bombs, Homes Not Jails, and Resistance to Gentrification (Manchester University Press, 2018).

1:50pm to 2:00pm Q and A

2:00pm to 2:20pm – Prison Abolition, Prisoner Support, and Black Liberation
Brotha Hest

Brotha Hest was born in Cal. Dept. Of Corr. while his mother was incarcerated in 1980. His life found drugs, juvenile, and gangbanging at age 13 an he was rejected from schools. His first stint in prison was from age 16 – 25. Upon entering Georgia prison the second time at age 27 Mr. Andre Hester sought Self-Help with a passion for studying Addiction Recovery, Criminal Psychology, Spiritual Principles Application, & Motivational Speaking. Through a unheard of method Mr. Hester founded Prisoners Organizing P.E.A.C.E. Systems in prison while serving a life sentence. People across the nation learned of this an carried this message into Radio, Social Media, Street Marches, Rally’s, Peace Summits, Youth Summits and more! His presence has found it’s way into books, speeches, and videos. He is a Save the Kids original! Brotha Hest continues to fight for social equality and abolition of the prison system as we know it from a cold cell in the Ga. Dept. of Corr….in Love & Service

2:20pm to 2:30pm Q and A

2:30pm to 2:50pm – Historical Direct Action: Outside the Box Thinking & Tactics from Various Activist and Social Justice Movement histories
Jordan Halliday

We will briefly discuss direct action and a do quick thought exercise. We will then take a historical look at past actions and tactics used by various activists and social justice movements which used outside of the box thinking & direct action in their strategies.

Jordan Halliday is a long-time activist, former political prisoner & educator indicted in 2009 for resisting a federal grand jury investigating illegal underground animal rights activities. Halliday was jailed for nearly four months under a civil contempt of court order unsuccessfully trying to compel testimony & was later released on a Grumbles motion only to be indicted with criminal contempt of court to which Halliday pleaded “no contest” and was sentenced to an additional 10 months in prison. Halliday is only the third person in U.S. history to serve time for a criminal contempt charge after already serving time civilly for the same act of recalcitrance.

2:50pm to 3:00pm Q and A

3:00pm to 3:20pm – Intersectional Veganism: Examining How to Grow the AR Movement in Meaningful Ways
Tony Quintana

This presentation will discuss ways that animal rights activists can mindfully and intentionally support other social justice movements. This presentation will be based on key take-aways from recent interviews for a webinar series on intersectional veganism, as well as the presenter’s personal experiences doing outreach and promoting plant-based eating in New Mexico.

Tony Quintana is the Plant-Based Eating Program Manager for Animal Protection of New Mexico. He has worked in the field of Health Education for over 10 years, and has managed health promotion programs focusing on a wide variety of topics including nutrition, fitness, diabetes, obesity, and HIV. Tony earned his master’s degree in Health Education from the University of New Mexico and holds three fitness certifications from the American Council on Exercise. Tony has been vegetarian since 2007, has been vegan since 2016, and enjoys sharing information on the many benefits of a plant-based diet.

3:20pm to 3:30pm Q and A

3:30pm to 3:50pm – Gardening = Sustainability
Alisha Page and Judith Graham-Lenford

True sustainability must be through growing your own food.

Alisha Page is a community advocate for change and passionate about ending mass incarceration. She’s has volunteered for the last 8 years creating and assisting with reentry programs. Additionally, an active comrade with Save the Kids originally with Wisdom Behind Walls but now wherever she is needed. She actively attends juvenile court advocating for families caught up in the system. Ms. Page facilitates equity training for k-12, and often provides guidance on teacher retraining. Ms. Page is also a small business owner who is passionate about helping people rebuild their credit and work on debt. She has been providing community workshops for financial literacy and small business for the past fifteen years. Ms. Pages holds a degree in Psychology concentration in Financial Management and B.A. in Sociology.

Judith Graham Lenford who is a part of Save the Kids for a little over 8 years as well specifically focused on advocating in the community for prisoners and their families as well as the primary engineer of our Save the kids garden plot of which we give over 6 thousand pounds of food to the community a year.  Her background is agriculture and vegetable farming.  She has been farming for over thirty years and has implemented this love into educating our communities about food in relations too removing oppression from our life. She’s owner of Judy’s Green Veggies.

3:50pm to 4:00pm Q and A

4:00pm to 4:20pm – Becoming Anti-Speciesist: An Inclusive Call to Action
Adrianne Burke

Speciesism–the misguided belief that all other animal species are inferior to humans—is the focus of our program Students Opposing Speciesism here at PETA. We speak to students about activism and social justice, and share real world examples of how their work in college can be applied to working toward change. Adrianne has been working with college students in a variety of different capacities over the past 10 years, starting with my work in PETA’s college division working for other social justice causes such as voting rights, climate change, women’s health, and interfaith advocacy. Her focus on empowering youth is near and dear to her heart, regardless of the setting. More and more young people are raising their voices, getting in “good trouble” and fighting injustice in cities across our country, so there has never been a better time to encourage students to widen their circle of compassion to include all species and introduce the idea of anti-speciesism into discussions about social justice. College students today are well-positioned to make a huge impact during these challenging times, and they are passionate about making a difference and ready to step up to the challenge. This speech encourages us to use the tools that will help them  be the change they wish to see in the world and challenge supremacy in all of its forms. We offer this presentation live, as an interactive virtual presentation for students, speaking about social justice movements in 2020—including the fight for animal liberation—and how they are all interconnected. Students learn what it means to be anti-speciesist, and the role they play in creating a more compassionate world for all.

I am a peaceful warrior pushing for compassionate change by speaking up for justice, living a vegan lifestyle, teaching yoga, promoting radical self care, and helping people reject speciesism on an everyday basis. I love speaking to college students and youth–they are the future of change in this country. I stand at the intersection of forgiving what’s caused harm, and moving forward with real strong actions that prevent it from happening again. Until we address systematic oppression as systematic trauma, we will continue to be frustrated by our repetitive history. It’s our responsibility to change the world. I see self-care as integral for helping people truly re-imagine, and re-create the type of world we want to live in. I’m also fascinated by technology–especially right now! After spending more than 7 years as a communication strategist for progressive nonprofits, and running my own consulting firm for three years, I hope to use this experience to help others stay connected during these changing times. I believe that the more we can focus on balancing our perspective, the better advocates we can be for creating the life we truly want to live.

4:20pm to 4:30pm Q and A

4:30pm to 4:50pm – Countering Far-Right Co-optation in the Animal Right’s Movement
Kiana Avlon

This presentation explores how the far-right attempts to co-opt the animal rights movement. There is a wide range of ideologies and tactics within the animal rights movement so it cannot be reduced to one homogenous group, belief system, or strategic approach. Instead, there are many factions of the movement ranging from advocates of total liberation who are addressing the interconnectedness of oppression, to others who co-opt animal rights into a white supremacy agenda. The far-right has often made conscious efforts to infiltrate the animal rights movement, which makes investigating their rhetoric and recruitment strategies to dismantle their efforts more pressing. With a recent rise of fascism and right-wing populist electoral success such as the election of Donald J. Trump, the far-right has entered the mainstream. Knowing the gravity of what has historically unfolded when far-right ideologies gain traction, far-right infiltration of social movements must be studied to expand activist’s ability to recognize the dog whistles and debunk their ideologies. In doing so, the animal rights movement will become more equipped to counter the far-right and center the movement around total liberation.  

Kiana Avlon is a graduate student in Westminster College’s Master of Arts in Community Leadership program. She has presented research on the rhetoric surrounding houselessness in Salt Lake City and the root causes of speciesism at the Western Social Science Association conference and the Annual North American Conference for Critical Animal Studies. Kiana continues to study rhetoric as it pertains to speciesism with a focus on countering ecofascism within the animal liberation movement. She grounds her research in critical animal studies, anarchism, and ecofeminism with the goal of total liberation. Her free time is dedicated to volunteering at local animal sanctuaries. 


4:50pm to 5:00pm Q and A

NOV. 8, 2020 – SUNDAY

10am to 10:20am – The Lack of Politics on Veganism and Other Tips
Carlos Garcia

If we look back, we can see some big differences between then and now. It´s true veganism (as word) is growing very fast, but the question I make is: Is this because understand and feels veganism like a movement for freedom and against animal exploitation or it´s just like a trendy feeding way of life/diet? But, what I mean with this is, sometime ago, Veganism was a real threat against animal abusers, but now we can find the word “vegan” in a lot of meals you can find in a shop or supermarket, even if it´s made by company wich exploits non human animals.

Carlos García is an Animal Liberation activist from Basque Country
(north of the Spanish state). He is being vegan for more than 20 years right now. He was a co-founder of some antispeciesist activism groups and nowadays he´s currently involved in some projects about Animal Liberation and Anarchism. He getting´involved into this trough the political view of hardcore/punk scene, where he started to read lyrics about vegetarianism, veganism and animal liberation issues around 30 years ago.

10:20am to 10:30am Q and A

10:30am to 10:50am – Vegan World Making: Early Reflections on World Building for Activist Scholarship
T.N. Rowan

World building is the activity of building a world. Commonly associated with fantasy and science-fiction literature, movies, and video games, world building also has potential as a method of activist scholarship. Walidah Imarisha and adrienne maree brown have shown how the imagination has significant impact on the past, present, and future in their work on race, activism, and visionary fiction. The imagination has political implications and powers of change. This presentation details the design and implementation of a world building research study done with four vegan participants. These vegans collaboratively imagined what Earth would be like in 2119 if factory farming had never occurred. Even though the fictional world was seen as better than our own, the participants chose to work through complex issues of non-human animal use, racism, classism, and other forms of injustice. Early reflections on the research show when it is facilitated critically and carefully, world building: i) can disrupt disengagement with social justice issues by providing a place to reflect on the world and our place in it, ii) supports critical thinking by making it enjoyable, iii) is an accessible form of arts-based research that fosters agency in participants, iv) and can strengthen collaboration and community bonding. These benefits can be applied to vegan communities, Critical Animal Studies, and activist scholarship in general. 

T.N. Rowan is pursuing their PhD in Environmental Studies at York University. They are currently researching world building and its potential as an environmental ethics methodology and form of arts-based research. T.N. frames world building as an accessible and creative form of critical thinking that can educate people, strengthen communities, and impact the world. T.N. Rowan’s research interests also include naming, identity, violence, and trauma across a variety of boundaries including species, disability, gender, race, and sexual orientation. They are also influenced by over ten years of activist volunteering in the vegan community. 

10:50am to 11:00am Q and A

11:00am to 11:50am – Causes of Burnout in US Animal Rights Activists
Stacy Lopresti-Goodman and Dallas Rising

This study was the first to examine the causes of activist burnout in the US animal rights movement. Seventeen animal rights activists, who described their activism as their life’s work, and self-identified as experiencing burnout, participated in in-depth interviews with the researchers. The accumulative stress associated with their activism became so debilitating they were forced to disengage from their activism or leave the movement entirely. Using a phenomenological qualitative approach, an analysis of the interview data revealed three primary categories of animal activist burnout causes: 1) motivational and psychological, 2) organizational culture, and 3) movement culture. Motivational and psychological causes included a strong emotional connection to the work, a deep personal responsibility to work tirelessly, and understanding the scope of violence to animals. Organizational culture causes including discussions of burnout being discouraged, feeling underpaid and overworked, and operating within a culture of martyrdom.  And causes associated with the movement culture included interpersonal tensions, between group fighting, discrimination, bias, and harassment. This presentation will present a brief overview of the major causes, accompanied by illustrative quotes from the participants. It will also address the negative consequences burnout had on the individual activists and has on the movement more broadly.  

Stacy Lopresti-Goodman, Ph.D., is a Professor of Psychology, and the Honors Program Director, at Marymount University in Arlington, VA. Stacy has been vegan and involved in the animal rights movement since the mid 1990s. She teaches a variety of course including Abnormal Primate Psychology, which educates students about the harms of captivity on nonhuman primates, and teaches a required Honors seminar on Food, Ethics and Society. She conducts research on the rehabilitation of primates and dogs rescued from laboratories, on alternatives to the use of animals in education, and on causes of burnout in animal rights activists.

Dallas Rising is an organizer living in Minneapolis. For decades her work focused on anti-speciesism until a combination of factors forced her to step away from the animal liberation community. Her first-hand experience with burnout gives motivated her to understand and educate others about this devastating condition. Recently, she’s turned her attention toward healing through yoga, meditation, and the values of community care. She’s now exploring mutual aid as a form of activism that prioritizes direct action and reciprocal care with a volunteer collective she co-founded in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd. 

11:50am to 12:00am Q and A

12:00pm to 12:20pm – Wisdom Behind the Walls and Poetry Behind the Walls
Marisol Adriana Burgueño

Marisol Adriana Burgueño A Bay Area native, Marisol has dedicated her career to public advocacy and to the intersections of design and social impacts. Marisol received her MA in Product Design & Development from ELISAVA Barcelona School of Engineering, and holds a BA in Industrial Design from the California College of the Arts. Marisol began her career through various roles in product design and visual communications for social entrepreneurship companies. After leaving the for-profit sector, she mobilized her knowledge of design and her background in communications to work with nonprofit anti-violence organizations and educational programs for underserved youth in the Bay Area. Marisol’s goals are fueled by her passion for ending the cycles of violence and poverty in her community, and building an equitable, interconnected society. She is committed to strengthening community partnerships, increasing access to resources, and public awareness.

12:20pm to 12:30pm Q and A

12:30pm to 12:50pm – Exploring the Motivations and Coping Strategies of Activists Who Bear Witness to the Animal Condition: a focus on the Sheffield Save Movement, UK  
Dr. Richard J. White and Alex HinchcliffeAlex Hinchcliffe

The Save Movement’s call to bear witness in ways that recognises ‘the animal condition’ continues to gain momentum across the landscapes of non-violent direct action. Typically, Save Movement activists aim to strategically (and legally) occupy key sites that signify the transition between ostensibly ‘non-violent’, ‘visible’ and ‘public-spaces’, and spaces that are altogether more ‘violent’, ‘hidden’, and ‘private’. Drawing on a qualitative research base (which includes interviews, photo elucidation and direct participation), the intention of the presentation then is two-fold. Firstly, to offer deeper and more nuanced understanding regarding the activist geographies harnessed through The Save Movement. Secondly, by drawing close attention to the types of activism and activists involved, the hope is that these insights can be used to highlight good practice, tactics and strategies, that might helpfully inform other forms of inter-species social justice activism and liberation movements. 

Richard J. White, is Reader in Human Geography at Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Greatly influenced by anarchist praxis White’s main research agenda explores a range of ethical and economic landscapes rooted in the intersectional contexts of social justice and total liberation movements. He is the co-editor of Vegan Geographies (forthcoming); The Radicalization of Pedagogy, Theories of Resistance, The Practice of Freedom (all 2016, Rowman & Littlefield); and Anarchism and Animal Liberation (2015, McFarland Press).

Alex HinchcliffeAlex Hinchcliffe is a recent graduate in Geography from Sheffield Hallam University, and is interested in animal rights, total liberation, environmentalism and intersectionality. As an activist, he is involved in a variety of issues, from animal rights struggles, climate crisis campaigning to tackling food poverty and homelessness.

12:50pm to 1:00pm Q and A

1:00pm to 1:20pm – Green Haven Project
David Michael and Jorge Pallacio

David Michael is a community activist that feeds the homeless and also gives back to the community by putting on events for the Youth he has ran two successful programs such as teaching the youth how to grow there own food and mentoring kids in the foster care system

My name is Jorge Pallacio, also know as BE!¡ and I have been rocking with Save the Kids since 2015. I first started working with Save the Kids with Bro David Michael. David and I currently rock Save the Kids with many activities that we do revolving around urban gardening in food deserts. We have a community garden in Overtown, Florida where we teach children and adults on how to grow their own food and give back to those in need. I currently work with a nonprofit where we build food forests in elementary schools all throughout Dade County, Florida. I have a business with my good friend, Sam, called Plant Philosophy where we grow plants, sell them, and conduct food justice workshops. Last, but not least, I am part of a nonprofit called The Green Haven Project, the mission is to build a food paradise in economically disadvantaged communities.

1:20pm to 1:30pm Q and A

1:30pm to 1:50pm – Getting to Solidarity: Toward An Interest-Based Conflict Resolution Approach To Resolving The Conflict between Eco-Ability Equity and Animal Equity”
Daniel Salomon

This paper will engage the various ability movements and animal liberation movements to rethink the relationship among abilities, animals and the animal liberation movements from the perspectives of social justice, social equity, the urban context, multiable identities and win-win interest-based conflict resolution. This paper will explore why making certain individuals into super crips, is both hurtful and harmful to the animal and abilities movements alike in an age of isolating like abilities, tokenism, urbanization, social asceticism, institutional animal cruelty, socio-planetary crisis and climate emergency. Getting beyond typical complaining approaches in the ability movements and rigid strategies in the animal liberation movements, this paper will explore the possibility of taking a social justice, social equity, urban contextualized, multiable identities, win-win interest-based conflict resolution approach to animal liberation. An approach based on integrating the full range of human abilities into the animal liberation movements and making movements, communities and lifestyles more inclusive, accessible, accommodating, individualized, culturally appropriate and mutualistic, empowering all human abilities to work towards animal liberation. As someone who is both neurodiverse and intrinsically committed to animal liberation, environmentalism and the socio-planetary struggle, I plan to advocate for the empowerment of peoples of all abilities to be able to engage animal issues and enact animal liberation.

Daniel Salomon is a first year Master Student in Urban Studies at Portland State University in Portland Oregon. Salomon already has an MA in Theological Research from Andover Newton Theological School with Graduate Certificate in Science and Religion from Boston Theological Institute, as well as a BS Cum Laude from Salisbury University (with concentrations in Biology, Environmental Studies and Conflict Analysis/Dispute Resolution) and a Naturalist Certificate from the Au Sable Institute of Environmental Studies. Salomon is author of seven books on the environment and a contributor to the eco-ability field.  Salomon lives in Portland Oregon.    

1:50pm to 2:00pm Q and A

2:00 to 2:20pm – Racial Organizing and Environmental Sustainability
Tracy Jones

I will be presenting on the challenges of organizing for racial justice in a predominantly white community, and centering race in environmental sustainability.

Tracy Jones BA in Psychology, BA in English Communications. Durango activist and lead organizer of Southwest Movement for Black Lives. We organize to create a safe place for the Black community by uplifting, connecting, and empowering black voices, creating awareness, exposing and eradicating systemic racism, reforming racist institutions, promoting diversity, inclusion, peace and justice.


2:20pm to 2:30pm Q and A

2:30pm to 2:50pm – Punk and Animal Liberation/Veganism
Will Boisseau and Jim Donaghey Anarchism

Veganism is commonplace in punk – but why? This paper uses research into the punk scenes and animal liberation movements in the UK to argue that the connection between veganism and punk is best understood in conjunction with anarchism, and especially in terms of intersectional politics. Examining this relationship is important in several ways. Firstly, it is under-researched and overlooked – given the importance that punk plays in the political development of individual activists, it is surprising that there is a shortage of research in this area.  This paper, which draws on material from numerous bands, zines, patches, leaflets, and newly researched interview material, addresses this absence by considering the relationship between animal rights/veganism and punk. Secondly, the themes raised in this paper resonate far beyond the punk scenes from which material is collected: diversity and difference within activist communities, how these differences are managed (even ‘policed’), the prioritisation of certain forms of activism over others, and the role of culture are all issues which cut right to the heart of contemporary activist and community organising. Thirdly, the topic is of personal importance to the presenters, both of whom are writing from the impetus of their own life experiences.

Jim Donaghey has been a punk for most of his life by now, currently making an ungodly racket with the d-beat noise merchants, Lawfucker. He has been researching punk scenes, culture and politics in various global contexts for over a decade, and currently works as a Research Fellow at Queen’s University Belfast in the north of Ireland. Jim is involved with anarchist and trade union activism, independent book publishing, and is part of an occasional vegan potluck in a wee toon near the North Coast.

Will Boisseau completed his Ph.D. at Loughborough University in 2015. His research focuses on the place of animal rights within the British left, particularly on the relationship between the anarchist/direct action and legislative wings of the movement. His work explores the class and gender issues influencing this relationship, the marginalisation of animal rights in mainstream labour politics and a range of concepts including speciesism, total liberation, critical animal studies and intersectionality. Will is currently involved in trade union politics in the UK.

2:50pm to 3:00pm Q and A

3:00pm to 3:20pm – A Simple, Affordable, & DAM Good Transition to a Vegan Diet
Danni McGhee

Description: During this presentation, Danni McGhee will discuss her top 7 tips on how to make the transition to a vegan diet simple. affordable, and DAM Good!  You’ll gain some tools and knowledge on some fun ways to incorporate more plant-based ingredients into your diet in a way that is accessible and not overwhelming.  The transition to a vegan diet doesn’t have to be boring or bland, and Danni will guide you through those steps to make it fun and rewarding.  Even if you’re already vegan, you’ll probably hear some tips that can help you on your journey to improved health and overall well-being.

Danni McGhee, founder of DAM Good Vegan, is a Plant-Based Nutrition Coach dedicated to inspiring and encouraging individuals to choose healthy vegan options to improve their health and overall well-being. She provides guidance on the principles of plant-based nutrition while introducing fun and easy ways to incorporate healthier options into their already busy lifestyle. When you work with her, you will be empowered and equipped with all the knowledge and tools you need to make healthier choices every day. DAM Good Vegan promotes eating a plant-based diet as the best way to optimal health and wellness. We offer online courses to help our students become empowered to navigate in a world that doesn’t always make healthy, nutritious options convenient and accessible, and support you through our membership site that gives you access to 100+ plant-based recipes PLUS grocery & shopping lists, instructional cooking videos, education on detoxing, and weekly live Q&A calls. For more information, visit her website at DAMGoodVegan.com.

2:20pm to 3:30pm Q and A

3:30pm to 3:50pm Politics vs Ethics: reconciling Marxism and Animal Liberation
Drew Winter

The reconciliation of the political left—particularly the Marxist left—with animal liberation requires addressing a fundamental difference in the respective movements’ guiding genre: the difference between politics and ethics. The rhetorical and strategic aims of both movements are examined through historical accounts, philosophical arguments, and ethnography to clarify which aspects are political (struggles to attain power) as opposed to ethical (exercising power appropriately). In conclusion, I argue that while both movements have political and ethical elements, their strategic foci are presently at odds, leading to misunderstanding and discord. Such discord can be remedied through making ethical and political goals explicit in campaigns and discussions.

Drew Robert Winter is the Social Media Coordinator for the Animal Turn Research Cluster at the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, and has been a social justice organizer for over 15 years. His most recent publication is “Veganism as Left Praxis” in the journal Capital Nature Socialism. He received his PhD in Cultural Anthropology, and a certificate in Cultural and Critical Theory, from Rice University.

3:50pm to 4:00pm Q and A

4:00pm to 4:20pm – Forgive Me Vegans, for I Have Sinned
Ilia Vazquez

Being an ethical vegan and a queer person of color in the midst of a pandemic. This presentation will focus on honoring the need for activism when opportunities to be active within the animal rights movement are limited both by personal circumstances and the current Covid 19 pandemic and coping with the pressure and feelings of guilt.

Ilia Vazquez has been a member of the SLC UT Animal Rights Activist community for the past 4 years when they embraced veganism after having been a vegetarian for 9 years prior. They’ve worked with local organizations such as the Utah Animal Rights Coalition, Anonymous for the Voiceless and DXE. Ilia was born and raised in Puerto Rico. They currently work in Ophthalmology/Healthcare for the University of Utah. They are a single parent to a 21 year old autistic son. In just the past few years Ilia has come out as openly queer, having recently begun their transition to male.

4:20pm to 4:30pm Q and A

4:30pm to 4:50pm – From the Beginning of Critical Animal Studies to the Current – Not Loosing Sight of Direct Action and Total Liberation
Anthony J. Nocella II

This presentation will discuss the history of ICAS the growth and the problems within critical animal studies. This presentation will also discuss the rise of radical animal studies and how and why it was formed for total liberation and direct action. This presentation is given by the co-founder of CAS and ICAS.

Anthony J. Nocella II, Ph.D., scholar-activist, is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminologyat Salt Lake Community College. He is the editor of the Peace Studies Journal and co-editor of five book series including Critical Animal Studies and Theory with Lexington Books and Hip Hop Studies and Activism with Peter Lang Publishing. He is the National Director of Save the Kids, Director of the Academy of Peace Education, and Executive Director and co-founder of the Institute for Critical Animal Studies. He has published over fifty book chapters or articles and forty books. He is a long-time social justice community organizer from organizing for the Battle in Seattle in 1999, creating the largest delegation of students to Standing Rock to assisting in closing down a juvenile detention facility in New York and working with those incarcerated for over two-decades.

4:50pm to 5:00pm Q and A

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