Veganism and Australia’s Animal Justice Party

Abstract

Abstract This article identifies and explores the intersection between two new phenomena: the rise of political parties dedicated to animals on the one hand and the growth of scholarly interest in veganism on the other. It does this by examining the place of veganism within Australia’s Animal Justice Party (AJP). Those who study animal-centred veganism have thus far focused on participants in grass roots or social organisations rather than members of political parties dedicated to animal issues. Conversely, those who have written about such political parties have not examined the stance of those parties or their supporters toward veganism. This article investigates how the AJP grapples with the challenge of veganism using two types of sources: a document analysis of key texts which articulate what the party stands for and how it operates, and twenty semi-structured interviews with party members about their views on their own veganism and that of other party members. Throughout it connects findings from these two AJP sources with the scholarly literature on veganism.