'Leftists' and animal rights, the new book.

'Suggest to the average leftist that animals should be part of broader liberation struggles and—once they stop laughing—you'll find yourself casually dismissed. With a focus on labor, property, and the life of commodities, Making a Killing contains key insights into the broad nature of domination, power, and hierarchy. It explores the intersections between human and animal oppressions and their relation to the exploitative dynamics of capitalism. Combining nuts and bolts Marxist political economy, a pluralistic anarchist critique, as well as a searing assessment of the animal rights movement, Bob Torres challenges conventional anti-capitalist thinking and convincingly advocates for the abolition of animals in industry—and on the dinner plate.'

'Exploring Overlapping Oppressions

Making A Killing queries the linkages between the exploitation of humans and animals under capitalism, using a framework rooted in—but not constrained by—Marxist political economy. Working from key social anarchist insights on domination, oppresion, and hierarchy, Making A Killing calls for a new kind of activism, a holistic approach to social justice, and a realistic consideration of the flaws of both the Left and the animal rights movement.
Table of Contents

* 1: Taking Equality Seriously
* 2: Chained Commodities
* 3: Property, Violence, and the Roots of Oppression
* 4: Animal Rights and Wrongs
* 5: You Cannot Buy the Revolution

Fully footnoted and indexed, Making A Killing can serve as a jumping-off point for more reading in political economy, social anarchist theory, the animal rights movement, and the commodification of animals as property.'

http://www.makingakillingbook.com/

Theymakeakilling

Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

Silliness

11.01.2008 21:24

"It explores the intersections between human and animal oppressions and their relation to the exploitative dynamics of capitalism."

UH -- in a capitalist society, everything that happens does so for a reason related to capitalism. That's what we mean by saying "a capitalist society".

But trying to make a connection between capitalism and exploitation/utilization of animals by humans? That would imply knowing of some form of human society somewhere where humans did not exploit/utilize animals.

PLEASE NOTE: I am NOT by this arguing against the possibility of such a form of society coming into being. Just that every other EXISTING form of human society other than capitalist including all those that existed prior to capitalism exploited/utilized animals. Can't blame THIS on "capitalism"

Mike Novack
mail e-mail: stepbystpefarm mtdata.com

Somesense?

12.01.2008 12:19

In almost all other human societies you will find patriarchy, and other forms of human discrimination it is not anything particularly new. What capitalism has done is to increase the level of animal exploitation through our ideas and the practise of domination beyond our wildest nightmares, and makes it appear necessary. It is interesting to note that there are human societies that have been vegan and vegetarian, and also matriarchal ones and probably others that are more clearly balanced without hierarchy. There are also societies that co-exist with other animals but do not exploit them in the sense that their removal from nature has allowed us to do.

Not all animal rights activists believe it is intrinsically wrong to kill for food for example when it is necessary to do so, but to cause unnecessary suffering and to support the system that pours such abject misery and brutality onto the lives of other living beings is totally unacceptable.

Perhaps refresh yourself by looking at the reality of battery farms, vivisection, genetic engineering, slaughter houses and see if you believe that capitalism (that has driven the creation of this 'science' / methods of 'production') isn't really the root cause of the issues that we face today.

Animals are used just as humans for the ends of capital, and while you support animal abuse and exploitation you also support the exact same system that shits on asylum seekers, enforces the class divide and destroys the environment.

Exploitation, domination and hierarchy are not exclusive to capitalism but they are all an intrinsic part of it.

Leftyliberal

Anarchists?

13.01.2008 00:00

Pretty funny really, 'anarchists' that support hierarchy, oppression and abject brutality.

Essentially they are a group of people in denial about what they support, generally to be found in tight knit groups supporting each others decisons to defend the indefensible. Also known as vegetarians or meat eaters.

Read the book and get a grip.

Eh?

Closer

13.01.2008 00:16

Hmmm grossly profiting from those that are vulnerable... sounds like capitalism....

Or people that couldn't care. Which is probably closer to the truth. Unfortunately the majority of lefty anarchos seem to believe that the root cause is humanity (pretty true) but that the problems don't merit attention beyond themselves and their environment, or even extend any further... to other living beings sharing this planet.

Anarcholepsy

UK Indymedia