Abolitionism

Abolitionism within animal rights theory is the idea that focusing on animal welfare reform not only fails to challenge animal suffering, but may prolong it by making the exercise of property rights over animals appear acceptable. The abolitionists' objective is to secure a moral and legal paradigm shift, whereby animals are no longer regarded as things to be owned and used. The American philosopher Tom Regan writes that abolitionists want empty cages, not bigger ones. This is contrasted with animal protectionism, the position that change can be achieved by incremental improvements in animal welfare.^[1]

Gary Francione, professor of law and philosophy at Rutgers School of Law-Newark, argues from the abolitionist perspective that animal rights groups who pursue welfare concerns, such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, risk making the public feel comfortable about its use of animals. As a result, he calls such groups the "new welfarists," arguing that, though their aim is an end to animal use, the reforms they pursue are indistinguishable from reforms agreeable to traditional welfarists, who have no interest in abolishing animal use.^[2] He argues that reform campaigns entrench the property status of animals, and validate the view that animals simply need to be treated better. Instead, he writes, the public's view that animals can be used and consumed ought to be challenged. His position is that this should be done by promoting ethical veganism.^[3]

Notes

References

• Francione, Gary. Rain Without Thunder: The Ideology of the Animal Rights Movement. Temple University Press, 1996.
• Francione, Gary and Garner, Robert. The Animal Rights Debate: Abolition Or Regulation?. Columbia University Press, 2010.
• Francione, Gary. Ingrid Newkirk on Principled Veganism: “Screw the principle”, Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach, September 2010.
• Hall, Lee. "An Interview with Professor Gary L. Francione on the State of the U.S. Animal Rights Movement", Friends of Animals, accessed February 25, 2008.
• Regan, Tom. Empty Cages. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2004.
• Regan, Tom. "The Torch of Reason, The Sword of Justice", animalsvoice.com, accessed May 29, 2012.

Further reading

• Francione, Gary. "Animal Rights: The Abolitionist Approach", accessed February 26, 2011.
• Francione, Gary. Animals, Property, and the Law. Temple University Press, 1995.
• Regan, Tom. "On Achieving Abolitionist Goals", Animal Rights Zone, May 18, 2011, accessed May 24, 2011.
• Regan, Tom. The Case for Animal Rights. University of California Press, 1980.

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