Australian Transnational Campaigning

society & animals 27 (2019) 232-234

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Gonzalo Villanueva. A Transnational History of the Australian Animal Movement, 1970-2015 (Palgrave Studies in the History of Social Movements). Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. 284 pp.

Of the 23 books in Palgrave Macmillan published under the editorial aegis of Stefan Berger and Holger Nehring, ranging internationally across many political movements, A Transnational History of the Australian Animal Movement, 1970-2015 by Villanueva (2018) is the only work from any country to address nonhuman animal campaigning. Berger and Nehring state that the work “looks specifically at contention over animal rights” (p. ix). They argue that the book finds its place in “human-animal studies.” Additionally, they assert that the study is “part and parcel of ‘critical animal studies’” (p. xi). Villanueva’s detailed research (originally a PhD thesis) focuses on the later twentieth century and the recent twenty first century with scant attention to earlier Australian campaigns. The chapters which present the research are well-documented, with footnotes providing a wealth of further material. While having little to say about animals as such (or even about animal- human studies), Villanueva focuses on transnational studies of human activ- ity on “animal issues,” declaring his work offers “the first transnational history of the Australian animal movement” (p. 4). We have recently been remind- ed of the position on transnational history as analyzed in the work on New Directions in Social and Cultural History (Ghosh, 2018) and have been told that, “Transnational living has long been a central feature of the way in which hu- mans experience the world” (p. 205). Throughout the book, Villanueva empha- sizes the transnational argument, noting its influence on Australia (p. 171) and pointing to the role of transnationalism in investigative campaigns around the export of animals (p. 193). In this, he tends to overlook earlier Australian ac- counts of writing on political development around “animal issues.” The position—and killing—of animals is not primarily key, although he does mention the export of live animals (p. 196). Rather he argues throughout “that the New South Wales government reforms were neither radical nor meaningful” (p. 159). He notes that despite support from individual MPs, animal activists “had learnt that the major political parties were, at best, fickle, inconsistent allies” (p. 88). At different points, Villanueva writes about earlier

© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2019 | doi:10.1163/15685306-12341600 review section 233 vegetarianism elsewhere, such as in Britain in the 1880s, while supporting the claim that in Australia alone vegetarianism and veganism have served as agents of social change (p. 235). Although in relation to particular historical periods Villanueva overlooks certain important issues, he nevertheless explores many interesting aspects of his subject. In particular he looks not only at the moral philosophical work of Peter Singer (pp. 31-41) but also, more importantly, upon Singer’s activism: his unsuccessful attempts to have an influence on the Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating and his subsequent arrest in 1992 (p. 155). Australian human activists are carefully covered: Pam Clarke’s work, for instance, in the campaign against battery farms (pp. 125-135), and the contributions of Australian actress Lynda Stoner in opposition to intensive piggery (pp. 155-158). Although little attention is given to the involvement and agency of animals, there is an interesting review of recent human campaigns. Villanueva notes, for example, the politics of direct action in the Australian activist context, emphasizing that “open rescue” involving the liberty of a number of animals, namely battery hens, was a direct Australasian invention (pp. 160-166). This contrasted with the abandon- ment by American activists of “open rescue” strategies (p. 169). The Australian “creation of transnational investigative campaigning” (p. 193), he argues, was motivated by the export of live animals and the inherent animal suffering it caused (p. 196). Villanueva frequently draws attention to alternative perspectives, such as those arising from previous social movements—the anti-slavery movement or the labor movement—“which included figures such as Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin” (p. 194). Despite his attention to different animal existences, his conclu- sions are directed towards issues of human social and political organization: he writes that the “modern animal movement influenced, changed, and plural- ized Australian politics” (p. 246) while adding, in a more cautious phrase, that animal activists “will try to influence politics and history” (p. 246). The book is documented and illustrated well. Villanueva is clearly interested in transnational history. He realizes the difficulty of animal activists “not only in Australia but around the world.” As he concludes, “The next chapter in animal activism remains to be written” (p. 248).

Hilda Kean University College London [email protected]

Society & Animals 27 (2019) 232-234