UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date:_November 20, 2008 I, Jennifer Dora Grubbs, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: Master’s of Arts in: Communication It is entitled: Farm Sanctuary: Creating a Space Where Theory Meets Practice This work and its defense approved by: Chair: Stephen P. Depoe, Ph.D. M.J. Woeste, Ed.D James Crocker-Lakness, Ph.D. Farm Sanctuary: Creating A Space Where Theory meets Practice by Jennifer D. Grubbs Bachelor of Arts 2005 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Communication at The University of Cincinnati November 2008 Thesis Chair: Stephen Depoe, Ph.D. II ABSTRACT Farm Sanctuary: Creating a Space Where Theory Meets Practice by Jennifer D. Grubbs The University of Cincinnati, 2008 Under the Supervision of name of Stephen Depoe, Ph.D. The journey into activism and the academy play an important role in the discourse construction of social movement theories. What started as an internship with Farm Sanctuary in 2007 became a critical milestone in an ongoing transformation. The following thesis consists of an autoethnographic study based on a six-week internship with Farm Sanctuary, and examining social movement theories in relation to the animal rights movement. During the internship, it was made explicit that Farm Sanctuary relies heavily on the structural and rhetorical elements of the Movement Action Plan (MAP) by Bill Moyer. However, the MAP Model is nowhere in academic discourse. The examination of the macro and micro components of the MAP Model and two traditional social movement theories provides a useful way to integrate practice and theory. With the hope of fostering a bridge between theory and practice, it was essential for the theorist to gain localized experience within the practice and integrate that into a theoretical framework. This thesis sets to create spaces within multiple discourses for the practical and theoretical, and illustrate many crossroads in which they intersect. Keywords: Animal rights, social movement theory, vegan, autoethnography, Farm Sanctuary, PETA. III Acknowledgments The following project would not have been possible without the support of my family and the guidance of my professors at the University of Cincinnati. Dr. James Crocker- Lakness introduced me to the beautiful world of social movements in my undergraduate career. Dr. M.J. Woeste encouraged compassion and understanding by integrating community outreach and engagement into our undergraduate classroom curriculum. Dr. Stephen Depoe has been a crucial mentor throughout my entire graduate career. Dr. Depoe encouraged me to constantly ask more of myself, built my esteem as a budding scholar, and patiently walked me through the entire thesis process. Each of these professors represent why I want to become a professor. Because of how they each influenced my life for the better, I am confident that as a professor, I can have a similar impact on my future students. This project is dedicated to all the activists on the front lines who lose sleep, shed tears, and endure endless struggles for the hopes of a better world. Thank you. IV Table of Contents Chapter One: Establishing the Roots Historical Background 1 History of Animal Advocacy Movement 1 History of the Animal Rights Movement 5 Farm Sanctuary History 9 Literature Review: Approaches to Studying Social Movements 14 Developmental-Evolutional Approaches 15 Rhetorical Discourse Approaches 22 Literature Review: Autoethnography 25 Method 26 Research Questions 29 Limitations 30 Organizational Preview 31 Chapter Two: Traditional Theory Illustrated Through the Animal Advocacy Movement 33 Introduction 33 Life cycle model 33 Organized Collectivity 33 Un-institutionalized collective 35 Large in Scope 38 VI Promotes or Opposes Change 39 Encounters Opposition 40 Persuasion in Pervasive 41 Rhetorical Functions of Movement Persuasion 43 Five Stages of the life cycle model 58 SPIN Model 61 Segmented 62 Polycentric 66 Integrated Networks 68 Conclusions 77 Chapter 3: Bringing Moyer to the Mainstream 79 Introduction 79 Power Models 82 Four Roles of Movement Organizations 87 The Citizen Role 89 The Rebel Role 90 The Change Agent Role 92 The Reformer Role 94 Barriers to Playing all of the Roles 95 Moyer’s Model of Four Roles 102 Eight Stages of a Social Movement 103 Stage One: Normal Times 104 Opposition in stage one 105 VII Powerholders in stage one 107 Public in stage one 108 Goals in stage one 108 Pitfalls in stage one 108 Crisis in stage one 109 Conclusions 109 Stage Two: Prove the Failure of the Institutions 110 Opposition in stage two 110 Powerholders in stage two 111 Public in stage two 112 Goals in stage two 113 Pitfalls in stage two 113 Conclusions in stage two 114 Stage Three: Ripening Conditions 114 Opposition in stage three 114 Powerholders in stage three 117 Public in stage three 117 Goals in stage three 117 Pitfalls in stage three 118 Crisis in stage three 118 Conclusions in stage three 118 Stage Four: Take Off! 119 Movement in stage four 120 VIII Powerholders in stage four 122 Public in stage four 123 Goals 123 Pitfalls in stage four 124 Crisis in stage four 125 Conclusion in stage four 125 Stage Five: Perception of Failure 126 Movement in stage five 126 Powerholders in stage five 129 Public in stage five 130 Goals 131 Pitfalls in stage five 132 Crisis in stage five 132 Conclusions 133 Stage Six: Majority Public Opinion 134 Movement in stage six 134 Powerholders in stage six 146 Public in stage six 147 Goals in stage six 147 Pitfalls in stage six 148 Crisis in stage six 148 Conclusions in stage six 149 Stage Seven: Success 149 IX Movement in stage seven 151 Powerholders in stage seven 151 Public in stage seven 152 Goals in stage seven 153 Pitfalls in stage seven 153 Crisis in stage seven 154 Conclusion in stage seven 154 Stage Eight: Continuing the Struggle 155 Movement in stage eight 155 Powerholders in stage eight 156 Public in stage eight 156 Goals in stage eight 156 Pitfalls in stage eight 157 Crisis in stage eight 157 Conclusions in stage eight 158 In Relation to Farm Sanctuary 158 Chapter Four: Entering the Unknown 160 Introduction 160 The Beginning 160 Transformation into Veganism 163 Arrival to Ithaca 167 Arrival to the Farm 169 X Day to Day Routines 170 Communication Department 171 Journalism 172 Public Relations 174 Photo Archiving 176 Workspace Environment 177 Organizational Tensions 180 Open-Ended Survey 182 Vegan House 194 Journals 206 Educational Lunches 211 Shadowing an Animal Care Intern 225 Trip to the Live Animal Auction 227 Reflections 234 Chapter 5: Farm Sanctuary and the Citizen Role 235 Introduction to the Theory 235 Citizen Role 236 Educational Lunches 240 Educational Lunch with Tricia 240 Educational Lunch with Gene Baur 247 Conclusions 252 Hybridity 253 XI Chapter Six: Conclusions 259 Project Overview 259 Autoethnography: Concluding Thoughts 261 Structural Analysis: Concluding Thoughts 268 Future Research 274 Personal Goals for the Future 275 Bibliography 280 XII Chapter 1: Establishing the Roots In this thesis, I explore the rhetoric of the animal rights movement. In particular, I will be examining Farm Sanctuary, one of the largest farm animal activist organizations in the world, and its relationship with the Movement Action Plan created by Bill Moyer. I spent 6 weeks interning in the Communication department at Farm Sanctuary in Watkins Glen, New York, and volunteered on the weekends to work with the animals on the farm. Six females also interned in various departments on the farm, and we lived in a house together. During my stay, I conducted in-depth interviews with the interns, employees, and co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, Shelter Director, and Director of the Communication Department. The Director of Communication described a recent transformation the organization is undergoing, and a specific theoretical approach the organization is officially situating itself around. It was then that I was introduced to the work of Bill Moyer and his Movement Action Plan. The model provides overlap with traditional rhetorical theories to social movements such as the Life cycle model. The animal advocacy, and specifically the animal rights movement play an important role in illustrating the social movement theories in this project. This chapter is organized into seven sections that map out how the project was constructed, the goals and research questions of the study, the limitations involved, and the context in which the project emerged. The first section, Historical Background, provides an overview of the animal advocacy and rights movements, and in particular the history of Farm Sanctuary. The Literature Review contains an outline of traditional approaches to social movements and the use of autoethnography in research. The proceeding sections include Method, Research Questions, Limitations, and the Organizational Preview of the project. 1 Historical Background History of the animal advocacy movement The political movement of protecting animals divisively falls into two categories: animal welfare and animal rights. The welfare movement emphasizes protecting animals from undue harm and reducing cruelty towards animals, but does not condemn the use of animals in human consumption. It is in this way that the rights movement differs. The rights movement promotes an autonomous relationship between humans and animals, and the prohibition of all human use and intervention with animals in their natural environment. The rights movement insists that animals exist for their own reason, and should be considered to have individual rights without interference with humans. Although the two movements have different ideological arguments, both support the overarching push towards animal protection. The following historical analysis details an umbrella movement combining both the animal rights and welfare movements: the animal advocacy movement. The animal advocacy movement has grown immensely in the last forty years, but debate sparks over the issue of when the movement began.