HAPPY MEAT AS A PASSIVE REVOLUTION: A GRAMSCIAN ANALYSIS OF ETHICAL MEAT PIERRE-ANDRÉ GAGNON Thesis submitted to the University of Ottawa in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the PhD degree in Political Science School of Political Studies Faculty of Social Sciences University of Ottawa © Pierre-André Gagnon, Ottawa, Canada, 2019 Abstract This thesis starts from the proposition that the ethical meat discourse that is, the discourse recognizing that factory farming is unacceptable while maintaining that it is possible to produce meat in an acceptable way — has not been thoroughly analyzed. Indeed, both the partisans of this idea and the animal rights literature provide oversimplified analyses of this relatively new phenomenon. Considering its explosion in popularity since Michael Pollan published the essay “An Animal's Place” in The New York Times Magazine in 2002, this lack of research is particularly problematic for the animal rights movement as this new discourse directly counters its objectives. As such, this thesis uses Gramsci’s concept of passive revolution to develop a richer analysis of the apparent marginalizing effect that this discourse has on the animal rights movement. More precisely, the thesis addresses the question: “If the emergence of the ethical meat discourse is understood as part of a passive revolution, what can the specific process of passive revolution tell us about the impacts of the ethical meat discourse on the animal rights movement?” It argues that the passive revolution operates on two levels: (1) it depoliticizes the issue of meat consumption by presenting it as irrelevant and reducing it to technical details and (2) it absorbs the moderate elements of the animal rights movement by proposing an attractive alternative. Both of these processes lead to the marginalization of the few animal advocacy organizations still criticizing ethical meat. The analysis is divided in three parts. The first and second analyze respectively the content of the discourse and internal dynamics of the coalition formed around it using Maarten Hajer’s concept of discourse-coalition. Building on this comprehensive understanding of the ethical meat discourse, the actual process of passive revolution is analyzed by looking at the way the meat industry, environmental organizations and animal advocacy organizations engage with it. ii Acknowledgements I like to think that this thesis is original, not based on its content, but for the fact that from the start, it has been a personal project more than a professional one. Considering this distinctive characteristic, I did not have the all-important motivating factor of needing a piece of paper with “Ph.D.” written on it to become a professor or a researcher. Looking back, this was both a blessing and a curse. A blessing since because I did not need to write this thesis, I had to find good reasons to want to do it. All along, the most important reasons were a fascinating subject and a strong desire to do my part to help the animals. The fact that I was lucky enough to get scholarships from both the governments of Quebec and of Ontario also made this much easier. This situation was also a curse because in hard times, I could not tell myself that I “needed” this piece of paper for a clear and distinct objective. For these moments, I was very lucky to be surrounded by supportive and caring people. The first person to thank is without hesitation Matthew without whom this thesis would certainly not exist. If I remember correctly, he is the one that initially asked me why I was doing a Ph.D. and accepted without questions my naive answer that it was “for fun.” Despite this, he gave more time than I would have ever hoped and somehow found a way to push me intellectually to do more without discouraging me. I remember, when he announced to me that he was moving to Manchester, telling some friends that if for some reason he could no longer be my supervisor, that I would quit. I meant it because I could not imagine a better supervisor. I am proud of having the chance to work with him and will forever be grateful for his work, support, and inestimable help. iii I also want to thank the members of the CGCÉEÉUOMDMVPISDM and especially its wise and benevolent leader, Pascal. Before starting this Ph.D., I was told that the people that make it to the end are the ones that make friends of their colleagues. Thank you for the beers, the laughs, and the all-important venting sessions. This project would also not have been possible without my Ph.D. partners in Montreal. Thank you Béatrice, as you said in your own acknowledgements, despite the distance in the first years, you have remained an essential ally to best the Ph.D. monster. Yes, it has been an honour to achieve yet another degree by your side. To Christian: you finished before I started, but during this journey, you were an essential source of support and inspiration. To Frédéric: we first met for “academic” reasons, but you quickly became a friend while becoming a key source of reassurance when I was confronted with the animal ethics literature. A very important thank you to all the people that helped me literally get out and work in uncountable cafes: Isabelle, Frédérike, Caroline, and Valérie. To my friends, thank you for your understanding, for the laughs, for the fun, and for all the opportunities to think about something other than this research. I am also very lucky to have a family that supported me throughout my numerous years in various universities and that always accepted the fact that I was simply there because I liked it. Thank you. And finally, thank you Marie. You came into my life as I started writing this thesis and you quickly became an essential part of its production. You were there to talk about all the existential crises such a project brings, you accepted without questioning my irregular Ph.D. life, and most importantly, you were there for all the crazy adventures. iv Table of Contents Abstract.............................................................................................................................................ii Acknowledgements.........................................................................................................................iii Table of Contents..............................................................................................................................v List of Tables.................................................................................................................................viii List of Figure...................................................................................................................................ix CHAPTER ONE: Introduction.........................................................................................................1 1. The Rise of Ethical Meat.........................................................................................................2 2. Research Question...................................................................................................................4 3. Gramsci: Ethical Meat as a Passive Revolution......................................................................6 4. Hajer: Ethical Meat as a Discourse-Coalition..........................................................................8 5. Methodology..........................................................................................................................10 6. Thesis.....................................................................................................................................12 7. Contribution and Normativity................................................................................................13 8. Plan........................................................................................................................................15 CHAPTER TWO: Ethical Meat, Animal Rights and Politics: Surveying the Literature...............19 1. What is Ethical Meat?............................................................................................................20 1.1 The Ethical Meat Literature............................................................................................22 1.2 The Animal Rights Literature and Ethical Meat.............................................................28 1.2.1 New Welfarism........................................................................................................28 1.2.2 Vegan Abolitionism.................................................................................................32 1.2.3 Critical Approaches.................................................................................................36 1.3 Towards a Political Analysis of Ethical Meat.................................................................39 2. Politics and Ethical Meat.......................................................................................................41 2.1 Politics of Food/Food as Politics.....................................................................................41 2.2 Politics and Animal Rights..............................................................................................47 2.3 The Politics of Ethical Meat in Critical Animal Studies.................................................51 3. Research Question.................................................................................................................59 CHAPTER THREE: Theory and Methodology: From Gramsci