Monday, June 21, 2010

On Speciesism and Commodification

"Speciesism is wrong because, like racism, sexism, and homophobia, it excludes sentient beings from full membership in the moral community based on an irrelevant characteristic. Race, sex, sexual orientation, and species are all irrelevant to the capacity to be harmed.

But the rejection of speciesism on this ground implies the rejection of discrimination based on race, sex, or sexual orientation. It is unacceptable to perpetuate the commodification of one group for the benefit of another. Commodification involves treating the other—whether a woman, person of color, gay or lesbian, or nonhuman—as an object, as something rather than as someone."

-- Prof. Gary L. Francione, "The State of the Movement" (2007-01-24)


5 comments:

jessy said...

thank you for posting this, Mylene! he makes some very excellent points - and ones that i'll have to use when discussing speciesism & why we (as vegans) don't use (and don't believe in using) non-human animals and their products. i am going to print out this post so i can study it and be able to quote it correctly when needed. thanks again!

tettigoniidae said...

Great points.
I read a lot of Peter Singer's work on speciesism and it certainly helps me argue to non-vegans.

M said...

I'm glad that it resonated with you! You should check out his Abolitionist Approach website (which is full of great articles dealing with both specific and general issues), or his book Animals as Persons. There's a lot more food for thought in both.

Spencer Troxell said...

A good thought.

M said...

jessy, I'm glad that it resonated with you! You should check out his Abolitionist Approach website (which is full of great articles dealing with both specific and general issues), or his book Animals as Persons. There's a lot more food for thought in both.

tettigoniidae, you may want to reconsider placing too much value on Singer's work. He's proven again and again that he's very much a speciesist,himself:

http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/peter-singer-supports-vivisection-why-are-you-surprised/

http://my-face-is-on-fire.blogspot.com/2009/04/slow-food-internationals-interview-w.html