From our earliest days of childhood, our exposure to certain species is confusing and contradictory, with animals like the beloved characters who fill our storybooks moulded into unrecognisable shapes and served up to us in deceptively happy packaging. With a recognition of this cognitive dissonance as a starting point, this report seeks to highlight the inconsistency of teaching children to love and respect animals whilst at the same time to accept the eating and usage of them.  Whilst the topic of animal farming is finally beginning to be taken seriously in conversations about environmental sustainability, its ethical implications for both humans and nonhumans remain massively overlooked. My project aims to bring the conversation about animal rights to the forefront of our moral considerations with childhood education as an entry point.  In collaboration with a primary school class (ages 9-11) and an animal sanctuary, I ran a three-part workshop designed to encourage interspecies thinking and provide a space for students to critically evaluate mainstream attitudes and assumptions towards nonhuman animals and, by extension, to question current norms surrounding animal use and consumption.

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Köttätande är i dag en fråga som engagerar många. Vissa menar att det är farligt både för klimat och hälsa medan andra menar att det är nödvändigt för människans överlevnad. När frågan kring köttätandet lyfts och köttkonsumtionen ifrågasätts i debatten mellan köttätare och veganer händer något och heta känslor uppstår. Debatten provocerar och upprör och inte sällan slutar det i osämja de båda parterna emellan. Det är därför av intresse att analysera hur de båda sidorna uttrycker sig när de talar om kött för att ta reda på hur de skiljer sig åt. Det här ämnar denna uppsats undersöka. Detta görs genom att bland annat analysera olika typer av bildspråk som förekommer i de båda sidornas sätt att uttrycka sig kring kött. George Lakoffs och Mark Johnsons teori om konceptuella metaforer fungerar även som inspirationskälla för denna analys. Genom att synliggöra underliggande diskurser som ligger till grund för hur vi i samhället talar, tänker och ser på kött kan vi ta reda på hur veganers terminologi kring kött skiljer sig åt från köttätarnas. På så sätt kan vi få en förståelse för varför de heta känslorna uppstår, att konflikten kanske snarare bottnar i en brist på förståelse över de olika sidornas sätt att tala om kött.

This diploma thesis is processed as a business plan draft for the creation of a small business focused on the sale of vegan sports nutrition supplements. The thesis is divided into three parts. The first part consists of the theoretical bases related to business activities. The second part focuses on the analyses of the business environment and the results of the primary research. The third part deals with the business plan itself, including financial plan and risk analysis.

The diploma thesis deals with the relationships and opinions of students of selected secondary schools, which are connected with alternative ways of eating. The theoretical part contains basic information about rational nutrition, individual nutrients, there is a comparison of the food pyramid and a healthy plate. Last but not least, alternative diets are also clarified and then information on five specific types of alternative diets is given. In the individual subchapters, vegetarianism, veganism, raw food, paleo diet and a gluten-free diet are mentioned. The aim of the practical part is to find out the opinion of students of selected secondary schools on alternative ways of eating. These are my chosen secondary schools in the Rakovnicko region. A questionnaire survey is used as a research tool. Based on the data obtained, the questionnaire was evaluated and the results were converted into tables and graphs, which are always commented. 187 respondents answered the questionnaire. It was found that 19 of all respondents have nutrition-related health restrictions. The surprising result is that students did not learn about alternative meals primarily at school, but from their own resources (friends, family, etc.). The results of the questionnaire survey point to the fact that secondary school students...

Avec ce mémoire, j’ai souhaité cerner ce qui serait le propre d’une conversion, soit ce que j’ai appelé un processus de trans-formation. Avec ce concept original, j’ai voulu orienter le regard de l’observateur vers les points de basculement de l’intimité à la publicité qui caractérisent les conversions. Pour ce faire, il m’est apparu fertile de mobiliser et de réhabiliter l’étude des valeurs, un thème classique en sociologie. Des valeurs portées par des individus aux valeurs publiques, la notion de « valeur » recèle le potentiel heuristique nécessaire pour étudier les conversions à différentes échelles d’analyse et par-delà des qualifications a priori religieuses, politiques, sexuelles, etc. Avec cette perspective théorique pragmatique inspirée par Dewey et articulée à la sensibilité aux positions sociales des cultural studies, je me suis donné les moyens d’analyser la façon dont change au cours d’une vie ce à quoi les gens tiennent. Cette représentation dynamique de la conversion vient ajouter des éléments de compréhension à un phénomène trop souvent appréhendé à la lumière de « lectures préférées » modernes et coloniales qui demandaient à être subverties pour redonner place à l’exercice de l’imagination sociologique. Les apports du concept de trans-formation sont illustrés à partir de la comparaison de quatre études de cas individuels : Paul Claudel, un écrivain converti au catholicisme ; Michelle Blanc, une transsexuelle québécoise ; Joe Loya, un Mexican American qui modifie ses conceptions du bien et du mal en isolement carcéral ; et Mlle Pigut qui est devenue « vegan ». / In this master thesis, I had the objective to pinpoint what is peculiar to conversions, that being what I have called a process of trans-formation. With this original concept, I wanted to guide the observer’s eyes toward the shifting points from intimacy to publicity, which are central in conversions process. To do so, I considered fruitful to acknowledge and reinstate the study of values, a classical theme in sociology. From values held by individuals to public values, the notion of “value” comprises the necessary heuristic potential to study conversions at different analytical scales and across assumed qualifications such as religious, political, sexual, etc. My pragmatic theoretical approach informed by Dewey and the cultural studies’ sensibility to social positions allowed me to analyse how what people value changes in the course of their life. This dynamic representation of conversions adds some insights to grasp a phenomenon often tackle from the perspective of modern and colonial “preferred readings”; readings that need to be challenged and revisited as to allow the exercise of sociological imagination. The contributions of the trans-formation’s concept are illustrated by the comparison of four individual case studies: Paul Claudel, a writer converted to Catholicism; Michelle Blanc, a québécoise transsexual; Joe Loya, a Mexican American who modifies his conceptions of good and bad in solitary confinement; and Mlle Pigut who becomes vegan.

La présente recherche s’attache de comprendre les manières dont la culture occidentale contemporaine modélise la nature humaine. Cette constante anthropologique qui fait de l’homme un être au monde particulier est sans relâche réactualisée selon des singularités propres à la culture dominante, mais aussi selon des singularités propres à des groupes sociaux donnés. La construction de la forme de l’homme est donc en perpétuelle mutation et aujourd’hui, suite à diverses révélations, révolutions scientifiques (éthologie, écologie, biologie ou encore paléoanthropologie) et techniques (révolution des images et des nouveaux médias), plus que jamais, la nature humaine est sujette aux métamorphoses. La compréhension du phénomène animaliste se situe au coeur de la recherche en tant que ce dernier exprime d’une manière paroxystique les conséquences sociologiques desdites révélations et révolutions. Il est le prisme par lequel cette recherche tâche de rendre compte de ce qui, dans l’esprit du temps, préside dans les relations anthropozoologiques. / This study is an attempt to understand how contemporary western culture models human nature. This anthropological constant, which makes humans unique beings in the world, is constantly being adapted to suit the distinctive features of the dominant culture and to suit the distinctive features of specific social groups. The construction of the human form is constantly changing and today, following various scientific revelations and revolutions (ethology, ecology, biology and paleo-anthropology) and technical advances (revolution of images and new media), human nature is likely to undergo even greater metamorphoses. Understanding the animalist phenomenon is the core of this research, since this phenomenon expresses the sociological consequences of these revelations and revolutions spasmodically. It is the prism that this research uses in an attempt to recount what, in the spirit of the times, governs human-animal relationships. / O objetivo desta pesquisa é compreender as formas pelas quais a cultura ocidental contemporânea define a natureza humana. Esta constante antropológica que faz do homem um ser-no-mundo particular é actualizada em permanência, tanto pelas singularidades da cultura dominante, como pelas singularidades de determinados grupos sociais. A construção da forma do homem está, pois, em permanente mutação, e com o surgimento actual das mais variadas revelações, revoluções científicas (etologia, biologia, ecologia ou paleoantropologia) e técnicas (revolução das imagens e dos novas média), a natureza humana fica mais do que nunca sujeita a metamorfoses. A compreensão do fenómeno animalista está no centro desta pesquisa, na medida em que exprime, de forma paroxística, as consequências sociológicas destas revelações e revoluções. O fenómeno animalista é o prisma através do qual a presente pesquisa tenta dar conta daquilo que, de acordo com o espírito da época, tem a primazia nas relações antropozoológicas.

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.

Dans un contexte d’intérêt croissant pour le véganisme en Occident, cette recherche exploratoire se propose de brosser le portrait des acteurs collectifs du mouvement végane québécois. Loin d’être une pratique individuelle seulement, le véganisme est porté, au Québec, par différents groupes (groupes de base, organisations à but non lucratif et organismes de charité) qui défendent aussi bien les droits des animaux que la nécessité de se tourner vers une alimentation végétale pour la santé et l’environnement. À l’aide d’une analyse de réseaux, nous définirons, sur le plan organisationnel, la configuration du mouvement et ses frontières, montrant la présence d’une structure fragmentée. La recherche se proposera par la suite de cerner les éléments constitutifs de l’identité collective du mouvement, qui repose sur une idée revendiquée plus ou moins frontalement : l’abolition de l’exploitation animale. Cette identité s’incarne dans des actions diverses, non violentes et la plupart du temps légales, qui ciblent tant la culture dominante, c’est-à-dire la consommation normalisée de produits animaux, que les sphères politiques et juridiques, malgré l’absence relative du mouvement dans l’arène politique conventionnelle. / In the context of growing interest in veganism and animal advocacy in Western countries, the research focuses on the current vegan movement in Quebec. Far from being only an individual-level practice, veganism in Quebec is led by collective actors such as grassroots groups, non-profit organizations and charities. These organizations both advocate for animal rights and promote a plant-based diet for health and environmental reasons. We will define the movement’s structure and boundaries at an organizational level, using network analysis, and showing a fragmented structure. The research will then assess some constituent parts of the movement’s collective identity, centered around abolishing animal exploitation. This collective identity is embodied in various non-violent and often legal actions targeting dominant culture (i.e., the normalized consumption of animal products) and the legal and political spheres. Yet, the movement is still relatively absent on the conventional political scene.