Past research has categorized animal rights groups into three main categories;
conservative, moderate, and radical. While a few studies exist on the animal rights
movement as a whole, none have focused specifically on the radical groups. This research
project uses an ethnography of communication approach to examine how language
constructs notions of radicalism inside a small grass roots level animal rights group. The
basic theoretical foundation guiding the study is that language constructs social reality and
is thus inherently linked with culture. Using Del Hyme's (1972) ethnography of
communication as a theoretical and methodological guide, this research takes into an
account the importance of analyzing language and communication as something that forms
the cultural landscape of animal rights subculture.
This thesis explores the four main cultural themes of animal rights activism at the
local level; (1) the centrality of activism in the lives of the informants, (2) the frustration of
being labeled and not being taken seriously, (3) the centrality of radical action, and (4) the
national movement as a source of further frustration but also as an important element of the
activist identity. Furthermore, based on the informant data I identify four main issues
within the public discourse, which the activists find problematic. Critical Discourse
Analysis is used in order to explore the ways in which radicalism is constructed in the
media coverage of animal rights issues. / Graduation date: 2002
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28460 |
| Date | 10 April 2002 |
| Creators | Pettinen, Katja |
| Contributors | Gross, Joan E. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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