For the Prevention of Cruelty: The History and Legacy of Animal Rights Activism in the United StatesAnimal rights. Those two words conjure diverse but powerful images and reactions. Some nod in agreement, while others roll their eyes in contempt. Most people fall somewhat uncomfortably in the middle, between endorsement and rejection, as they struggle with the profound moral, philosophical, and legal questions provoked by the debate. Today, thousands of organizations lobby, agitate, and educate the public on issues concerning the rights and treatment of nonhumans. For the Prevention of Cruelty is the first history of organized advocacy on behalf of animals in the United States to appear in nearly a half century. Diane Beers demonstrates how the cause has shaped and reshaped itself as it has evolved within the broader social context of the shift from an industrial to a postindustrial society. Until now, the legacy of the movement in the United States has not been examined. Few Americans today perceive either the companionship or the consumption of animals in the same manner as did earlier generations. Moreover, powerful and lingering bonds connect the seemingly disparate American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of the nineteenth century and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals of today. For the Prevention of Cruelty tells an intriguing and important story that reveals society’s often changing relationship with animals through the lens of those who struggled to shepherd the public toward a greater compassion. |
From inside the book
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... impact on the human-animal relationship, not class anxieties. Bergh and many of his peers railed not against working-class anarchy but against the inordinate financial and political power of those 8 RESURRECTING THE VOICE.
... financial and political power of those industries most notorious in their exploitation of both society and animals. Capitalists might have desired greater control of the working class, but humanitarians urged greater control of the ...
... financial, and physical vanguard of the struggle after 1945. Historically, the movement may have lacked demographic diversity, but most organizations, whatever their original focus or mission, have always maintained a diverse agenda of ...
... financial gains of white society. Humans abused and exploited animals on a massive scale for food, sport, profit, fashion, and entertainment. Slaves and animals were simply objects to be purchased, used, and sold at will. The murder of ...
... financial compensation for the loss of property.20 Radical abolitionists had dared to suggest that regardless of established opinion, laws, or court rulings, slaves deserved ethical and legal consideration not as property but as human ...
Contents
1 | |
19 | |
39 | |
59 | |
5 Reaching Out to the Mainstream | 91 |
6 Our Most Strenuous Protest | 119 |
7 The Road to Liberation | 147 |
Epilogue | 197 |
Notes | 203 |
Bibliography | 267 |
Index | 295 |