It has, clearly, been a while since I posted.
This weekend, while presenting a paper on the genealogy of the factory farm, I ended the paper on this paragraph:
" The next point is one that should not be tip-toed around but so often is. If you want to be opposed to machanic capitalism, forced biopolitical disappearances, and deading life, there is a necessary if not sufficient step to take: you have to enter a becoming-vegetarian. This is not another category of the saved and the damned, of the pure and the polluted, it is not a new economy of innocence. It is a process and a practice, as every becoming is. It is a process that cuts through the Gordian knot of first philosophy, as it is simultaneously a practice of subjectivity and an ethical relationship. It is not about prohibition, the vegetarian was popularized by the 19 century vegetarian society, and they chose the name not from vegetables, but the Latin word for lively, for that was how their diet made them feel. So, it is not a prohibition, but a production, an as-kesis of the self. A becoming-vegetarian is a necessary technology of resistance."
This is the first time I have even included the word vegetarian in a conference paper, much less a normative prescription. It didn't go over as well as it could have. I am curious on getting feedback on this concept of becoming-vegetarian.
I plan to write a post unpacking this more in the future, but I was curious if there were any questions? Criticisms? And more importantly, do you know of someone who already talks about vegetarianism in this way?
Things I’ve actually Heard..
19 minutes ago
9 comments:
Thanks for this. Looking forward to that promised post. In the meantime, can you give a link/reference to where you learned about the 19th century use of the word vegetarian?
The Australian Vegetarian Society has a campaign going on at the moment that appears to be addressing (albeit indirectly) vegetarianism as a technology of resistance. The campaign is being run across various media types.
Obviously there is a Foucaultian aspect to becoming-vegetarian, though can we see this as something of a Promethean act of resistance, the very activity of forethought?
There is more I could add, though I'd like to read more on your definition of becoming-vegetarian.
To Kenny:
Here (fourth paragraph)is the Vegetarian Society's description of the usage, vegetarian:
"The Vegetarian Society created the word vegetarian from the latin 'vegetus' meaning 'lively' (which is how these early vegetarians claimed their diet made them feel) in 1847..."
Kenny, I plan to have the post up no later than tomorrow. It also seems Nathan beat to the citation. I would add that the vegetarian society did not coin the term, but it was not a popular term until the creation of the society.
Nathan, I'll check out the campaign when I have more time, but thank you very much for the link! And yes, this notion of becoming-vegetarian is borrowing heavily from the theoretical work of Foucault, A.N. Whitehead, and D&G. I'll try to explain all of that in the unpacking post. I don't really understand your comments on forethought, if you want to clarify. I hope your own work is going well.
What were the specific objections to "b-v"? Theoretical? Practical? They just want to eat their meat? It isn't like you said "becoming-vegan"! On that point, why didn't you?
I guess what I simply want to convey is relation between 'forethought' and the production of resistance the myth of Prometheus illustrates. As we know, the name/word Prometheus is widely translated as forethought (provident care) and it is in this sense that the notion of forethought is closely, if not inseparable, from the activity of resistance and care.
Forethought, then, is precisely this production of resistance: the very "exercise of oneself in the activity of thought" (Foucault): the very activity of the care of, not only oneself, but all of animal-kind as the production of resistance, care, and agency. The Promethean activity of forethought is the activity of becoming... animal (vegetarian?)
It's a little rushed, but I hope you get my point. I might try and work this into something a little more in-depth in the future?
Obviously I missed yesterday's deadline. New one is sometime tomorrow.
Also, by then I will respond to your comments Craig, and Nathan (if not before).
Hey Scu, this is 'cactusjerm' from ages ago on Cross-x.com. Glad to see you're continuing to advocate for animals. Keep up all the good work.
Could you maybe send me the whole article? Anthony Paul Smith over at An und für sich told me about this article and it actually has been very valiable to me in forming my own ethical stance, having recently become basically vegetarian.
Also this process appears quite Buddhist - here you become vegetarian partly as training for the generalised compassion you have to have for all creatures.
Post a Comment