- According to the sociologist Doug McAdam, social movements require two key ingredients: shared grievance and feelings of collective impact. Shared grievance refers to the recognition of a common injustice, while collective impact is the belief that group action can create change. When these two factors combine, they lead to cognitive liberation, a psychological shift that empowers people to act. In the context of veganism, the movement faces challenges in generating both widespread grievance and collective impact. While it addresses important issues such as environmentalism, health, and ethics, the movement's focus on individual dietary choices may not resonate with the broader public. As a result, it struggles to inspire the collective anger or hope needed for large-scale social change. To broaden its appeal, the movement could shift to its focus from personal identity to direct action against animal cruelty. By engaging larger communities, such as animal lovers and pet owners, and highlighting their potential role in ending cruelty, this approach could create a stronger sense of shared grievance and collective impact. Unlike veganism, this narrative has the potential to mobilise a wider base and foster the emotional urgency necessary for meaningful change.
- While some research suggests that leafleting and impersonal outreach may have limited effectiveness, particularly in promoting long-term behaviour change, the results remain inconclusive. For example, a 2017 study by Animal Charity Evaluators found no measurable effect of leafleting on participants' dietary habits. Controlled experiments in social science are often challenging because human behaviour is influenced by numerous factors, making it difficult to isolate the impact of interventions like leafleting. The "endogeneity problem," where it's hard to distinguish between causality and correlation, further complicates this. For example, people already inclined toward reducing their animal product consumption may be more responsive to leafleting, leading to potential reverse causality or omitted variable bias. Given these challenges, it's essential to critically evaluate studies that are not conducted by independent researchers or lack replication, as confirmation bias can influence results, even within the scientific community."
- Drawing on the 'small-world' network model from Watts and Strogatz's research, the veganism movement could shift its focus to the interactions between individuals and systems. By targeting key influencers and institutions, the movement could more efficiently spread vegan ideals across social networks. For example, the environmental movement's focus on systemic change, such as influencing corporate and governmental policies, has led to widespread shifts in public norms. Similarly, vegan activists can prioritise system-level changes in schools, corporations, and governments to normalise plant-based living, reinforcing these changes through public discourse. One tactic that further advances this systemic approach is the strategy of open rescue. By rescuing animals that are in the most dire and sympathetic circumstances, documenting the living conditions, and publicly releasing the footage, open rescue shifts the conversation from individual consumption to broader ethical and legal questions. These actions force the legal and political systems to grapple with whether animals should be treated as sentient beings with rights or merely as property. For instance, open rescue has played a key role in challenging ag-gag laws and fur farming regulations, leading to legal reforms in various countries.