Veganism and Social Justice in Turkey

Vegan Association of Turkey (TDV) is the leading organisation for vegan movement in Turkey. TDV describes itself as an animal rights organisation that advocates equality and justice between species and it was founded as a platform in 2006, gained official status in 2012 and became an association (“Vegan Derneği Türkiye (TVD) - Biz Kimiz?”, 2021). They take action for the right to access to vegan food of Boğaziçi University`s students who are under surveillance, arrange festivals and informative events, attend meetings of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to promote animal rights and initiate legal action against violation of animal rights and so on (“Faaliyet Özetlerimiz - Vegan Derneği - TVD”, 2022). Apart from this, there are many other large and small movements.

Vegan movement in Turkey has many fragmentations which prevent them from acting in unison. Besides, there are also Turkey branches of worldwide movements such as Animal Save Movement, a global network of groups dedicated to raising awareness about the plight of animals in the food industry, and Climate Save Movement, a global movement that aims to address the climate crisis through advocating for a shift towards plant-based diets and sustainable living.

According to the Vegan Society, veganism is: “a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of humans, animals, and the environment. In dietary terms, it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.” (“Go Vegan | What is Veganism? | Understanding Veganism”, n.d.)

Aside from Vegan Society's definition of veganism, there are two main approaches to veganism to frame animal rights in an ethical perspective. One is Peter Singer's approach that is rooted in utilitarianism, and the other one is Tom Reagan's abolitionist theory (Turgay 2020). Even though their approaches are different, they both share the idea that moral concerns should extend beyond humans. Thus, they constitute the core moral arguments for veganism as a moral duty.

According to Holmes (2021), veganism continues to be generally ignored by food scholars as a rights-based social justice movement that serves both humans and nonhuman animals. Holmes advises studying veganism's integrity as a social justice movement, its natural resistance to an oppressive status quo, and the framework described by Shanti Chu as "the intersectional relationship between racism, colonialism, capitalism, and speciesism" (Chu, 2019, p.190). So, this is the point to ask why eco-feminism matters in the context of social justice movements? As ecofeminism is a theory that has developed from multiple feminism-related fields of study and activism, including the anti-nuclear, environmental, and animal liberation movements, as well as labour movements, peace movements, and movements for women's health care (Gaard, 1993), it matters in generating new practices. The fundamental tenet of ecofeminism, which draws on the understandings of ecology, feminism, and socialism, is that the ideology that justifies the oppression of individuals based on their class, gender, sexual orientation, or physical characteristics is also the ideology that justifies the oppression of nature, as Gaard (1993) describes. That is why ecofeminism should be the theory we adopt in that context where veganism intersects with other rights-based movements.

So, coming from that perspective, understanding the intersectionality of veganism and its implications related to humans, animals, and nature through an ecofeminist approach is necessary to generate more just practices and inclusive policies that can both mitigate the most catastrophic phenomenon that humanity has ever faced and empower the most vulnerable ones by making them visible in people's minds. Therefore, vegan activists, as the practitioners of this social movement and lifestyle, are the ones to rebuild our perception of veganism since veganism can be seen as an elitist and middle class bourgeois lifestyle (Wolf, 2015) and also due to increasing vegaphopia (Dhont, Hodson, and Leite, 2016; Earle & Hodson, 2017; as cited in Bagci and Olgun, 2019).

Also, the adverse effects of animal agriculture on the environment are undeniable. Vegans' concerns are shaped around animal agriculture, particularly around animal ethics. Ethical vegans oppose animal agriculture. The ecological and political problems of vegans are an issue that is overlooked in Turkey. Indeed, it is an uninvestigated topic in Turkey`s case and an interrelated one that can contribute to both vegan and development studies.