Veganism, Vegan Society and the absence of anti-speciesism as a political concern

Abstract

Veganism was firstly defined in 1944, in the United Kingdom, by Donald Watson, as a way of life that seeks to exclude, as far as possible, all forms of exploitation and cruelty to non-human animals. This concept originated from a group of people who made up the Vegan Society, which published newsletters on the topic since the concept was created. The present work purport tsseeks to contextualize and analyze historically the development of European Veganism, in order to understand it as a phenomenon and concept that, since its forging, excluded certain political identities and participants, presenting itself as the fruit of economic and political particularities of the time. The present research was carried out from the analysis of the Vegan Society magazines between 1944-1954, in association with data on the British State war policy on food rationing, the encouragement of consumption of products of vegetable origin and planting on a homemade scale.