Performing veganism: Building bridges amongst academia, activism, and community

Abstract

Academic research that seeks to achieve social transformation for ending the oppression of human and non-human animals and the Earth should be open to non-traditional strategies of inquiry, which enable silenced voices to be heard, and promote knowledge transcending the boundaries of academia. Performance ethnography is a strategy of inquiry that makes possible the co-participation of researchers, communities and activists in experiences that bring together theory and praxis in complex, contradictory and meaningful ways. Through this chapter, performance ethnography is defined and its origins briefly described; its most common types and applications are outlined, as well as its relevance within the framework of critical animal studies. Finally, some examples of performative work on critical animal studies are analyzed.