In Blaire French’s 1998 novel The Ticking Tenure Clock, the central character, a junior political science professor, is struggling to finish a book on the “Orphans of the Left”: animal rights activists. According to French, animal rights activists in the 1990s saw themselves as part of a larger progressive family that sought to protect the vulnerable against exploitation by the powerful. Yet they also felt disowned by the other members of their family.
Twenty years later, the situation remains unchanged. Proponents of various social justice movements routinely express support for each other – feminist organisations often show support for Black Lives Matter, or for immigrant rights, or gay rights – but animal rights groups remain outside this circle of progressive solidarity. As Aimée Dowl notes, “None of the major feminist organisations in the United States devotes committee or internet space to or has polices dealing with animal rights issues”. Indeed, as John Sanbonmatsu indicates, “The left with few exceptions has historically viewed human violence towards other beings with indifference.”
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