Animal Advocacy and Environmentalism: Understanding and Bridging the Divide

Many people consider themselves to be both environmentalists and supporters of animal welfare. Yet, despite the many issues which bring environmentalists and animal advocates together, for decades there have been flashpoints which seem to pit these two social movements against each other, dividing them in ways unhelpful to both. 

In this innovative book, Amy J. Fitzgerald analyzes historic, philosophical, and socio-cultural reasons for this divide. Tackling three core issues - sport hunting, zoos, and fur - where there has been particularly profound disagreement between segments of these movements, she demonstrates that even on these most contentious issues, they are not as far apart as is generally assumed, and that there is space where they could more productively work together. 

Charting a path forward, she points to evolving practices and broad structural forces which are likely to draw the movements closer together in the future. The threats posed by industrial animal agriculture to the environment and to non-human and human animals demand, once and for all, that we bridge the divide between animal advocacy and environmentalism.