Unlikely allies against factory farms animal righ

Authors: David M Holt

Publish Date: 2008/01/24

Volume: 25, Issue: 2, Pages: 169-171

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Abstract

I examine the risks and opportunities associated with social movement coalition building in attempts to block or curtail the rise of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations CAFOs in the United States As producers have scaled up animal production facilities environmentalists and animal rights activists along with numerous other social actors have begun antiCAFO campaigns I argue that while the CAFO has mobilized a diverse group of social actors these individuals and organizations do not all have the same interests aside from resistance to CAFOs leading to some unlikely allies These odd alliances provide opportunities for agrifood scholars to study the relationship between the coalitions that social movement organizations form and the support they receive from their respective constituencies Lastly I argue that the need for agrifood scholars to address the pitfalls associated with singleissue coalition building extends beyond the unlikely alliance between environmentalists and animal rights activists as agrifood related crises have led to a proliferation of such coalitions

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