Synonyms
A kind of speciesism; Ideology of meat; Melanie Joy’s view on food ethics; The opposite of veganism
Introduction
Carnism refers to the ideology conditioning people to consume certain animal products. It is essentially the opposite of veganism. The term was coined by social psychologist Melanie Joy (2001). She has fully developed the concept in further papers and in her book Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism (Joy 2010). As the title of Joy’s book suggest, people’s relation to animals depends crucially on the species to which they belong: “We love dogs and eat cows not because dogs and cows are fundamentally different – cows, like dogs, have feelings, preferences, and consciousness – but because our perception of them is different. And, consequently, our perception of their meat is different as well” (Joy 2010, p. 12).
A Descriptive Concept with a Normative Import
The primary goal of the concept of carnism is to describe a psychological fact:...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Bastian, B., et al. (2012). Don’t mind meat? The denial of mind to animals used for human consumption. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38(2), 247–256.
Blum, L. (1991). Moral perception and particularity. Chicago Journals, 101(4), 701–725.
Bratanova, B., et al. (2011). The effect of categorization as food on the perceived moral standing of animals. Appetite, 57(1), 193–196. doi:10.1016.
Carnism Frequently Asked Questions, Carnism.com. http://www.carnism.com/index.php/faq?view=category&id=17. Visited 7 Apr 2013.
Costello, K., & Hodson, G. (2012). Explaining dehumanization among children: The interspecies model of prejudice. The British Journal of Social Psychology. doi:10.1111/bjso.12016.
Fessler, D., & Navarrete, C. (2003). Meat is good to taboo: Dietary proscriptions as a product of the interaction of psychological mechanisms and social processes. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 3(1), 1–40.
Filippi, M., et al. (2011). The brain functional networks associated to human and animal suffering differ among omnivores, vegetarians and vegans. PLoS One, 5(5), e10847. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010847.
Francione, G. (2007). A note about Michael Vick. http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/a-note-about-michael-vick/#.UXWfYqRX2LM
Francione, G. (2012). There is nothing “Invisible” about the ideology of animal exploitation, animal rights: The abolitionist approach. http://www.abolitionistapproach.com/there-is-nothing-invisible-about-the-ideology-of-animal-exploitation/#.UWHC5Ku52Z1. Visited 7 Apr 2013.
Herzog, H. (2010). Some we love, some we hate, some we eat: Why it’s so hard to think straight about animals. New York: Harpers Collins.
Herzog, H. A., & Burghardt, G. M. (2005). The next frontier: Moral heuristics and the treatment of animals. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 28, 554–555.
Joy, M. (2001). From carnivore to carnist: Liberating the language of meat. Satya, 8(2), 26–27.
Joy, M. (2010). Why we love dogs, eat pigs, and wear cows: An introduction to carnism. San Francisco: Conari Press.
Joy, M. (2011). Understanding Neocarnism: How Vegan Advocates can appreciate and respond to “Happy Meat,” Locavorism, and “Paleo Dieting”, One green planet. http://www.onegreenplanet.org/lifestyle/understanding-neocarnism/
Loughnan, S., Haslam, N., & Bastian, B. (2010). The role of meat consumption in the denial of moral status and mind to meat animals. Appetite, 55(1), 156–159.
Norcross, A. (2004). Puppies, pigs, and people: Eating meat and marginal cases. Philosophical Perspectives, 18(1), 229–245.
Plutarch (1957). De esu carnium (On Eating Meat), Loeb Classical Library ed., Vol. XII, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press; London, W. Heinemann.
Ruby, B. H. (2012). Vegetarianism. A blossoming field of study. Appetite, 58(1), 141–150. doi:10.1016/j.
Ruby, B. H., & Heine, S. J. (2012). Too close to home. Factors predicting meat avoidance. Appetite, 59(1), 47–52. doi:10.1016/j.
Sherpell, J. A. (2002). Anthropomorphism and anthropomorphic selection – Beyond the “Cute Response”. Society and Animals, 10(4), 437–454(18).
Singer, P. (2009). Animal liberation. New York: HarperCollins.
Slovic, P. (2007). “If I look at the mass I will never act”: Psychic numbing and genocide. Judgment and Decision Making, 2(2), 79–95.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this entry
Cite this entry
Gibert, M., Desaulniers, É. (2014). Carnism. In: Thompson, P.B., Kaplan, D.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4_83
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0929-4_83
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-0928-7
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-0929-4
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and Law