This article explores discourses surrounding animal activism with reference to a moral judgement continuum. The analysis categorises animal activism in terms of discrete, yet overlapping, frames of ‘good’ animal activism and ‘bad’ animal activism. Diferent types of activism elicit diferent responses from the media, the general public and farmers alike. Where activism that condemns animal-based industries in their entirety are often subject to collective condemnation, activism that sheds light on specifc instances of animal mistreatment often receives widespread support—including from farmers themselves. Another variable that shapes responses to animal activism by farmers and that has tangible impacts on their perceptions and actions is where farmers are situated in regard to economic vulnerability and social resilience. In this article, we delineate the complexities surrounding the welfare-rights and vulnerable-resilient variables by engaging with empirical examples derived from the Australian context. Animal activism is all too often framed in reductive and polarising ways. This article sheds light on the importance of more fuid analyses of complicated issues.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	animal activism, animal rights, animal welfare, farmers, discourse, media framing, vulnerability
Research Division:	Human Society
Research Group:	Criminology
Research Field:	Criminology not elsewhere classified
Objective Division:	Law, Politics and Community Services
Objective Group:	Justice and the law
Objective Field:	Criminal justice
UTAS Author:	White, R (Professor Rob White)
ID Code:	146454
Year Published:	2021
Deposited By:	Office of the School of Social Sciences
Deposited On:	2021-09-08
Last Modified:	2022-09-21
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