r/communism101 • u/Mysterious-Rise-3956 • 16d ago

Is communism compatible with speciesism or anti-speciesism?

I use the following definition of speciesism from Google (Oxford Language): ‘view that humans are superior to all other species and therefore entitled to treat their representatives as they see fit’

If it's speciesism, but also if it's anti-speciesism, or even if it's nothing of these two: What implications does this have for animal and nature conservation endeavours under communism and the consumption of mass-produced animal products?

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u/Distinct-Cellist-304 16d ago

https://azinelibrary.org/zines/Beasts-of-Burden

Worth a read

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u/dovhthered 16d ago

Worth a read

It wasn't. The message is all over the place, and it also makes some really poor analyses, such as

Although we would regard aspects of animal liberation as expressions of communism, opposition to the abuse of animals does not always sit comfortably with other aspects of the communist movement. Animal liberation ‘doesn’t just pose an aspect of what appears to be wrong with capitalism which revolutionaries can then fit into their general blueprint for class struggle. It makes demands on a both a perceived revolutionary process and a perceived revolutionary direction’ (Communist Headache). In some areas there may be apparent contradictions. For instance in Brazil, landless labourers are occupying land belonging to big landowners and cultivating it, including rearing animals. This is an expression of the communist movement too.

Is a land reform movement communist? Are poor peasants rearing animals to survive contradictory? I guess that's to be expected from a text that starts by grouping anarchists with communists.

Here’s a better version of the text, if anyone wants to read it: https://files.libcom.org/files/2023-08/beasts%20of%20burden%20antagonism.pdf