''Striking at the Roots: A Practical Guide to Animal Activism'' is a non-fiction book by Mark Hawthorne that examines a number of strategies for animal

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

in countries such as Australia, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The book was published by

O Books John Hunt Publishing is a left-wing publishing company founded in the United Kingdom in 2001, initially named O Books. The publisher has 24 active autonomous imprints, with the largest of these being the Zero Books imprint (styled Zer0 Books) foun ...

in the UK in 2007 as a 282-page paperback. An expanded, 10th-anniversary edition was released as a 416-page paperback in November 2018. Mark Hawthorne at Cow-Con 2016

Background

More than 100 animal activists—including

Carol J. Adams Carol J. Adams (born 1951) is an American writer, feminist, and animal rights advocate. She is the author of several books, including '' The Sexual Politics of Meat: A Feminist-Vegetarian Critical Theory'' (1990) and ''The Pornography of Meat'' ...

Gene Baur Gene Baur (born July 24, 1962), formerly known as Gene Bauston, is an author and activist in the animal rights and food movement. He’s been called the "conscience of the food movement" by ''Time'' magazine, and opposes factory farming and advo ...

, Alka Chandna, Karen Davis, Joyce D'Silva, Adam Durand,

Juliet Gellatley Juliet Gellatley is a British writer and animal rights activist. She is the founder and director of Vegetarians' International Voice for Animals, Viva! and a former director of the Vegetarian Society. She is also a founding director of The Veget ...

Bruce Friedrich Bruce Gregory Friedrich (born August 7, 1969) is co-founder and president of The Good Food Institute (GFI), a Y Combinator funded non-profit that promotes plant- and cell-based alternatives to animal products. He is also a co-founder of the alte ...

, pattrice jones, Erik Marcus, Jack Norris, Glenys Oogjes,

Lauren Ornelas lauren T. Ornelas is an American animal rights advocate for more than 20 years and is the founder of the Food Empowerment Project. Background and education Ornelas was born in San Antonio, Texas and grew up in Texas, where she became a vegetari ...

, Colleen Patrick-Goudreau,

Nathan Runkle Milo Runkle (born April 13, 1984 as Nathan) is a founding partner oJoyful Ventures He is the co-founder of The Good Food Institute and founder and former president of Mercy For Animals. Career Milo Runkle is a founding partner oJoyful Ventures� ...

, and Joyce Tischler—discuss the models of activism that work best for advancing

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

and

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

. Contents include discussions of leafleting, writing, tabling, protesting, corporate campaigning, legislation, lobbying, multimedia, direct action, and using vegan food as outreach. Hawthorne says he wrote the book because when he first got into animal activism, he could not find a book like it: "one resource that you could easily carry with you" that covers the broad range of activist models. The book is written for people who are already concerned about abuse of animals and need to learn how to take effective action. The title is derived from ''

Walden ''Walden'' (; first published in 1854 as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part ...

'', in which

Henry David Thoreau Henry David Thoreau (July 12, 1817May 6, 1862) was an American naturalist, essayist, poet, and philosopher. A leading Transcendentalism, transcendentalist, he is best known for his book ''Walden'', a reflection upon simple living in natural su ...

writes: "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." Thoreau's phrase "striking at the root" may be an allusion to Matthew 3:10 -- "And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." Hawthorne's second book, ''Bleating Hearts: The Hidden World of Animal Suffering'', was published in 2013. His third book, ''A Vegan Ethic: Embracing a Life of Compassion Toward All'', was published on July 29, 2016.

References

External links

''Striking at the Roots'' website
{{Portal bar, Books, Animals, Society 2008 non-fiction books Books about animal rights