Melanie Joy (born September 2, 1966) is an American

social psychologist Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field of ...

and author, primarily notable for coining and promulgating the term carnism. She is the founding president of nonprofit advocacy group Beyond Carnism, previously known as Carnism Awareness & Action Network (CAAN), as well as a former professor of psychology and sociology at the

University of Massachusetts Boston The University of Massachusetts Boston (stylized as UMass Boston) is a Public university, public US-based research university. It is the only public research university in Boston and the third-largest campus in the five-campus University of Ma ...

. She has published the books ''Strategic Action for Animals'', '' Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows'' and ''Beyond Beliefs''.

Background

Joy received her M.Ed. from the

Harvard Graduate School of Education The Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) is the education school of Harvard University, a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1920, it was the first school to grant the EdD degree and the first ...

, and her Ph.D. in psychology from the Saybrook Graduate School. At age 23, while a student at Harvard, she contracted a food-borne disease from a tainted hamburger and was hospitalized, which led her to become a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. In a speech related by Indian cabinet minister

Maneka Gandhi Maneka Gandhi (also spelled Menaka; ''née'' Anand) (born 26 August 1956) is an Indian politician, animal rights activist, and environmentalist. She served as a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian parliament, and is a member ...

, Joy recalled how her dietary choice, made for non-moral reasons, transformed her perspective on the treatment of animals:

That experience led me to swear off meat, which led me to become more open to information about animal agriculture—information that had been all around me but that I had been unwilling to see, so long as I was still invested in maintaining my current way of life. And as I learned the truth about meat, egg and dairy production, I became increasingly distraught. ... I wound up confused and despairing. I felt like a rudderless boat, lost on a sea of collective insanity. Nothing had changed, but everything was different.

Afterwards, Joy made a gradual transition to

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

. In a 2013 interview, she explained that her doctoral research had initially focused on the psychosociology of violence and discrimination, but later shifted to questions about the psychology of eating meat. Perceiving a pattern of irrational and inconsistent thinking among the subjects she interviewed, she was led to theorize that attitudes about meat reflected acquired prejudice. This idea became the basis for much of her later work.

Theory of Carnism

Joy introduced the term ''carnism'' in a 2001 article published in ''Satya'', initially receiving little attention. The concept was revisited by her 2009 book '' Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows''. Her ideas influenced subsequent studies of what has come to be known as the meat paradox—the apparent inconsistency in common attitudes toward animals, wherein people may express affection towards some animals while eating others—and the

cognitive dissonance In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is described as a mental phenomenon in which people unknowingly hold fundamentally conflicting cognitions. Being confronted by situations that challenge this dissonance may ultimately result in some ...

it entails. A number of psychologists are supportive of Joy's beliefs concerning the influence of eating meat on attitudes toward animals.

Activism

Joy founded Carnism Awareness & Action Network (CAAN), later renamed Beyond Carnism, in 2010. According to a review by Animal Charity Evaluators, the organization uses public talks, media campaigns, video development, and activist training in an effort to shift the public conversation about meat mainly in the United States and Germany. The review judged CAAN's novel organizational strategies to be promising in terms of their potential to foster a sustained network of

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all Animal consciousness, sentient animals have Moral patienthood, moral worth independent of their Utilitarianism, utility to humans, and that their most basic interests—such as ...

advocates, but noted that the relatively new group lacked a track record, and that the effects of its approach would be difficult to assess.

Other Appearances

In 2022, Joy co-hosted a podcast called ''Just Beings'' with actress Evanna Lynch. In 2024, Joy appeared in the British documentary film '' I Could Never Go Vegan''.

Awards

In 2013, Joy won the Ahimsa Award for her work on global nonviolence. In her acceptance speech, she said, “Transforming carnism is not simply about changing behavior, but about shifting consciousness. It is about shifting from ignorance to awareness, from apathy to empathy, from callousness to compassion, from denial to truth – and from violence, to ahimsa.”

References

Bibliography

* ''Strategic Action for Animals: A Handbook on Strategic Movement Building, Organizing, and Activism for Animal Liberation'' (2008). . * '' Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism'' (2009). . * ''Beyond Beliefs: A Guide to Improving Relationships and Communication for Vegans, Vegetarians, and Meat Eaters'' (2018). . * ''Powerarchy: Understanding the Psychology of Oppression for Social Transformation'' (2019). . * ''Getting Relationships Right: How to Build Resilience and Thrive in Life, Love, and Work'' (2020). .

External links

*
Beyond Carnism
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Joy, Melanie 1966 births Living people American activists American animal rights scholars American non-fiction writers American social psychologists American veganism activists American women academics American women non-fiction writers American women scientists Place of birth missing (living people) Harvard Graduate School of Education alumni Organization founders Saybrook University alumni Scholars of veganism University of Massachusetts Boston faculty