The Democratic Socialists of America boast a historically large membership with a range of views on a variety of subjects. I recently sought to interview some fellow members of the organization who are interested in reforming or abolishing animal exploitation, a cause which, sadly, receives scant attention across the political spectrum, including the left, where it fits most naturally. I’m very grateful for those who took the time to answer my questions about their views regarding nonhumans, how animal issues can be taken more seriously within DSA, and what plausible nonhuman policy they’d like every left-wing candidate to support.
Jishnu Guha-Majumdar is Assistant Professor in Political Theory at Butler University, with a focus on the relationship between animal and human liberation, and co-chair of the Central Indiana DSA chapter. He described himself as an abolitionist on the question of animal use, but he questioned the utility of the welfare-vs.-abolition framework, saying the real issue was whether reforms sustain or challenge core-system logics. Guha-Majumdar argued classical abolitionism, represented by thinkers like Tom Regan and Gary Francione, was very good at saying what we shouldn’t do to animals, but less good at outlining what a just society with animals would look like. For this, he turned to writers like Sue Donaldson and Will Kymlicka.
“The majority of DSA members don’t even think of animals rights issues as on the map of the organization, and so that will have to be a site of struggle,” Guha-Majumdar said. “A working group and/or issue-specific publication could be helpful, but it is important to understand what its goals are. I would argue there should be two: to provide a rallying point for pro-animal advocates in the organization to acknowledge each other and to come up with a relatively unified strategy for a DSA animal rights ‘line’ [and] to shift consciousness… about the way that the domination of animals is central to capitalism and that animals are subjects of solidarity.” He suggested there might be national-level reading groups on texts like Dinesh Wadiwel’s Animals and Capital.
Guha-Majumdar believed DSA candidates should support policies focused on altering the incentive structure of food production. He backed public funding for alternative-protein development, but thought an ideal platform would fully socialize the cultivated-meat industry, as author Jan Dutkiewicz recommended in a 2019 Jacobin article. Guha-Majumdar argued ideas like these, along with efforts to redirect farm subsidies away from meat and dairy production, should be incorporated into discussion of a proposed Green New Deal, given the severe climate costs of animal agriculture.
Leo Neustadt is a former member of New York City DSA, who has been involved in the Madison-area chapter for approximately two years. They believed no animal should be exploited for any reason, including human consumption. Neustadt understood this to be an extension of socialist values. While they seek to end all animal use, Neustadt recognized no profound change happens in a single step, and was willing to pursue welfare reforms. They were frustrated DSA’s Green New Deal Campaign Committee made no mention of the environmental impact of animal agriculture. Like Guha-Majumdar, Neustadt believed the Green New Deal was an avenue through which DSA could address nonhuman issues.
“I think a reasonable policy would be to end inhumane conditions for animals bred for slaughter,” Neustadt said, when asked what position they would like every leftist candidate to adopt. “Everything about the way animals are kept and treated is abhorrent, including the slaughtering itself. But, I know people are going to continue to eat meat for the foreseeable future, so, at the very least, we should have federal guidelines and standards on how many animals can be in a certain amount of space to avoid overcrowding, allow free time outdoors for sunlight and grazing, and end the forced molestation and rape of these creatures who have no voice.”
Ben Wendt is a former co-chair of Baton Rouge DSA, concerned with the ethical and ecological implications of animal agriculture. He approved of nonhuman-welfare reforms, but thought they were of limited value, due to the power of industry, among other things. Ultimately, Wendt believed a socialist society, where people are educated about the harms of animal agriculture, would choose to greatly reduce it. That said, he was pessimistic about people’s views of nonhumans changing, and thought an environmental or worker’s rights critique of the food system would be more effective. For this reason, Wendt wasn’t enthusiastic about an animal-focused working group within DSA.
He wanted DSA political candidates to support cutting subsidies to the animal agriculture industry. “Those subsidies could be invested in lab meat, small and cooperative farming, or returning land to indigenous peoples,” Wendt said. “ A few other, not very radical policies would be to ban the agriculture industry from lobbying the USDA to get their sector on the nutrition guidelines (most people are lactose intolerant, so how can dairy be an essential nutrient?), repeal bans on reporters and union activists from going to factory farms, strengthen FDA laws on what marketing terms the industry can use, and pardon imprisoned animal activists.”
Kiirstin Kuhi is a member of NYC DSA, within which she helped launch an unofficial vegan group, Socialists for Animal Justice. Kuhi supported the abolition of all forms of nonhuman use, but was willing to advance welfare reforms in the short term. SAJ is one attempt to answer the question of how nonhuman issues might be taken more seriously within DSA. Initially, her group voted to call themselves DSA for Animal Justice, but backed off as they were not yet formally recognized as a working group or club. Kuhi thought organizing locally, as opposed to nationally, was a good place to start, however, she acknowledged SAJ was still trying to find its footing.
“We hope to continue building community through future events, including a collaboration with the Ecosocialist Working Group on a screening of the film The Smell of Money, canvasses for DSA candidates who align with our values, and eventual legislation that protects our planet and all its inhabitants,” Kuhi said, noting they showed up to canvass as SAJ. “I’m not sure an issue-specific publication would be the most effective approach, since you’d still have to find people to read it. Social gatherings and potlucks, on the other hand, provide opportunities to get DSA members plugged into our work through one-on-one conversations about these issues.”
She found it difficult to choose one plausible, pro-animal policy she’d like every DSA candidate to endorse, because one never knows what’s plausible until it’s actually done. Kuhi cited a bill put forward by New York State Senator Jabari Brisport, a DSA member, that would forbid the issuing or authorizing any permits to new or expanding large concentrated animal feeding operations, as an example of something she wasn’t sure was achievable right now. Kuhi said she felt a deep empathy for dairy cows, because she was also capable of getting pregnant and giving birth, and thus would like to focus on some reform of the industry exploiting them.
Justin Anthony Knapp is a member of Central Indiana DSA. He believed our relationship with animals needs to be reimagined and radically changed, but didn’t think this would happen in his lifetime. Knapp emphasized the continuity between humans and other creatures. He argued, within DSA, animal activists should raise consciousness about nonhuman welfare and ag-gag laws. The latter criminalize whistleblowing and undercover investigations of farm facilities. Knapp added DSA-backed candidates should seek to overturn ag-gag laws on First Amendment grounds.
Shawna Rose Robbins Nixon is a member of Silicon Valley DSA. Her father has been involved with the group since its founding in 1982, following the merger of the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee and the New American Movement. She approved of a variety of forms of animal use, conceding her stance might simply reflect a desire to eat meat, but wanted to improve nonhuman treatment. Nixon thought an issue-specific publication or working group would be a good way to get animal issues taken more seriously within DSA. She wanted leftist candidates to back the abolition of animal testing, which Nixon considered inhumane and outdated.
A member of NYC DSA, Cody Smith is a third-generation participant in the beef industry and a second-generation cattle rancher. He became committed to animal rights after majoring in philosophy in college. Smith wasn’t sure whether welfare reforms helped or merely assuaged ethical concerns and normalized nonhuman exploitation. Within his DSA branch, he’s primarily involved with the Membership Committee, the Central Brooklyn Community Solidarity Committee, the Political Education Committee, and the Socialists for Animal Justice group.
“We’re in the process of creating a formal DSA vegan group in NYC,” he said, adding SAJ seeks to promote veganism within DSA and turn vegan liberals into socialists. “We do this by collaborating with DSA’s Ecosocialist group, pushing for animal rights legislation, drawing connections between animal rights and other liberation movements, and organizing vegan events within and outside of DSA. I’m not particularly plugged into the electoral elements of DSA, but I think cultured meat is worth investing in… On a similar note, if plant-based food can be produced inexpensively for schools, Meatless Mondays for schools can be an easy win.”
