Customer Reviews

The Animal Activist's Handbook: Maximizing Our Positive Impact in Today's World (Flashpoint (Lantern))

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Animal Activist's Handbook offers invaluable suggestions for how to be as effective as possible in giving a voice to the voiceless. The plight of animals is so dire that we can't afford to engage in advocacy that isn't optimally useful in changing people attitudes about, and actions, toward them. I wish this book had been written when I first got involved in the animal protection movement--it would have made my early years as an animal advocate a lot more effective!

Ball and Friedrich's contribution is aptly named a "handbook", though it's more than that. There is a great amount of useful information in one slim reference source, and a thoughtful distillation of so much that activists need to know. But it's not only for those who advocate. Others just wanting to know the ethical and practical case for compassion for all beings will find this a thorough resource that can be read quickly and grasped easily.

I found this book helpful and instructive in both giving some historical perspective as well as giving usefl ideas on how to be a better advocate for animals. Recommended reading for all who want to live their lives constructively in the pursuit of animal rights.

This book is essential reading for anyone that endeavors to speak on behalf of animals. It's to the point and packed with helpful information to make you a more effective animal advocate. This book is well organized and written. There's no fluff or padding, it's what you need to know and nothing more. The authors know that as an animal advocate, you have no time to waste.

This book is a quick read offering the best of animal advocacy, including contextual, care-centered ethics toward both human and non-human animals. Far from essentializing ethical behavior in a one-size-fits-all model, this handbook encourages socratic conversation, mutual change through relationships, and patient, process-oriented dialogue. Though the book is heavy on pragmatic evaluation, it is balanced by a degree of emotional and spiritual reflection that honors both the rational and intuitive elements of care-centered action and effective activism.

This book is so much more than a "how-to" guide for activists. It is an inspirational and motivational opus from the two gentlest yet most effective giants in the movement. The Animal Activist's Handbook will elevate your activism and forever alter who you are and who you want to be.

This book is a great introduction to being effective activist. Activism can be something as simple as promoting a particular point of view to your friends and family. Matt and Bruce make a compelling case for advocating your point of view in a way that focuses on the person you are speaking with, not on yourself. This is a very effective way to convey any point of view to an audience (of one or many). Most importantly, it's a very effective way to engage with your audience without alienating them. That's why I wholeheartedly recommend this book to those who wish to more effectively advocate ANY point of view, not just animal activists.

Moreover, even if you see yourself as a quiet vegetarian who does not actively seek to influence others, I strongly recommend this book to you so that you are better prepared for conversations with people who have an interest in (or a hostility to) vegetarianism and seek your point of view.

For the newbie, a quick and concise introduction to effective advocacy; for the more experienced, a great refresher. Despite some personal quibbles with the book's underlying philosophy (rooted in utilitarian thought), ultimately I know from experience that Vegan Outreach's pamphlets are very effective. In fact, I went vegetarian (and later vegan) because of VO and PETA. Buy this book, read it, then share with friends or your group.

Matt and Bruce have written an outstanding, throught-provoking guide to effective advocacy, and whether or not you are a newbie or veteran animal activist, this book is for you! They keep things simple and to the point. All of their insight, based on decades of combined experience, is practical and logical. I feel that the methods of advocacy that Matt and Bruce have outlined in the book are proven effective and work well in today's society - and I can speak from personal experience. As an animal activist, our interaction with other people is crucial to helping create awareness and bring an end to the unnecessary suffering of animals - and therefore, like thoughtful psychologists, we can be more effective through our methods of advocacy that we choose because, by the example we set, we can either have positive or negative interactions with others, and that in turn directly effects the animals. So this book is must read (and re-read) for any activist at any level of experience!

Our local advocacy group read this for a book discussion and it helped both new and experienced activists refine answers to the most important questions - why be an activist, what issue to work on, and how to be a more effective advocate.

I've long been a fan of Matt Ball and Bruce Friedrich, and it's great to have the authors' best essays and experience summarized in one small handbook. My favorite part is their argument for working on farmed animal issues: the numbers, the suffering, and the opportunity. And the last chapter is a terrific motivator - we sometimes forget the strides we have made and are making.