Customer Reviews

Making A Killing: The Political Economy of Animal Rights

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Making a Killing is the book I've been waiting for since I went vegan five years ago. First and foremost, Torres demonstrates that animal exploitation is not merely a consumer problem, but is part of an integrated social system based on hierarchy and domination. Through a clear and accessible introduction to Marxist political economy, Torres discusses animals through the logic of commodity forms and puts forth a set of flexible and empowering guidelines to abolish animal exploitation through an anarchist interpretation of Gary Francione's abolitionist framework.

Furthermore, Torres discusses the issues with contemporary anarchism and social justice politics, suggesting that to take equality seriously we must recognize animal subjectivity and fight for their liberation. In his use of Murray Bookchin's libertarian philosophy, aptly named 'social ecology', Torres makes the case for animals based on the anarchist critique of hierarchy and power.

Making A Killing is an excellent, entertaining read with an ambitious call for a serious reworking of our understanding of the animal rights movement based on social justice and democracy. Anyone hoping to understand animal rights, abolitionism, Marxism and anarchism will be delighted by this smart and readable book.

Before I read this book, I couldn't really say why I was a vegan. I mean, I could rattle off various problems I had with the suffering that animals endured, the health and environmental benefits, etc. Torres's book provided the theoretical support for my personal veganism. It was a revelation. I had never really considered veganism as a way to reject the capitalism-induced hierarchy that plagues society today. I never really understood what it meant to be vegan. In fact, I wasn't entirely vegan. I wavered quite a bit, knowing somewhere, deep down, that eating animal products was wrong. Making a Killing synthesized it all for me.

The writing is direct and informative. Torres draws from a wide variety of sources. And while the writing is still a bit unpolished, all writing is a work in progress. That said, Torres ties together well the various social justice movements and provides a critical analysis of the animal rights movement today.

For me, this book changed my perspective on animal rights and what it means to be a vegan.

Are you interested in reading about Marxist theory or the writings of Murray Bookchin and Gary Francione? If so, this book is for you. You'll encounter pages and pages of Marxist theory interrupted by pages of explaining what other authors have written. Details on animals fall in between, many of which, such as those on factory farming, you can read in most other animal rights books. Perhaps this describes what other reviewers wanted because frankly I'm amazed at the amount of 5 star reviews. It's not that I disagree with the message in the book or many of its observations, it's just that it has flaws. These override any desire I have as an animal-rights advocate to unequivocally champion it.

One of the flaws is that it is annoyingly repetitive. That's what you tend to get if someone is peddling a thin argument. It can also happen with books done in what I call "template academia" style, in which you take a theory as your template and apply your issue to it. Torres explains the template, then steps back and says, See this? It works the same for animals. There is only so much you can take "to understand the inequality and hierarchy between species, and to shed light on the constant oppression of animals in our society." OK, we got it. We got it several pages back. Too often, many of Torres' proclamations do not need a theory, anyway. They might be arrived at through plain observation. And I cringe when seeing the word "bourgeois" used--its seems quite worn-out as far as words go. Less template and more direct focus on animal rights is what I would have liked--after all, animal rights is in the title.

I wondered if I found it repetitive because I was familiar with a lot of the theory behind it. But no, it's just repetitive, such as this example within the Bookchin "block" of pages.

p. 76 - "such abject hierarchy, not only over animals, but over other humans and even the rest of the natural world"
p. 77 - "we not only oppress other humans, but we also dominate, abuse, and destroy nature"
p. 78 - "human domination of nature evolved from problems of hierarchy and domination among humans"
p. 80 - "domination of nature by humanity stems directly from the domination of human by human"
p. 81 - "human domination by human leads to the human domination of nature"
p. 83 - "our focus is now completely ruled by domination, and we turn this domination towards nature"

OK, nature/human, human/nature, We get it!

While on this section, another problem for me is the relative absence of a sense of hierarchy coming from our ape heritage. It's in our bones, just as it is for the baboon or chimp. You're not going to get rid of it. Yet Torres would have us believe humans once existed in some kind of noble savage era when "organic societies" prevailed. If I am to believe that, I'm going to need some evidence. In his argument, or Bookchin's, it's all about non-genetic social constructs and transformations, which I realize are critical to their theoretical position, but for me that just doesn't cover it all.

Similarly left out are references to religion. After the Bookchin section, Jim Masson's book An Unnatural Order: Roots of Our Destruction of Nature is referred to, and if you've read Masson's book you'll be thinking, Hey, a lot of what Bookchin says is similar to what Masson says, only in a different way. Torres acknowledges this, but he should have explored what Masson wrote about religion in relation to animal domination. Religion is the main player in at least the West's history of social hierarchies and the unnatural order based on an imposed chain of being. When talking about domination over animals by humans, as Torres is, no substantial mention of religion is a serious omission.

Torres is blatantly following the abolitionist lead of Francione, and that's all right, but the problem with abolitionists is that they are forever laboring to distinguish themselves from other animal rights groups. Torres is no different. Typically, he embarks on fashionable PETA and Singer bashing. They, along with numerous organizations, are rejected as so-called "new welfarists." I admit it's something I still struggle with, this debate over incrementally alleviating animal suffering versus holding out for some very, very distant abolitionist ideal. But a division shouldn't exist. Torres makes the argument against new welfarists, as groups that "disregard the rights of animals today... in the hope that some other animals will have rights tomorrow." Well, in a sense, you could apply those words against abolitionists too--they're doing a similar thing!

Torres also overlooks how the meat industry is not the only front for animal advocacy groups. Hunting, torture videos, clothing--the list goes on, and in many instances there is no compromise from the new welfarists. At the end of the day, they are after exactly the same ideal state the abolitionists are after. So what's wrong with a wide multifaceted front against the abusers and exploiters? I tend to think you have to throw everything you've got at the problem. It takes that just to get the average pleb to arise out of apathy. Take this very debate--it's nothing new and goes back over 100 years at least. You'll find it in Henry Salt's "Restrictionists and Abolitionists," for example. Yet here we are still talking about the same issues with a new generation, most of whom, it is sad to say, either react like hostile rednecks to animal issues or do not care enough to actually do anything.

One final thing I didn't appreciate in this book were occasional proclamations of the "ideal," you know, where you're told what society should be, how people should be living, how we must do this, how we must do that. While I realize some stab at a solution is required in a book on a social topic, such pronouncements for change always tend to irk me. They're too close to platitudes. It's all very fine to make them in an academic text and in the world of theory. Problem is that humanity includes the very stupid and the very evil and everything in between. And models of human conduct based on the socialist ideal don't work in reality. Never have, never will. There has to be bosses when you are dealing with humans because too many humans want to be the boss. Humans cannot self-organize indefinitely, not in the way Torres fantasizes.

At the beginning of the book, Torres states that his aim is to open people's minds and persuade new thinking. However, what he does is preach to the choir in a way that won't serve to inculcate the many facets of animal rights advocacy to the uninitiated. That's partly why I thought I should write a review, as a note to say that you would better off selecting something else by way of introduction or to learn more about animals rights. This book has its place, but it simply isn't all inclusive enough to suit a wide audience. It could very well turn people off animal rights, with all the theories and their explanations--if they buy it expecting something else. So, if you're new to animal rights or want a book that focuses more on animals, "Making a Killing" is not the one.

Go vegan.

As a committed listener to the "VeganFreak Radio Podcast" and vegan myself, ever since Bob Torres, the author of Making a Killing a political economy of animal right , made it obvious to the listeners of his and his wifes' Podcast that he was working on a book I become eager to purchase and read his only solo documentation of animal rights. Being a professor, Torres shows a sense of very well researched and expanded upon ideas within the book all revolving around the main reason for the book, animal rights. He takes everything from the most commercialized concepts to the smaller ideas behind closed doors and expands upon their deeper sociological meanings to help provide insight to the reader on all sides of the mostly horrible animal agriculture in this country, and all over the world for the most part. His highly articulated commitment to the welfare of animals comes across boldly within every section of this book, commenting on many of the well known activists articles of literature and explaining their importance to the reader. Describing the animals, viewed from a pure profit stand-point, as being exploited and simple commodities, not the living beings that they are. These "commodities" being parallel to a companion animal, being a dog or a cat most commonly. Overall this book opens ones eyes about the truths of the horrific animal agriculture, and slaps articulated and rich words on top of the commonly looked past ideas behind all aspects of the world of animal rights. From both a political stand point and sociological stand point this book presses important issues that should be realized by all americans who care about the welfare of living beings on earth, and have an interest in anarchist ideas related to animal rights.

Making A Killing is a comprehensive overview of the animal rights movement and how it relates to other liberation movements, including civil rights movements such as worker's rights and women's rights. Bob Torres clearly explains why animals must be included in a broader liberation movement, delivering startling insights into the reality of domination, power, and hierarchy across races, genders, and species. The smart analysis draws on Marxism, anarchism, and socioeconomic theory - this book is not a light read by any means! But there is no doubt that Making A Killing will have a far-reaching effect on animal rights in theory and practice. This book is a must-read for vegans and animal rights enthusiasts, and human rights advocates would do well to take notes from this astute social justice piece as well. The message is clear: compassion, freedom, and rights must be universal for any liberation movement to succeed.

Amazon kills animals by supporting the fur industry.

I liked the book, but am saddened that I bought it from a company that SELLS FUR. I am sick and sad that I ever gave Amazon a single dime. I am not the only one. Amazon execs should understand that there are many more people out here who are offended at the butchering deaths of helpless animals for ridiculous VANITY, than there are people who would actually go to amazon to buy their FUR COATS. I ask that others please reconsider buying any more products from these people until they stop selling fur, and stop sending out cookie-cutter form letters to those of us who give a damn about the lives of others. (No, it is not enough to claim that they're merely trying to "give the customer what they want even if it offends some people. Would they say that if I wanted to buy heroin? If I wanted to buy a nuclear weapon? If I wanted to buy an Indonesian House Boy??? Not good enough. Some things are so reprehensible that society demands that they NOT sell them. Although, I'm sure that if they could, they would, so long as it was profitable.)

Take the profit out of death and join me in boycotting Amazon. There are hundreds of other sites that sell great books, often cheaper, that do not profit from the deaths of innocent animals.

When I found this title on the AK Press table at the Renewing the Anarchist Tradition Conference, I was excited to pick it up. I have long seen a connection between animal rights and broader critiques of capitalism and hierarchy, and hoped Making a Killing could be just the book to make those connections explicit.

The book exceeded my expectations. Torres provides thorough and accessible introductions to Marxist political economy and social anarchist theory, relating both to animal rights. Drawing on the anarchist critique of social hierarchy and domination, Torres argues that those who are concerned with social justice need to take the plight of animals seriously.

Making a Killing would be great for anyone interested in understanding anti-capitalist thinking as it relates to both human and non-human liberation.

I love everything that Bob writes, he has a great knowledge about this topic. Making a killing is a great book that makes an interesting connection between the economical system and the situation of the animals. I liked it a lot.

As committed as I thought I was to the animal rights movement and specifically veganism, I learned much about the how's and why's of the current trends and how to improve the outlook for all the world's sentient beings, indeed, Gaia herself from reading Bob Torre's wonderfully insightful book.

Torres helped me clarify my position and provided me with cogent reasoning to offer up when facing opposition. Torres provided me with support and confirmed that I and my fellow revolutionaries have what it takes to make it happen, to get to the point where animals are no longer viewed as something separate from us, a commodity we have no right to use for our greedy and avaricious ends, all written in language that gets to the root of the situation.

I walk away with "the revolution will not be televised. You cannot buy the revolution" but you can buy Making a Killing and get the revolution started......

It is obvious that this book is well-researched and well-written. What it did for me, tho, is help put my subjective feelings into objective perspective. I highly, highly recommend this read on every level: "we" cannot effectively promote humane animal treatment without knowing the social and political platform on which we stand. This book is often a real eye-opener, and wonderfully effective in getting down to the nitty gritty of the animal rights effort.