“Nobody’s paying me to cry”: the causes of activist burnout in United States animal rights activists

ABSTRACT

We examine the causes of activist burnout – a condition in which the accumulative stress associated with activism becomes so debilitating that once-committed activists are forced to scale back on or disengage from their activism – in 17 United States animal rights activists. Following a phenomenological qualitative approach, analysis of interview data revealed three primary categories of burnout causes: 1) intrinsic motivational and psychological factors, 2) organizational and movement culture, and 3) within-movement in-fighting and marginalization. Implications for understandings of activist burnout and the AR movement are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Animal rights
• burnout
• activism
• activists
• social movements

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul Gorski

Paul Gorski is the founder of the Equity Literacy Institute and EdChange. He is a lifelong activist spanning many social justice issues and conducts research on social justice education and activist burnout.

Stacy Lopresti-Goodman

Stacy Lopresti-Goodman is an Associate Professor of Psychology and the Director of the Honors Program at Marymount University. Her research focuses on understanding the enduring impact that confinement, social isolation, and physical abuse have on the psychological well-being of nonhuman animals rescued from laboratories. She also studies alternatives to the use of animals in psychology education.

Dallas Rising

Dallas Rising is a long-time ally of other species with experience in anti-speciesism education, direct intervention, policy, and strategy relating to animal liberation. After experiencing burnout herself, she stepped away from direct activism and is currently teaching yoga and mindfulness with an emphasis on equity and inclusion.