ABSTRACT
Associating veganism with whiteness and privilege is not only wrong, it marks and marginalizes vegans of color in the vegan movement and makes veganism unappealing to people of color. This qualitative study employs Goffman’s (1953) theories to explain how vegans of color experience both visible and invisible stigma from mainstream vegan movements and from their ethnic communities. I emphasize three reasons why my participants believe people of color are resistant to veganism: it is linked with whiteness, affiliated with privilege, and deemed incompatible with ethnicity. My participants engage in a process of differentiation and normalization from white veganism to destigmatize veganism to communities of color.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
2. For more information on whiteness and alternative food movements, please read Alkon et al. (Citation2013), Alkon and Christie Grace (Citation2011), Johnston, Szabo, and Rodney (Citation2011), Guthman (Citation2008a, Citation2008b), Paddock (Citation2015a, Citation2015b), and Slocum (Citation2006, Citation2013).
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Notes on contributors
Jessica Greenebaum
Jessica Greenebaum is Professor of Sociology at Central Connecticut State University. She conducts research and teaches in the fields of gender, animals, and society, and the culture and politics of food.
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