Animal Resistance
Collective Liberation
Multispecies Solidarity
ANIMAL RESISTANCE IN THE GLOBAL CAPITALIST ERA
Throughout history, animals have been consumed, commodified, and oppressed by humans. Yet, despite the immense constraints nonhuman animals face, they have actively rebelled, and rebel every day, against human control. In Animal Resistance in the Global Capitalist Era, Sarat Colling shares some of these overlooked stories of nonhuman resistance, situating them within the context of capitalism, domestication, and colonization.
Whether monkeys escaping from laboratory cages, pigs refusing to descend the slaughterhouse chute, goats escaping and returning to liberate their herd from livestock auctions, beavers building traps into their dams, whales sinking ships to defend their kin, or elephants retaliating against circus abuses—animals communicate their plight and assert their agency. Exploring this understudied phenomenon, this book is attentive to both the animals’ standpoints and how they are represented in the human imagination. Together, these lenses demonstrate how animal resistance disrupts the dominant paradigm of human exceptionalism and the distancing strategies of animal enterprises. Animals have been relegated to the margins by human spatial and ideological orderings, but they are also the subjects of their own struggle, located at the centre of their liberation movement. Reimagining how we might understand, represent, and act in greater solidarity with other species, Animal Resistance in the Global Capitalist Era makes an essential contribution to scholarship on animals and society. Accessibly written, with over fifty images, this book will appeal to a wide audience interested in human relationships with the other animals with whom we share this planet.
Order: MSU Press | Indigo | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca
CHICKPEA RUNS AWAY
Chickpea the cow lives in a factory farm. She has never been outside to feel the warmth of the sun on her fur or the grass under her hooves. When the opportunity arises to make a break for freedom, she takes it.
Born into captivity, Chickpea has witnessed friends and family being taken away to an unknown fate. One day, the farmer leads Chickpea and all the rest of the cows outdoors to a scary-looking truck. Chickpea knows she shouldn’t go. Making a quick decision, she leaps the fence and escapes into the woods. For the first time ever, Chickpea discovers the world outside the farm and, thanks to some delicious vegan pie, makes new friends who welcome her with loving hearts. Inspired by true stories of runaway cows, Chickpea's tale is one of bravery and newfound freedom.
Order: Vegan Publishers | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca
ABOUT
I was born on Hornby Island, BC, surrounded by the Salish Sea and its many wild inhabitants. My early life spent exploring forests, beaches, and creek beds seeded an ethos of anti-speciesism and environmentalism. In 2004, during my first semester of university, I was introduced to the idea of animal rights and soon after became a vegan and animal advocate. After completing my master's thesis, “Animals Without Borders,” I published several books, including Animal Resistance in the Global Capitalist Era (2020) and the children's book Chickpea Runs Away (2019). I have now returned to my island roots, residing in a handmade tiny house that I share with my exuberant rescued chihuahua, Xena. Currently, I am writing a new book that tells 50 stories of animal rebels who have defied human control throughout history. Find out more.
