Global France Seminar presents: Lecture by Renan Larue “French Veganism, an Oxymoron?”
Global France Seminar presents: Lecture by Renan Larue “French Veganism, an Oxymoron?”
"French Veganism, an Oxymoron?" Renan Larue is an Associate Professor of French and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara When: September 21st @ 5:00pm (ET) Where: 14E-304 Abstract: In an interview published in 2006, the most famous advocate of antispeciesism, Peter Singer, theorized the concept of the "Paris exception." According to him, there are no good reasons for vegans to be too strict about their diet when they are traveling and plant-based options are unavailable. Naming that "exception" or "indulgence" after the capital of France undoubtedly says something about American and global perceptions of French gastronomy and culture. Indeed, France seems to be the epitome of "carnistic" values. On the one hand, fish, meat, and cheese are, of course, a crucial part of French cuisine; on the other hand, French philosophical and religious tradition—from Catholic anthropocentrism or Descartes' radical views on animals to the taste for bullfighting amongst influential writers and politicians—profoundly contributed to undermining the concepts of animal rights and welfare. However, things have recently and quite rapidly changed, particularly in the mainstream media. In this talk, Dr. Renan Larue will summarize the intellectual debates that vegetarianism has sparked since the 18th century before addressing the rise of veganism in the public sphere in the last few years, as well as the heated […]