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Beasts of Burden: Animal and Disability Liberation

4.62  ·  Rating details ·  282 ratings  ·  40 reviews
A beautifully written, deeply provocative inquiry into the intersection of animal and disability liberation—and the debut of an important new social critic

How much of what we understand of ourselves as “human” depends on our physical and mental abilities—how we move (or cannot move) in and interact with the world? And how much of our definition of “human” depends on its di
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Hardcover, 272 pages
Published March 7th 2017 by The New Press (first published October 27th 2015)
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Average rating 4.62  · 
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Corvus
This book is spectacular. Carol Adams told me about this book about a year before it came out when I was talking to her at a conference. I mentioned that I don't know a lot of people who write about the intersection of disability and animal liberation and she told me that "Beasts of Burden" was in the works. I also read Sunaura Taylor's contribution to the Ecofeminism anthology which completely rocked my world. From that point forward, I eagerly awaited the release date of Sunaura Taylor's book. ...more
Kevin
I avoid giving 5-stars so books like this can stand out…

Preamble
--When considering people at their worst, what bothers me on an eerie level is mass abstractions/rationalizations. The “War on Terror” (geopolitics) and the 2008 Financial Crisis (capitalism) shaped my explorations of this in political economy. Our abstract relationship with the environment is of course a growing concern as well.
Ableism and speciesism have become increasingly glaring (to give a familiar, seemingly-innocuous exampl
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Kate Savage
Jun 26, 2018 rated it really liked it
Sunaura Tayler 'crips' animal liberation and critiques speciesist trends in ableism. The result is beautiful.

I've never encountered such a thoughtful, caring critical theory about other species. Those who care about other species need this: we need new ways to think about dependence and worth. I don't want to slide into that eco-theory that hates all domesticated beasts for being dependent. I don't want to slide into that veganism that idolizes thinness and health. And I also don't want to slide
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Ireene
Mar 14, 2018 rated it it was amazing
Wow, I learned so much from this book and realised that I have so much more to learn. A must read for sure!
Stacie
Jul 04, 2018 rated it it was amazing
Shelves: lit-theory
This was so, so good.
Madeline
Oct 31, 2017 rated it it was amazing
Wow! Yes!
Corey Wrenn
Jul 21, 2017 rated it it was amazing
One of the most important books ever to be written on intersectional veganism. This book covers the basics of disability and animal rights (such as the problematic cognitive arguments often made to promote animal rights and the problems with using disability to justify vivisection), making it appropriate for the novice. It also explores some of the more nuanced issues. The chapter challenging the negative portrayal of dependency (a quality that applies to all beings in the social world, not just ...more
Dominic
"If animal and disability oppression are entangled, might not that mean their paths of liberation are entangled as well?"

Mainstream animal rights and liberation discourse has, for the longest time, rested on a number of troubling arguments about personhood and sentience. In Animal Liberation (1975), the foundational text of contemporary animal rights discourse, Peter Singer famously writes that because humans and nonhuman animals both possess the capacity to suffer, both should be given equal
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Andrew
Dec 22, 2018 rated it it was amazing
Absolutely necessary, approachable, and nuanced interrogation of the way ableism and speciesism interconnect in assumptions of value, labour, self-determination, and ethical consideration.
Chris
Feb 17, 2021 rated it it was amazing
This book side swiped me in a good way. I intended to breeze through it as background research for my most recent book I’m writing. But the clarity, precision, intelligence and accessibility of the writing made me unable to put the book down or skim pages. Honestly, I know very little about disability studies and still do largely. But this book at least introduced me to some key concepts and revealed how enlightening a disabilities studies framework is in understanding the potential for animal r ...more
Jess
Jun 18, 2018 rated it really liked it
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Chris
May 18, 2021 rated it it was amazing
I have been meaning to read this book for a while. Sunaura Taylor beautifully articulated so much of what I feel. This book is funny, moving, important, and for me, validating.
Yves Bonnardel
Very good book about speciesism and ableism!
Mitchell
I wasn't quite sure what to expect when I checked this book out. I had been interested in it thanks to a promotional article shared with me about a year or so ago, but since my background for the subject material was a single college-level survey of disability studies and maybe seeing some clips of Food, Inc. in high school, I could imagine the analysis getting away from me very fast.

Once I started, though, it was hard to stop. I was fascinated! Taylor makes a compelling analysis of how disabili
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Katherine Ripley
Jun 01, 2018 rated it it was amazing
Fantastic! I have already been vegan for 2 years, but reading this book helped me to confront my ableism, whether it was informing some of my views on animal liberation, or just operating in every day life. Taylor’s argument is well-written, coherent, and powerful.
Cat
Jul 20, 2017 rated it liked it
A whole new perspective on the underlying frameworks underpinning disability and domesticated animals. The writing style and organization left a lot to be desired.
Ian
Oct 21, 2019 rated it really liked it
Was not expecting the author to have a go at Temple Grandin's nonsense, but boy was i happy for it. ...more
B.V. Buntin
Dec 19, 2019 rated it it was amazing
Recommends it for: Casual readers and scholars alike
Sunaura Taylor's Beasts of Burden dives deep into the intersectional oppressions of the disability community and animals. The human/animal binary that is so ingrained within us contributes to forms of human oppression alongside animal oppression. Taylor takes on big names like Peter Singer, Michael Pollan, and Temple Grandin, demonstrating how their arguments in support of animal exploitation (or even against it) draw from ideas about disability as a state of shame, dependency, and a lack of tra ...more
Elise
Sep 26, 2020 rated it really liked it
Sunaura Taylor is an American painter, writer and activist, both in the fields of disability and of animal rights. She was born with arthrogryposis, a disability that affects her articulations (and doesn’t keep her from being a painter, writer and activist, quite the contrary!)

In this book, she shows us readers the parallels between speciesism and ableism, the similarities to be found between humans who consider animals to be worthless and able-bodied people who consider disabled people the same
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Ghm
May 08, 2021 rated it liked it
Shelves: academic
IMO, If this book had been just the first 3 parts it would have deserved 5 stars. These sections contribute to a single, compelling argument; about the historical and present practices and attitudes that tie together the linguistic and actual treatment of animals and disabled people. These 3 sections balance historical evidence/ anecdotes, and Her personal anecdotes, and contribute to a new (to me) perspective that asks the reader to rethink how and why we value certain abilities, and how we pra ...more
E.F.
Oct 10, 2019 rated it it was amazing
A strikingly concise and insightful work of urgent importance. Connecting multiple movements toward a framework for social justice, Taylor's criticisms of the shortcomings of theoretical thinking about movements for animal justice reveal the profoundly ableist assumptions at work in much of that work while establishing a new framework that brilliantly re-imagines vulnerability, interdependence, and community. by reframing conversations of ability around social rather than medical models, Taylor ...more
Sdubby
Jul 09, 2018 rated it really liked it
I really enjoyed this book, Sunaura Taylor has a lot of great references and did an excellent job researching the information and backing up her opinions. She did a great job of explaining the similarities and differences with the animal welfare movement and disability rights and activism. The author brought up a lot of good questions about both topics, and exposed some flaws in logic and reasoning that other people have. My one criticism of this book is that it brought up many more questions th ...more
Mattius Padney
Sep 24, 2021 rated it liked it
The author provides an excellent analysis of the intersection between two forms of oppression (speciesism and ableism) but from a moral philosophy point of view the book is extremely lacking. She authors almost no suggestions for how we might address and alleviate the forms of oppression she discusses. At certain points she simply refuses to provide an answer to hard questions and in others is consistently vague about what the supposed positive benefits of having a disability are.

I found the boo
...more
Bobby
May 22, 2018 rated it it was amazing
It's not an easy thing to do, but I believe that Sunaura Taylor pulled off what she set out to do: to show a link between our attitude toward animals and our attitude toward the disabled. I came away from this book with an increased perspective on animal liberation but also increased compassion for the disabled and how society's biases (carnism and ableism) taint our perspectives on animals and the disabled alike. By the time I was done, it seemed that my soul was bigger and broader than when I ...more
tris
Feb 07, 2018 rated it really liked it
Shelves: owned, veganism
everyone should read this.

tbh, i could have used a whole book branching off of the "freak of nature" chapter. biggest overall complaint is probably that it just didn't.....go hard enough, feeling mostly like food for thought rather than trying to dissect and dismantle opposing lines of thought - but not everyone wants to write that book. it certainly wasn't ineffectual in terms of argumentation, and managed to maybe turn me around on my views on the future of domestication.
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Tivoli
Nov 18, 2020 rated it it was amazing
I knew I needed to read this book when I picked it up and it didn't disappoint. It helped me to reflect on and challenge a lot of the ideas and beliefs I had about disability. And the intersection of animal activism and the disability liberation movement is just beautiful. I'd highly recommend. ...more
M
Rarely do I encounter such amazingly intelligent and caring writing. I have lots to say about this, but I'll just say that I loved it, for now. ...more
Bella Nicole Radant
Aug 08, 2020 rated it really liked it
Shelves: read-humanities
Interesting and well argued, I don't buy into the core hypothesis but good scholarship that raises important issues ...more
Kim
Feb 14, 2021 rated it it was amazing
The best nonfiction book I have read in years. Every page was a revelation. Read this book!
Jess
May 26, 2021 rated it it was amazing
Truly incredible book that made me question a lot of assumptions and what I was taught about disability and dependence.
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8 likes · 4 comments
“Denying someone [else] justice just because you do not yet have your own is never a good idea. I am also convinced we cannot have disability liberation without animal liberation--they are intimately tied together. What if, rather than dismissing or disassociating for the struggle of animals, we embraced what political theorist Claire Jean Kim calls an 'ethics of avowal,' a recognition that oppressions are linked, and that we can be 'open in meaningful and sustained way to the suffering and claims of other subordinated groups, even or perhaps especially in the course of political battle'? Compassion is not a limited resource.” 3 likes
“Unless disability and animal justice are incorporated into our other movements for liberation, ableism and anthropocentrism will be left unchallenged, available for use by systems of domination and oppression.” 3 likes
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