Current Research

High-risk/cost activism is a relatively understudied phenomenon, in part due to difficulties in accessing high-risk/cost-activism-engaging groups. This is true of "radical" ecological movements — liberation-focused factions of the environmental and animal rights movements — which are often misunderstood and relatively under-theorized. Meanwhile, growing concerns about the nonhuman world including climate change, biodiversity loss, and animal welfare are promoting increased participation in riskier and costlier forms of activism on behalf of nature and animals. 

My current research project sits at the intersection of social network analysis, social movements, environmental sociology and animal studies. It explores factors contributing to high-risk and high-cost activism in the animal advocacy movement (e.g. actions which carry significant potential for fines/incarceration and investments in time/energy).

Previous studies in social movements and social network analysis suggest that strong network ties to other activists (and/or core constituencies) are key motivators of high-risk/cost activism for movements focused on human rights. Theories in environmental sociology propose that affective (social) connections to animals (and nature) are necessary precursors to one's willingness to support rights for nonhumans. However, it remains unclear whether social (or quasi-social) ties to nonhuman entities (such as friendship or kinship relations) actually predict high-risk/cost activism within ecological movements.

This research spotlights the effects of social ties to activists and animals in promoting high-risk/cost animal advocacy. As such, it contributes to knowledge across the fields of social network analysis, social movements, environmental sociology and animal studies. Further, it carries implications for other movements advocating on behalf of nonhuman entities (e.g. environmental movements, Indigenous-led ecological movements, Rights of Nature movements).

1. What factors (e.g. ties to activists, animals) promote participation in the most risky and costly forms of animal advocacy?

2. What factors contribute to animal advocates' leap from (i) low-risk/cost activism to medium-risk/cost activism and (ii) medium-risk/cost activism to high-risk/cost activism?

3. How do animal advocates think about their connections to animals? What types of relations do they have to animals (e.g. friendship, kinship, acquaintanceship)?

4. What overlaps in social movement membership exist between the animal advocacy movement and other social movements (e.g. environmental, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, women's, workers' rights movements)?