CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Dragnevska, Karina |
|---|---|
| Title | Planting Ideas: A Moral and Economic Case for Veganism within Degrwoth |
| Summary | This thesis explores veganism through moral and economic perspectives, beginning with an analysis of three major normative ethics theories: utilitarianism, Kantian deontology, and virtue ethics. While each of them provides reasons to reduce animal harm, I argue that they all fail to demand full veganism, due to the fundamental assumption of moral hierarchy between humans and animals. This limitation calls for a rethinking of the traditional ethical frameworks. I apply Karen Barad’s flat ontology from her book “Meeting the Universe Halfway” to veganism and argue that veganism then demands us to re-examine and change our relationship with non-humans to one that does not commodify them, treats them with equal moral worth, and allows their lives to flourish. I consider what this means for other species such as plants and rocks. Then I argue that for veganism to be more than a dietary restriction, we must transform our current socio-economic system. I propose that the goals of veganism align with degrowth, a socio-economic movement that challenges capitalism’s imperative of endless growth and instead seeks to build a world centered around care, sustainability, and justice. I argue that degrowth provides the necessary conditions for veganism to work, and conversely degrowth must address animal agriculture and speciesism to achieve its promise of ‘good life for all’. By situating veganism in the degrowth framework, I show that the two need each other to imagine and transform a just and more livable world for all beings. |
| Supervisor | Passinsky, Asya Julia |
| Department | Undergraduate Studies BA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/dragnevska_karina.pdf |
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