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THE VEGETARIAN SOCIAL MOVEMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF WITHDRAWAL AND BACKSLIDING

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Date Issued:
2011
Abstract/Description:
The vegetarian social movement is a "new" social movement based in lifestyle and cultural change. New social movements hold a strong emphasis on collective identity and social networks as a means to sustain participation. The majority of the social movement literature remains focused on movement engagement and mobilization while a large gap exists regarding disengagement. This project explores the barriers to vegetarian maintenance. The primary question answered is, why do some vegetarians and vegans backslide and withdraw from the practice? Fourteen individuals were interviewed to discover the social and cultural factors inherent in vegetarian instability. Over the course of the interviews, the project morphed into an analysis of why and how my respondents changed their food habits over time and what was the context that prompted these changes. Vegetarianism is a unique movement as definitions of what constitutes a vegetarian is rooted in the individual, idiosyncratic biographies of individuals. This study found the influence of family, traditions, labels/definitions, peers, gender and the lure of social status to be very significant regarding vegetarian flux. Results indicate that vegetarian membership is fluid and permeable, takes on a life course trajectory and is rooted within the context of many social and cultural factors. Uncovering the barriers to vegetarianism not only adds to the disengagement aspect of social movement research, but also hopes to aid movement leaders in overcoming this problem as well as further substantiate and progress the vegetarian social movement.
Title: THE VEGETARIAN SOCIAL MOVEMENT: AN ANALYSIS OF WITHDRAWAL AND BACKSLIDING.
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Name(s): Hecht, Jaime, Author
Grauerholz, Elizabeth, Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2011
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: The vegetarian social movement is a "new" social movement based in lifestyle and cultural change. New social movements hold a strong emphasis on collective identity and social networks as a means to sustain participation. The majority of the social movement literature remains focused on movement engagement and mobilization while a large gap exists regarding disengagement. This project explores the barriers to vegetarian maintenance. The primary question answered is, why do some vegetarians and vegans backslide and withdraw from the practice? Fourteen individuals were interviewed to discover the social and cultural factors inherent in vegetarian instability. Over the course of the interviews, the project morphed into an analysis of why and how my respondents changed their food habits over time and what was the context that prompted these changes. Vegetarianism is a unique movement as definitions of what constitutes a vegetarian is rooted in the individual, idiosyncratic biographies of individuals. This study found the influence of family, traditions, labels/definitions, peers, gender and the lure of social status to be very significant regarding vegetarian flux. Results indicate that vegetarian membership is fluid and permeable, takes on a life course trajectory and is rooted within the context of many social and cultural factors. Uncovering the barriers to vegetarianism not only adds to the disengagement aspect of social movement research, but also hopes to aid movement leaders in overcoming this problem as well as further substantiate and progress the vegetarian social movement.
Identifier: CFE0003683 (IID), ucf:48808 (fedora)
Note(s): 2011-05-01
M.A.
Sciences, Department of Sociology
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): vegetarian
social movement
disengagement
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003683
Restrictions on Access: public
Host Institution: UCF

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