Boggs, Carl. “Corporate Power, Ecological Crisis, and Animal Rights.” Critical Theory and Animal Liberation, by John Sanbonmatsu, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2011.
A political scientist who earned his Ph.D. at the UCal, Berkeley, Boggs has spent many years in the field. He is the author of more than twenty books, ranging in topics from world war to animal rights, but all relate to political science. He has taught all over the country and received numerous awards. All this information that was found on Mr. Boggs points to him being a credible source. Credible sources are ones that have multiple sources of research to back them up, and those with authority in the field. Mr. Boggs clearly demonstrated these traits in the passage.
The chapter itself is an individual chapter in a collection of essays written by multiple contributors ranging from those who have a vast amount of research on the topic, to those that are just beginning. This method is effective at bringing together multiple sources, opinions, and ideas of people from different backgrounds together into one book. This in turn can give the reader a larger understanding of the topics at hand and show what people in the field believe in.
In this chapter, Boggs decides to focus mainly on how humans’ interests have negatively affected not only animals, but the environment as well. He targets transnational companies, and tells how they experience few limitations, and that policy change is needed. He also highlights the fact that if the outlook for human life is so bleak, that of animal life and their rights is worse. He makes a valid point that in a universe where global capitalism rules all, “other creatures too will be victimized without end by war and ecological assault” (Boggs, 2). Boggs also draws to attention that the food industry affects the people working in these conditions negatively. “…Agribusiness, the meat industry, and fast-food companies also brutalize humans, as employees facing harsh working and living conditions as well as consumers suffering the toxic health effects of a meat-centered diet” (Boggs, 2). He urges that the animal agriculture business of the world today, namely America, that conscious human intervention is required if we are to preserve not only animal rights, but our way of life.
For the most part, Boggs uses others’ research and evidence to back up his own main points throughout the chapter. In the first part of the chapter, there are very few sources and other evidence but this is mainly due to the fact that the beginning is just a large summary and an introduction to some of the subjects he will be touching upon later. As Boggs is a political scientist, everything comes down to that. The first section in the chapter discusses the meat ‘institution’ and how it has become a “…killing machine, which is fully protected by Constitutional freedoms.” (Boggs 6). Boggs uses the works of other noted authors to draw his conclusions throughout this section of the chapter. The following sections are also backed up by different articles, studies and works. The only area that might be seen on the weak side is the final section of the chapter. There are mainly quotes thrown in here and there to back up the point, and although it does work well, it is simply not as strong as the other sections.
This article is similar to many of the texts we have already read, but is fundamentally different in one key aspect. In “Animal Rights: A Very Short Introduction”, DeGrazia mainly uses the animals as they key target of his argument. He focuses on the fact that all consideration of this topic should be in their regard. He goes on to express the different views individuals can have, such as the thought of equal consideration and sliding scale, among others. On a different note, Boggs attacks how animal rights would protect and better the lives of humans. His argument focuses mainly on how the meat industry affects the environment, something we must change if we want to sustain human life. Finally, he states the negative health effects that meat can have on humans, and includes research on disease and drugs found in large scale operations. Each author creates a convincing argument; however each targets a different audience; DeGrazia targets one that is dedicated to animal safety, and Boggs relates to those who put humans above all.
When reading the part in this chapter that relates to human perception of the treatment of animals and the decision to go vegetarian or vegan, I couldn’t help but wonder, how would humans respond if we were to show them what really happens in the meat industry? Boggs states that a few documentaries have tried to do this, but many of them were shut down, or weren’t allowed to show much of the actual process that occurs. I believe it would be beneficial to put together a documentary that is uncensored by the American government and transnational businesses.