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E-book Bearing Witness : Ruth Harrison and British Farm Animal Welfare (1920–2000)
Both concerns and proposed solutions changed considerably in the course of Ruth Harrison’s life. While the influence of her vegetarian par-ents and Quaker beliefs loomed large over Harrison’s own campaigning, the decades after 1945 saw many older forms of civic activism and think-ing about animals’ place in society change. Economically and intellectu-ally, pre-war welfare arrangements were strained by a growing number of confined intensive animal husbandry operations—so-called factory farms—and by new concepts of humans’ duties towards animals and ani-mals’ own rights. At the societal level, a younger generation of grassroots activists experimented with new forms of direct protest and challenged traditional animal politics and leadership structures. Scientifically, etholo-gists and veterinary researchers opened the door for new ways of concep-tualising animal welfare in physical, behavioural, and cognitive terms. Politically, once powerful bastions of agricultural decision-making were complemented by a new set of non-governmental actors including profes-sionalising welfare organisations, large retailers, and influential assurance schemes. By the end of the century, new animal welfare concepts had transformed the production, conceptualisation, and treatment of most British farm animals.
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