Veganism through an intersectional lens:A study on racial perspectives in the Swedish vegan community

Abstract

During the past decade, veganism has increased in the global North. In current debates in the U.S., the vegan community has been accused of being a white, privileged lifestyle movement that reinforces neoliberal attitudes and colonial influences of universalism, color blindness, and capitalist consumption. Therefore, this study aims to understand and analyze veganism in Sweden through an intersectional lens. By implication, this thesis seeks to explore whether the vegan community is inadvertently perpetuating oppressive discourses where the theoretical framework postcolonial feminism and concepts such as intersectionality and whiteness will be used. The data in this study is collected from semi-structured interviews with ten vegans, five of whom self-identified as white, five self-identified as vegans of color. All respondents were aged between 23-34 years, situated in various parts of Sweden. The results indicate that there is a problem of whiteness, although rendered invisible, in the Swedish vegan community which affects both white vegans and vegans of color, albeit in different ways. This becomes manifested in the lack of understanding of how oppression based on gender, ethnicity, class etc., are interconnected. By extension, the results amplify that there is a need to diversify its representation. Examples that emerged were that the white vegans need to give space to the vegans of color instead of taking it from them; to be an ally and not just say so. However, this is not exclusive to the vegan community but applies to society as a whole.