Executive summary: Insider activism, where concerned citizens participate in activism within the institutions they work in, could be a promising approach for animal advocacy in corporations, government departments, political parties, and large NGOs.
Key points:
Corporate employee activism has been successful in influencing policies for issues like sexism, racism, and the environment, but the generalizability to animal advocacy is uncertain due to potentially lower levels of employee support.
Targeting corporate offices rather than retail locations may be more tractable for animal advocacy due to employees’ greater ability to engage in activism and access to decision-makers.
Union “salting” provides some evidence for the potential of activist entryism, but the success rate is unclear and may be lower for causes with less direct employee self-interest.
Corporate undercover investigations could provide valuable information to inform campaign asks and assess company sentiment, but come with legal risks that need to be carefully considered.
Government employee activism has had some success in influencing policy for environmental and feminist causes, but evidence is limited and generalizability to animal advocacy is uncertain.
Insider activism is inherently difficult to study empirically, so evidence is mostly from theory and case studies. It could be a reasonable initial career path for skill-building, but direct impact is uncertain.
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Executive summary: Insider activism, where concerned citizens participate in activism within the institutions they work in, could be a promising approach for animal advocacy in corporations, government departments, political parties, and large NGOs.
Key points:
Corporate employee activism has been successful in influencing policies for issues like sexism, racism, and the environment, but the generalizability to animal advocacy is uncertain due to potentially lower levels of employee support.
Targeting corporate offices rather than retail locations may be more tractable for animal advocacy due to employees’ greater ability to engage in activism and access to decision-makers.
Union “salting” provides some evidence for the potential of activist entryism, but the success rate is unclear and may be lower for causes with less direct employee self-interest.
Corporate undercover investigations could provide valuable information to inform campaign asks and assess company sentiment, but come with legal risks that need to be carefully considered.
Government employee activism has had some success in influencing policy for environmental and feminist causes, but evidence is limited and generalizability to animal advocacy is uncertain.
Insider activism is inherently difficult to study empirically, so evidence is mostly from theory and case studies. It could be a reasonable initial career path for skill-building, but direct impact is uncertain.
This comment was auto-generated by the EA Forum Team. Feel free to point out issues with this summary by replying to the comment, and contact us if you have feedback.