This website is dedicated to examining and promoting the animal rights philosophy of Professor Gary L. Francione. He is not associated with this site. Gary Francione's official site (including his blog) is at abolitionistapproach.com. His faculty page at Rutgers Law School is here.
Randy Sandberg, who is Gary Francione's webmaster, has been hard at work updating Gary's main site. Check out the expanded audio page at www.abolitionistapproach.com/audio. Randy copied-over all the transcripts (with my permission, of course) from this site and put them on the Audio page. But many of the interviews still need to be transcribed!
If anyone has time to transcribe other interviews, please check the audio page and see which interviews still lack transcripts. If you decide to make a transcript, please let me know before you start, so that we don't get duplication of effort.
David Stasiak kindly sent me another transcript, this time from a debate between Gary Francione and Jan Narveson. You can listen to the audio here. Or, you can read David's transcript in PDF format. Thanks again, David!
If anyone has time to transcribe other interviews, please let me know.
David Stasiak has come through yet again with another transcript, this time from a short (but very interesting) interview that Gary Francione did on Radio Netherlands. You can listen to the audio here (or, a direct link to the MP3 file is here). Or, you can read David's transcript in Microsoft Word format or PDF format. Thank you, David!
Thanks go out to David Stasiak for creating yet another transcript of an interview. David kindly transcribed the interview that Gary Francione gave to the "Animal Voices" radio show on September 9, 2008.
The original (audio) version can be found here. David's transcript is available as a Word document and a PDF file (82K).
Thanks again, David!
Once again, a volunteer has stepped up to the plate and created a transcript of one of Professor Francione's interviews. Thanks go out to Connie Lansford for transcribing Part 2 of an interview from Vegan Freaks, done in January, 2007 (David Stasiak had previously transcribed Part 1). I've re-posted David's transcript below.
The original (audio) version of Part 1 is here (95M, 1 hour 57 minutes). David's transcript is available as a Word document and a PDF file (121K).
The original (audio) version of Part 2 is here (60M, 1 hour 15 minutes). Connie Lansford's transcript is available as a Word document and a PDF file (147K).
Thanks Connie, and thanks again, David!
If anyone has time to transcribe other interviews, please let me know.
David Stasiak is just a transcribing machine. He kindly transcribed an interview that Professor Francione did with Andy Clegg on WAMC radio. The interview took place on August 11, 2008. David's transcript is here in Microsoft Word format (40K), and is also available in PDF format here (48K). One of these days, I'm going to convert the text to HTML format, so that the transcript can be viewed as a regular web page.
If anyone has time to transcribe additional interviews, please let me know. Since abolitionists are still (unfortunately) in the minority, it's important to get this information out there in as many different formats as possible. I love listening to audio programs during my commute, but some people prefer to read them in text form.
Once again, thanks go out to David Stasiak, a volunteer from Australia. David kindly transcribed part 1 of Professor Francione's interview on Vegan Freaks, conducted on January 30, 2007. The original (audio) version is here (95M, 1 hour 57 minutes). David's transcript is available as a Word document and a PDF file. When I have time, I'll convert it to HTML format and post on this site as a separate page. Thanks, David!
Once again, thanks go out to Susan Tapper, who responded to the call for volunteers. She kindly created a transcript of Gary Francione's appearance on the Mike Slater Show (based in Tennessee) in July, 2008.
It's a relatively short interview, but it's interesting and worth checking out.
If any animal people out there are interested in volunteering to transcribe additional interviews, please contact me.
Thanks to the hard work of a volunteer named Susan Tapper, we now have a revised transcript of the infamous debate between Gary Francione and Erik Marcus. Susan took the original version and cleaned-up some of the grammar and formatting, and also double-checked it for accuracy. Thanks, Susan!
This debate is significant, because Erik Marcus is a prominent advocate of the welfarist approach to animal activism (and Gary, obviously, argues the abolitionist approach). The debate lasted almost two-and-a-half hours. And during that time, Erik Marcus was unable to come up with any convincing arguments to back up his position.
The audio version is available as an MP3 file here, and the transcript is here. Although the debate is long, I do think that it's worth listening to (or reading) in order to understand the flimsy basis of the welfarist approach.
Please contact me if you are willing to transcribe interviews / lectures, or if you can take existing transcripts and double-check them for accuracy and readability (it always helps to have a second set of eyes check a transcript). It's important to have the information available in both audio and written forms, so please consider volunteering.
Gary Francione delivered a long lecture in Rochester, NY on May 18, 2008. I've previously posted an audio recording and a transcript, but we now have more!
Fortunately, an organization named "Rochester Indymedia" made a video of the lecture, and the video is now available on-line, hosted by Google. The lecture is divided into ten parts. All the individual videos are listed here, though there doesn't seem to be any way to force Google to list them in order. Alternatively, you can watch the ten parts by clicking on these individual links:
Please let me know if you experience any problems viewing the videos.
The quality of the video is not great, but I think it's acceptable. This has been my first attempt at working with video. If someone out there is a whiz at this stuff and wants to volunteer their services, please contact me. I'd be happy to have you fix-up the sound levels, adjust the color, etc.
I think it's time to post a summary of all the lectures, interviews, and transcripts that are available on-line:
More interviews / lectures will be added soon.
A volunteer named Benjamin Schmeiser has done some additional editing on a transcript of Professor Francione's interview on Vegan Freak Radio (the original transcript was kindly done by David Stasiak). The revised transcript is available as a PDF file and as a Microsoft Word document. The original (audio) interview is divided into Part 1, and Part 2. Thanks, Benjamin and David!
Please contact me if you are willing to transcribe interviews / lectures, or if you can take existing transcripts and double-check them for accuracy and readability (it always helps to have a second set of eyes check a transcript). It's important to have the information available in both audio and written forms, so please consider volunteering.
It's so gratifying to see the abolitionist community offer to help build up the content on this site. A volunteer named Ryan Watters has kindly transcribed an interview with Gary Francione that appeared on the O'Reilly Radio Factor. The original audio version is found here. The transcribed version is here. Thanks, Ryan!
There are two big updates today:
Through the kindness of a volunteer named David Stasiak, we now have a transcript of the lecture that Professor Francione recently delivered in Rochester, NY. Creating that transcript required a lot of work, so a huge round of thanks go out to David, who lives in the Land Down Under.
Bob and Jenna Torres over at Vegan Freak Radio just did an extended interview with Professor Francione. The interview was released in two parts:
Once again, thanks go out to David Stasiak for creating a transcript of the Vegan Freaks lecture. (For now, the transcript is available only in Microsoft Word format. I'll work on converting it to HTML and PDF.)
Good news! Professor Francione's new book has been released, and the publisher has also posted a brief interview with him. The title of his book is, Animals as Persons: Essays on the Abolition of Animal Exploitation. It's available direct from Columbia University Press at half off the usual cover price of $40. The sale ends on August 1, 2008, so don't delay. You can also order the book from Amazon, but the price is currently $32.
On another note, thanks go out to abolitionist Karin Hilpisch for alerting me about this two-part video interview with Professor Francione:
Coming soon– a transcript of the talk that Gary gave in Rochester last month! Watch this space for updates. If you are interested in doing additional transcripts, please contact me.
Gary Francione spoke in Rochester, NY last night. His lecture was titled, “Animal Rights
vs. Animal Welfare: Making the Case”. I have an MP3 audio recording here (2 hrs, 18 mins; 16MB), but the
quality isn't great. If anyone out there is a whiz with Audacity (or other audio editing program) and
knows how to improve the sound quality, please contact me.
During the lecture, Gary described a short video about the appalling conditions that are present in free-range
hen facilities. Remember this exposé the next time you encounter animal products
that are produced under allegedly “humane” conditions.
To say that Gary is a dynamic speaker is an understatement. The lecture and the ensuing
discussion were as fascinating and thought-provoking as you might have predicted. When I have time, I'll write a brief summary
and post it here. For now, listen to the recording, and you'll see.
Above: Gary Francione speaks at the Brighton Town Lodge in Rochester, NY. The event was co-sponsored by the Rochester Area Vegetarian Society and the Animal Rights Advocates of Upstate New York.
Great news! A generous volunteer by the name of Bea Elliott has kindly transcribed an interview that Gary Francione did back in November, 2006. As usual, he is an engaging speaker, and the interview contains valuable insights about which types of animal activism help animals, which types hurt animals, and how to tell the difference between the two. If you can help transcribe other interviews, then please see below.
I've transcribed three interviews with Gary Francione. It was worth the effort, but I'm burned-out on it, and I don't have much free time right now, anyway. I'm looking for volunteers to transcribe the following audio shows that featured Gary Francione. If you can help, then contact me.
If you are interested in volunteering, you may want to consider using a free software tool called Express Scribe. It works really well! I wouldn't have had the patience to do the transcriptions without it.
Great news! Through the kindness of two volunteers, named Christopher T. Walker and Daphne Haller, we now have a transcript of the (infamous) debate between Gary Francione and Erik Marcus. Thanks, Christopher and Daphne! If anyone else is interested in transcribing additional audio interviews, please contact me. Creating transcripts is important, because doing so widens the potential audience for the shows.
From the Animal Voices website:
Should insects have rights? What about plants? Don't they feel pain, too? Isn't meat-eating natural? What about religious texts that justify using and eating animals? Isn't veganism classist, racist, Euro-centric, and culturally-insensitive? Why bother advocating for animals when there's so much human suffering? Why be vegan when humanely-produced meat and dairy is now available?
If you've ever been confronted with concerns like these, or wonder about them yourself, tune in to hear responses from two respected vegans and movement leaders. Structured around a set of commonly-asked questions about veganism and animal rights, tomorrow's show features Rae Sikora and Gary Francione, who will answer the same questions, each informed by decades of experience and their own unique perspective.
For those of us who have ever been stumped, baffled, and otherwise left with a loss for words, this episode of Animal Voices should offer some excellent ideas for how to approach the issues.
See www.animalvoices.ca/shows/hot_seat for more information.
Professor Francione has re-organized and re-designed his website. The new address is abolitionistapproach.com. Actually, a volunteer by the name of Randy Sandberg did all the coding. Check it out! The new site is excellent.
I just found this excellent article while I was actually Googling for something else. I don't know how I missed it before, but the Philaldelphia City Paper had a cover story (September 7–14, 2000) about Gary Francione. The story was divided into a main article and two side-bars:
Here's a photograph from the main article:
A student named Claire has posted some interesting reviews of books by Gary Francione. Claire is designing her own college major on animal studies.
It turns out that Professor Francione's birthday was on May 29, 2007. He turned 53 in 2007 (he was born in 1954). To celebrate his birthday, consider making a donation to the Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary in Colorado. Mary Martin, Ph.D. will match donations up to a total of $1,000.
Check out the top of the "Articles" page. I've added links to several web-based forums that feature some interesting discussions in which Gary Francione participated. In general, he seems to post fairly often on the Vegan Freak Forum. Unfortunately, you need to be registered with the forum in order to read many (but not all) of the threads.
Last update: June 29, 2009
Gary Francione is professor of law and Nicholas deB. Katzenbach Distinguished Scholar of Law and Philosophy at Rutgers University School of Law in New Jersey.