ABSTRACT
Chapter 11, “The ethics of illegal food activism,” discusses the implications of these impacts for the ethics of illegal food activism. If a particular industry causes unnecessary harm to humans, nonhumans, and the environment, are we ever morally permitted or required to break the law in the course of resisting this industry? Here we consider questions such as: Can we ever be morally permitted or required to break the law? How should we understand and evaluate civil disobedience, property destruction, violence, and terrorism? Finally, in a society that labels many non-violent, non-terrorist activities as violent terrorism, what kind of stance should we take toward such activities? These questions are difficult to answer, in part because they raise questions about the nature of violence and terrorism, and in part because they raise questions about actual and apparent values that have theoretical as well as practical relevance.
