Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
Woodhouse Lane,
LS1 3HE
This event will give you the opportunity to be the first to hear and discuss findings from the Beyond Meat & Memes project. The project team of Dr Chris Till, Dr Jessica Drakett and Dr Joseph Ibrahim will discuss how, through a focus on Instagram and TikTok, they were able to identify how text, image, video, and audio were used to construct a message. Their initial findings have shown the importance of presenting non-human animals as “people” and a focus on showing veganism as colourful, youthful, positive, and often associated with femininity or motherhood. You will also hear from guest speakers with expertise on the relationship between social media and the promotion of plant-based lifestyles. This will include discussions on the role of animal rights and ethics, product branding, and social media advocacy strategies.
This event is a great opportunity to find out more about the project's findings and develop new connections and explore opportunities for development and collaboration. Please find below profiles of the project team and guest speakers.
Dr Chris Till is a Reader in Sociology at Leeds Beckett University. Chris's research covers the political economy of self-tracking, Spotify's datafication and financialization of exercise, online mis- and dis-information, and vegan social media activism. This research is unified by a theoretical interest in "technologies" of various kinds and how these frame social life, intersect with political economy, and seek to influence behaviour.
Jack is a Senior Lecturer in Fashion Marketing at the University of Manchester. He uses marketing and consumer research to protect and promote the interests of all animals, including humans. Jack's teaching focuses on fashion consumer behaviour and its application to strategic marketing and branding.
Dr Jessica Drakett is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Leeds Beckett University. Jessica's research explores the gender gap in technology from a feminist poststructuralist standpoint, with a specific focus on organisational and Internet humour (in particular, Internet memes).
Dr Joseph Ibrahim has research interests in social theory, and the culture, values and practices of social movements. He has completed projects on the politics of the alternative globalization movement, student politics and protests, and social movement emergence during times of austerity.
Dr Matthew Cole is a Lecturer in Criminology at the Open University. Matthew's current research centres on Critical Animal Studies and the sociology of human-nonhuman animal relations, especially childhood socialization, cultural reproduction and intersections between intra-human and inter-species relations (for example, affinities and entanglements between sexism, racism and speciesism).
Melda is a scholar-activist and PhD researcher at the Open University. Her interdisciplinary PhD research explores the organisation of the animal advocacy movement in the UK and how animal advocacy/vegan organisations resist anthropocentric discourses.
