The role of social movements in new technology development: the case of the animal protection movement’s support of alternative proteins

Social movements often embrace technological solutions to problems. Their role in technology development and adoption may be especially important in a technology’s early stages, when public or government support for new technologies is limited and for-profit companies have little incentive to invest in them. I examine the mechanisms by which social movement organizations seek to influence new technology through an in-depth study of the animal protection movement’s support for alternative proteins, plant-based or cell-cultured proteins that substitute for farm-raised meat and dairy products. I document how animal protection activists and interest groups created a network of organizations to support alt-protein development and product adoption. Their activities range from financing company start-ups and basic research and attracting investments from large food companies to marketing products and lobbying governments for policies favorable to the industry. I also show how the pivot by many in the animal protection movement to support a technological solution to the problem of farm animal welfare affected their coalitions and framing of the problem, and I argue that the high cost of new technology contributed to that strategic shift.