The changing values of feathers and their wearers: The transformation of British society's relationship with birds at the turn of the 20th century

Abstract British people's relationships with birds changed at the turn of the 20th century. Killing birds for food, feathers, collections and sports started to give way to seeing birds as creatures that deserved the right to live their own lives in nature. Studying the historical campaign against using birds in fashion offers insights into present discussions on the value of nature and how to leverage values for broader sustainability transformation. The wearing of bird feathers by women was debated in the media, on the streets, in shopping environments and on many other occasions. The campaign against feather fashions was instrumental in creating the (Royal) Society for the Protection of Birds [(R)SPB] and an important issue for other conservation organisations. This study is based on an analysis of around 200 leaflets, reports, academic and popular science articles, letters and other documents, mostly associated with the (R)SPB, covering three decades from 1889 to 1921. The (R)SPB campaign and the broader debate on feather fashions exemplify early attempts to shape people's relationship with birds. The campaign focused on moving from the consumptive use of birds towards the appreciation of the birds' rights to live in the wild and for people to develop meaningful relationships with them. It emphasised relational values on top of intrinsic and instrumental ones. The campaign illustrates how clashing values led to a broader transformative change. It involved working with worldviews, in particular, reinterpreting the Christian foundation as a sense of responsibility for other God's creatures and avoiding cruelty and harm to them. It also involved other strategies for transformative change, notably arguing for a systemic change in the sector specifically responsible for bird loss and promoting the legal protection of nature. It featured arguments that were used in many other campaigns for nature conservation, most notably those recently framed as relational values. Policy implications . This case study shows that conservation is not a linear story of continuous improvement or refinement of ideas but rather a cyclical one, with the same arguments reappearing in new contexts, fitting into the broader system of socio‐economic priorities. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.