Justice in Practice? : A Critical Discourse Analysis of Vegan Travel Blogs on Animal Sanctuaries

While the ethics of using animals in tourism are receiving more attention, “animal justice” is still a new concept in tourism studies. This thesis offers a critical perspective on how vegan tourists, as ethically motivated consumers, use their discourse in blogs to reflect (in)justice for animals when they discuss their visits to animal sanctuaries. Using Bacchi´s “What´s the Problem Represented to Be?” approach to Critical Discourse Analysis, thirty-four vegan travel blogs from eighteen different bloggers were analysed, identifying the dominant discourse “Animal Justice as a Practical and Anthropocentric Idea”. This means that even if vegan bloggers strongly advocate against animals` exploitation, their ideas are practical solutions, focused on animal welfare rather than freedom, and with anthropocentric limitations. The findings suggest that while the discourse in these blogs strongly promotes ethical consideration for animals, it also serves as a reflection of broader societal difficulties in moving beyond an anthropocentric perspective when trying to create and apply justice for animals.