Questão
de Ética PT

Lesson plan · Volume VIII

Effective Activism

Criteria for choosing which problems to prioritize and which strategies to adopt

See the volume

Objectives

  • The criteria for choosing causes, problems and strategies
  • Why the animal cause is a priority even for those who give animals less weight
  • The risks of indirect arguments and of shifting the focus
  • The main strategic debates within the movement

It helps if the class has already seen: Volumes I, II and IV.

A 50-minute lesson

  1. 5 min
    Opening. Ask the question and let the class answer without correcting them: Try the Priority Calculator on this site with two causes you support. Does the result surprise you?
  2. 15 min
    Reading. How to Choose Which Causes and Problems to Prioritize and Which Strategies Are Best? (15 min read) and How Does the Animal Cause Fare on the Priority Criteria? (8 min read). For younger classes, read the “For kids” layer: If you have only a little time and energy, it is worth asking: Where do the most individuals need help? Where does my help make the biggest difference? Where is almost nobody helping? That way, your help goes further.
  3. 15 min
    Discussion.
    • Try the Priority Calculator on this site with two causes you support. Does the result surprise you? (How to Choose Which Causes and Problems to Prioritize and Which Strategies Are Best?)
    • How much of what you donate or devote goes to causes involving animals? Does that reflect the scale of the problem? (How Does the Animal Cause Fare on the Priority Criteria?)
    • Which animals do you picture when you think of "the animal cause"? Are they the ones who suffer most? (Among the Problems Affecting Animals, Which Are the Most Important?)
    • Why would you change (or did you change) a habit related to animals? Would that reason hold up in any circumstance? (The Use of Anthropocentric and Environmentalist Arguments in the Animal Cause)
  4. 10 min
    Activity. Project the Priority Calculator tool for the class. Severity, tractability and neglectedness: where does a resource help most? Ask each group to justify its choices.
  5. 5 min
    Wrap-up. Each person writes one sentence about what changed in their thinking. Compare it with the volume summary: If we want to help, how can we help the most? This volume applies prioritization criteria (severity, number of victims, tractability, neglectedness) to the animal cause and discusses strategies: indirect arguments, shifting the focus, disguised objections, veganism or reduction, regulation and cultivated meat.

Exercise sheet

  1. What factors are usually used to measure how serious a situation is?

    1. The number of victims and how bad the situation is for each one
    2. Popularity and tradition
    3. Closeness and similarity

  2. Why prioritize strategies that tackle causes?

    1. Because they tend to have a better impact over time
    2. Because they are always cheaper
    3. Because they are more fun

  3. According to the chapter, what percentage of donations in the US goes to human causes?

    1. 97%
    2. 50%
    3. 10%

  4. Why would even speciesists have to prioritize the animal cause?

    1. Because the number of victims is so large that it outweighs a smaller weight for each one
    2. Because animals are more important
    3. Because it is easier

  5. Which of these does the chapter mention as a neglected problem?

    1. Exploited aquatic animals and invertebrates
    2. Purebred dogs
    3. Famous zoo animals

  6. Why does the chapter speak of "twofold reasons" to focus on these problems?

    1. They are among the most serious and the most neglected
    2. They are the cheapest and the fastest
    3. They are the most popular

  7. According to the chapter, why do different motivations matter?

    1. Because they have different consequences for animals
    2. Because they do not matter
    3. Only for appearances

  8. What is one risk of environmentalist arguments in the animal cause?

    1. Reinforcing views that value species and ecosystems more than animals
    2. Making people go too vegan
    3. None

  9. What is an "open range of compatibility"?

    1. A goal that is compatible with many different views
    2. A goal accepted by only one group
    3. A marketing strategy

  10. What is the chapter's conclusion about the two approaches?

    1. Use only the total approach
    2. Use only the sufficient approach
    3. Combine both

Answer key

  1. a) Volume XII summarizes the chapter's criteria.
  2. a) Preventing fires accomplishes more than rushing to each one.
  3. a) The other 3% goes to environmental and animal causes combined.
  4. a) This is the title of one of the chapter's sections.
  5. a) Also animals in the wild and the future.
  6. a) This is the chapter's conclusion.
  7. a) This is one of the chapter's sections.
  8. a) This makes it harder to care about other harms to animals.
  9. a) It is the concept underlying the sufficient approach.
  10. c) It is the title of the conclusion.

The lesson plan and exercises are a study layer written for this site. The texts read are by Luciano Carlos Cunha.