Banning markets for moral reasons: is the abolition of slavery a role model for the future of animal production?

Abstract

PurposeThe market for slaves is one of the few cases where trade is banned for moral reasons in every country. While animal activists often link animal production to slavery, they fail to answer the question about why animal production persists in every country, while slavery is banned everywhere.Design/methodology/approachThe purpose of this paper is to show both parallels and differences between slavery and animal production, both from a historic and systematic perspective.FindingsIt can be shown that the claim about the many philosophical parallels between slavery and animal production is justified, but that the political economy between the cases differs strongly, particularly regarding the distribution of benefits.Practical implicationsThe paper argues that the food industry will play a decisive role in the future of animal production.Social implicationsThe loss of jobs would certainly be an issue if animal production was banned, whereas the labor market effects of abolition were more complex.Originality/valueWhile the comparison is not new, this is the first holistic evaluation of it.