Meat scientists fight back! What the Dublin declaration tells us about the role of academia in the animal-industrial complex

This chapter critically explores the goals, claims, and interests of the Dublin declaration, a form of push back by scientists supportive of animal agriculture against the problematisation of the consumption of animal-sourced foods (ASFs). Of particular interest is the attempt by the declaration authors to leverage scientific authority and to label opponents as ‘ideological’. I argue that this attempt to construct a conventional dichotomy between science and ideology ultimately backfires partly due to the unique characteristics of the ‘meat sciences’ which are historically embedded within animal agricultural industries. The chapter also adds to prior theorisation of the animal-industrial complex by highlighting both the role of academia and lobbying in sustaining the status quo. While academia has historically played a role in perpetuating the animal-industrial complex, the declaration affords new ways in which to understand these relations and networks involved in accomplishing its hegemony. Arguing that the declaration largely reflects the interests of globally dominant meat cultures and economies, the chapter ends by arguing that Universities should start to defund and disincentivise research embedded in a sector so embroiled in the climate, health, and biodiversity crises.