Acting up for animals: A (R)evolution for the business school

Business schools (BS) can be seen as a microcosm of the neoliberalist society upholding 4P’s of patriarchy, power, profit and privilege. Through autoethnographic illustrations this Acting up! essay uses a Critical Animal Studies lens and contributes to the emerging field of Animal Organization Studies analyzing the underlying ideals that hinder interspecies solidarity in business and organization. I argue for interconnectivity, a decolonializing effort to support an interspecies agenda beyond an immediate circle of, often anthropocentric and exploitative, concerns which not only diminishes multispecies wellbeing but also separate us from our own humanity. Some examples of academic activism are shared to highlight how one of the most prominent social injustices of our times—the exploitation of animals—is hidden by animals being absent referents in the performative context of the BS. I also discuss how affective ignorance of animal concerns shape dissonance and intentionally resist the rationalized language of the field, to highlight the affective and passionate, of being a vegan in a non-vegan world.