Witnesses to the future: philosophical belief in the digital encounter

Witnesses to the Future investigates how a philosophical belief is acquired, formed and transmitted. It employs ethical veganism as a case study, in the wake of a legal judgement in Great Britain (Casamitjana vs League Against Cruel Sports 2020) that recognised ethical veganism as a protected characteristic, under the religion or belief section of the Equality Act 2010. The research is guided by two central questions: how is ethical veganism, as a philosophical belief, brought into being and to what extent is it shaped by media practices? Drawing on witnessing theory and affect theory, the research shows how this philosophical belief is lived, embodied and has the capacity to be performative. Through establishing the figure of the witness, the thesis argues that the circulation of affect in vegan testimony is integral to the process of becoming vegan and subsequently transmitting this philosophical belief to potential co-witnesses. Vegan testimonies – such as the work of activist content creators – are sensory encounters that invite and mobilise the moral engagement of others. Veganism, as a philosophical belief, is shaped by affective encounters with non-human animals, which break the boundaries between human and non-human bodies. Following this, vegans communicate the relationality of human and non-human bodies in the affective transmission of their beliefs. The thesis also argues that this philosophical belief’s testimony is oriented towards the future in its promise of transformation, which communicates the potential of remaking the self and remaking the world. In their affective relationship to the future, ethical vegans experience the co-existence of hope with despair. Thus, in confronting anthropocentrism and radically de-centring humans, a vegan future entails engagement with uncertainty. The research is a timely sociological contribution to recent developments in equalities legislation. Additionally, the thesis also addresses a research gap between digital religion and non-religion scholarship.