Summary information

Study title

Veganism and Religion: Interviews, Diaries, and Field Notes Exploring the Understandings and Experiences of Faith Vegans in the UK, 2021

Creator

Atayee-Bennett, E, University of Southampton

Study number / PID

857252 (UKDA)

10.5255/UKDA-SN-857252 (DOI)

Data access

Restricted

Series

Not available

Abstract

These data were generated as part of an ESRC-funded PhD studentship exploring the understandings and everyday lived experiences of 'faith vegans' in the UK, as well as the intersection between veganism and religion, specifically Islam, Judaism, and Christianity. In order to unravel the phenomenon of 'faith veganism' that was coined in this research project, the researcher recruited 36 UK-based faith vegans (12 Muslim vegans, 12 Jewish vegans, and 12 Christian vegans) and conducted multi-modal qualitative methods, comprising interviews, diary methods, and virtual participant observation. The interview transcripts folder includes the interviews with faith vegans (n=36), as well as a document listing answers to a follow up question that I sent to Muslim participants after the interviews (n=1), the diary transcripts folder includes both the diary entries that were submitted as part of the social media-based diary groups (n=8) and the diary entries that were submitted separately and privately (n=6), and the VPO field notes folder includes the field notes from the virtual participant observation calls (n=6).'Faith Veganism: How the Ethics, Values, and Principles of UK-Based Muslim, Jewish, and Christian Vegans Reshape Veganism and Religiosity' was a four-year PhD project (March 2020 - April 2024) funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ES/P000673/1). Veganism, a philosophy and practice constituting the eschewal of all animal-derived products and forms of animal exploitation, has grown exponentially in the UK over the past decade, including among individuals of faith. This phenomenon has been increasingly studied within social science, but there is one area that is noticeably absent in existing scholarship: how religion intersects with veganism. Given the perceived centrality of animal bodies to Abrahamic religious observance, coupled with potential ethical similarities between veganism and religion as possible guiding forces in an individual’s life, this...
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Methodology

Data collection period

29/03/2021 - 31/12/2021

Country

United Kingdom

Time dimension

Not available

Analysis unit

Individual

Universe

Not available

Sampling procedure

Not available

Kind of data

Text
Still image

Data collection mode

I conducted a multi-modal qualitative methods study, comprising semi-structured interviews which were conducted over Zoom or Microsoft Teams, social media-based diary methods, using a closed Facebook group and private WhatsApp groups, and virtual participant observation using either Zoom, Microsoft Teams or WhatsApp video calls.

Funding information

Grant number

ES/P000673/1

Access

Publisher

UK Data Service

Publication year

2024

Terms of data access

The Data Collection is available for download to users registered with the UK Data Service.

Related publications

Not available