Institutional resistance to veganism: Constructing vegan bodies as deviant in medical encounters in Estonia

Abstract

This article examines institutional resistance to veganism, with a focus on the medical system. Based on a qualitative analysis of vegans’ accounts of medical encounters in Estonia, collected via an online questionnaire, I argue that the vegan body is socially constructed as a deviant entity by medical professionals. I suggest that the medical professionals’ perceptions of vegans are based less on the actual conditions of their bodies but more on ideas about what are socially and politically acceptable identities and (bodily) practices. Deviance is produced through association with the uneasy category of ‘vegan’. The experiences of vegans in the medical system illuminate the role of powerful social institutions in resisting transition towards more ethical and ecologically sustainable food practices and in endorsing human exploitation of other animals.