ReadingAnimals

Another entry in the Month of Elephants series

Don’t Think of an Elephant is a book by George Lakoff that is seemingly not about elephants. Nevertheless, this book is an important resource for elephant advocates - and not because of the anecdote that inspired the title.

Don’t Think of an Elephant is about the concept of framing, that is to say how language reflects, evokes and fits our views of the world. Why is this important? Because it has a significant influence on the efficacy of our outreach, advocacy and policy work on behalf of elephants. Here are some concepts that I think are particularly useful.

Using elephants to explain

In the opening lines of this book, Lakoff gives an example from his teaching to illustrate the concept of framing. He begins the lesson by telling students not to think of an elephant - but students invariably do think of elephants. Why? Here’s how Lakoff explains it:

“Every word, like elephant, evokes a frame, which can be an image or other kind of knowledge. Elephants are large, have floppy ears and a trunk, they are associated with circuses, and so on. The word is defined relative to that frame. When we negate a frame, we evoke the frame.”[emphasis added]

I see two points here:

1. Elephants are associated with circuses or other institutions that exploit them (at least for some people). That the exploitation and suffering are not always part of those frames presents a challenge.
2. Arguing against exploitative institutions and practices must be done wisely - and without invoking the frames associated with them.

Elephants, Empathy and Responsibility

Progressive values stem from a framework of nurturance where empathy and responsibility are core values. We’d recognize these values in other familial, political and social spheres and they seem to fit for the values that inspire elephant advocates as well. For example, our empathy for elephants informs our commitment to protecting them. Likewise, empathy means that we want elephants to be happy and fulfilled.

While Lakoff does not invoke feminist ethics of care explicitly, I immediately recognized them. Consider the next section where nurturance and care are named.

Values and Advocacy

I’ll continue the discussion of framing in another post, but want to close here with a look at other concepts from Don’t Think of an Elephant and how they inform our relationships to elephants and other animals as well as advocacy in practice.

• Freedom
• Opportunity
• Prosperity
• Fairness
• Open Communication
• Community Building
• Service
• Cooperation
• Trust

If these values were an essential part of human-elephant relationships, I think that the concerns of many (dare I say most?) elephant advocates would be resolved. Are they all desirable? Possible? How might we translate them to better suit human-elephant relationships per se (or interspecific relationships more generally)? Are there theoretical or practical challenges that can be examined?

Look for more on framing elephants soon!

See more from this book:
Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values and Frame the Debate–The Essential Guide for Progressives