Photo of John Sanbonmatsu
Email
js@wpi.edu
Office
SL 023
Phone
+1 (508) 8315226
Personal Website
Lab Links
Education
BA Hampshire College
PhD University of California at Santa Cruz

John Sanbonmatsu received his BA from Hampshire College and his PhD in the History of Consciousness from the University of California at Santa Cruz.  His scholarly interests, which include critical theory, Marxism, Critical Animal Studies, existential phenomenology, Gramscian studies, and the sociology of intellectuals, reflect his personal commitment to social justice and to a politics of universal liberation.

Photo of John Sanbonmatsu
Email
js@wpi.edu
Education
BA Hampshire College
PhD University of California at Santa Cruz

John Sanbonmatsu received his BA from Hampshire College and his PhD in the History of Consciousness from the University of California at Santa Cruz.  His scholarly interests, which include critical theory, Marxism, Critical Animal Studies, existential phenomenology, Gramscian studies, and the sociology of intellectuals, reflect his personal commitment to social justice and to a politics of universal liberation.

Office
SL 023
Phone
+1 (508) 8315226
Personal Website
Lab Links
Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 1: No Poverty

SDG 1: No Poverty - End poverty in all its forms everywhere

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SDG 2: Zero Hunger

SDG 2: Zero Hunger - End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

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SDG 5: Gender Equality

SDG 5: Gender Equality - Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

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SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities

SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities - Reduce inequality within and among countries

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SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production - Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns

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SDG 13: Climate Action

SDG 13: Climate Action - Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts

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SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions

SDG 16: Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions - Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels

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Research Interests
Continental philosophy
Marxism
Sociology
Critical animal studies
Feminist theory

Scholarly Work

The Omnivore's Deception:  What We Get Wrong about Meat, Animals, and the Nature of Moral Life (NYU Press, 2024).

Critical Theory and Animal Liberation (Rowman & Littlefield, 2011).

The Postmodern Prince:  Critical Theory, Left Strategy, and the Making of a New Political Subject (Monthly Review Press, 2004)

"Effective Altruism and the Reified Mind," Lori Gruen, Alice Crary, and Carol Adams, eds., The Good It Promises, the Harm It Does (Oxford University Press, 2023).

"Murder, She Wrote:  How 'Femivorism' Legitimates the Meat Economy," in Hope Bohanec, ed., The Humane Hoax (Lantern Books, 2023).

News

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Media Coverage

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The New Republic
Confessions of a Former Carnivore

John Sanbonmatsu, associate professor of philosophy, talked with The New Republic about often-overlooked environmental impacts of animal agriculture and the fishing industry in an article about the challenges of adopting a vegan lifestyle.