Richard Twine (born 1974) is a British sociologist whose research addresses environmental sociology as well as gender, human/animal and science studies. [1] He is noted for his "foundational" work in critical animal studies, [2] as well as his contributions to ecofeminism. His work includes developing Barbara Noske's notion of the animal-industrial complex and theorizing the "vegan killjoy", building on Sara Ahmed's "feminist killjoy".
Twine is a reader in sociology in the Department of History, Geography & Social Sciences at Edge Hill University, where he is the co-director of the Centre for Human-Animal Studies. He is also the chair of the Research Advisory Committee of The Vegan Society. [1] [3] He is the author of 2010's Animals as Biotechnology and 2024's The Climate Crisis and Other Animals, as well as a co-editor of 2014's The Rise of Critical Animal Studies and 2024's Violence and Harm in the Animal Industrial Complex.
Twine studied for a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Psychology at the University of Stirling, graduating in 1995, and then went on to study for a Master of Arts in Sociology at the University of Essex, which he completed in 1996. He was awarded his PhD in Sociology from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2002. [4] His thesis, supervised by Gail Hawkes and Sue Scott and examined by Anne Witz, was entitled Ecofeminism and the 'New' Sociologies - A Collaboration Against Dualism. [5]
After completing his studies, Twine spent a decade at Lancaster University, where he was based within the ESRC Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics. [1] While at Lancaster, he published Animals as Biotechnology: Ethics, Sustainability and Critical Animal Studies as part of the Earthscan Science in Society Series. [6] This was "the first book fully dedicated to" critical animal studies. [2] It offered, in the words of one reviewer, "an impressive analysis of the biotech and meat industries from an unapologetically pro-animal perspective". [7] In 2012, he published an article in the Journal for Critical Animal Studies, developing Barbara Noske's idea of the animal-industrial complex as research method and concept central to critical animal studies. [8]
After finishing at Lancaster, Twine worked briefly at the University of Glasgow [9] and the UCL Institute of Education. [1] He published the collection The Rise of Critical Animal Studies: From the Margins to the Centre, co-edited with Nik Taylor, with Routledge in 2014. [10] The same year, he joined Edge Hill University. [11] He also published a paper in Societies [12] in which he drew upon Sara Ahmed's notion of a feminist killjoy, coining the idea of a "vegan killjoy". [13] Twine argues that, in a culture in which meat-eating is the norm, a vegan can, by their mere presence, challenge anthropocentric attitudes and practices, affecting the enjoyment that others have in eating animal products. [12] This, Twine claims, can serve as "critical deconstructive work". [12] The idea of the vegan killjoy has been widely deployed in vegan studies and related fields. [13] His book The Climate Crisis and Other Animals, published by Sydney University Press, [3] [14] and his co-edited collection Violence and Harm in the Animal Industrial Complex: Human-Animal Entanglements [15] were both released in 2024.
As of 2024 [update] , Twine is a reader in sociology in the Department of History, Geography & Social Sciences at Edge Hill [4] and co-director of the university's Centre for Human-Animal Studies. [3]
| External audio | |
|---|---|
 "Episode 19: Vegan Killjoys at the Table with Richard Twine"Twine discusses the concept of vegan killjoys with Siobhan O'Sullivan (2016) | |
| "Episode 233: Animals and the climate crisis with Richard Twine" Twine discusses The Climate Crisis and Other Animals with Josh Milburn (2025) |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Other | |
