Research Interests
Vegan studies, sustainability studies, food studies, ethical consumption, sociology of religion, late modernity

Biography

Ellie is a Doctor of Sociology at the University of Southampton interested in the intersection between veganism, religion, and culture. In her PhD, which was funded by the South Coast Doctoral Training Partnership, she explored the understandings and experiences of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian vegans in the UK with the aim of revealing what is distinct about the faith vegan experience and what motivates individuals of faith to embrace veganism. In so doing, she identified a nuanced expression of veganism, which she termed ‘faith veganism’, and which uncovers a multitude of insights unique to the intersection with religion and culture. She is a qualitative researcher and in her PhD, she used a range of research methods, including semi-structured interviews, social media-based diary methods, and virtual participant observation. She hopes her findings will help to improve vegan advocacy efforts, so we can have more meaningful conversations with religious communities. She is also Co-Founder of the recently founded organisation, Green Islam (greenislam.org) which seeks to educate Muslims on a wide range of matters pertaining to veganism and environmentalism and debunk various myths that seem prevalent within the Muslim community.

Key Publications

Ellie’s progress can be followed on: Ellen Atayee-Bennett | University of Southampton – Academia.edu

Student supervision

Not qualified yet

Contact

Any students, researchers, or media may solicit contact information from our affiliates via info@vegansociology.com.