"Eco-Terrorism": An Incident-Driven History of Attack (1973–2010)

Abstract

B eginning in the 1960s, a political movement emerged that advanced a radically new critique of environmental and animal use practices. These new ideological tendencies were characterized by a shift not only in philosophical outlook but also in language and collective practice. This time period is often associated with the founding of the deep ecology framework, authored by Arne Naess in 1973, replacing the environmental protectionism of the past, as well as notions of animal liberation, inspired by a 1975 book of the same title by Peter Singer. Just as Singer’s notion of liberation replaced previously popular notions of animal welfare or rights, the groups that formed during this time replaced previously dominant strategies of aboveground popular protest with that of self-guided, clandestine, autonomous units. These new revolutionary frameworks—serving to challenge state authority and notions of property rights—were quickly adopted by emergent groups, which began to use sabotage, vandalism, and arson. In 1963, the Hunt Saboteurs Association was formed, dedicated to physically disrupting hunting expeditions, often taking the form of sabotage and provocation. In the early 1970s, several activists decided to shift their tactical focus after working with a hunt saboteur movement. In 1972, the Band of Mercy (BOM) formed in England as the outgrowth of a desire for a new praxis that prioritized MICHAEL LOADENTHAL