''Ecotage!'' was a 1972 paperback book edited by Sam Love and David Obst and published by

Pocket Books Pocket Books is a division of Simon & Schuster that primarily publishes paperback books. History Pocket Books produced the first mass-market, pocket-sized paperback books in the United States in early 1939 and revolutionized the publishing ...

. The book was a collection of ideas that had been solicited by the group Environmental Action over the previous year in preparation for the publication of the book, for using sabotage, attention-grabbing stunts, and other ideas to draw attention to environmental issues.Cheryl R. Jorgensen-Earp, ''In the Wake of Violence: Image & Social Reform'' ( MSU Press, 2008), ,
Excerpts available
at

Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google Inc. that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical ...

. "Ecotage" is a contraction of

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

(or economic) and

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

. The cover of ''Ecotage!'' features a photograph of a hippie throwing a pie in the face of a business executive. The book is credited as one of the early inspirations for radical environmental activism, along with similar works such as

Edward Abbey Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an American author, essayist, and environmental activist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues and criticism of public land policies. His best-known works include '' Desert S ...

's 1975 novel ''

The Monkey Wrench Gang ''The Monkey Wrench Gang'' is a novel written by American author Edward Abbey (1927–1989), published in 1975. Abbey's most famous work of fiction, the novel concerns the use of sabotage to protest environmentally damaging activities in the ...

''.Thomas Carl Austenfeld, Dimiter Daphinoff, Jens Herlth, eds., ''Terrorism and Narrative Practice'' (

LIT Verlag LIT Verlag is a German academic publisher founded in 1980. Its managing director is Wilhelm Hopf. Its principal place of publication is Münster; further publishing offices are located in Berlin, Vienna, Hamburg, London, Zurich, and New York C ...

Münster, 2011), , p. 211
Excerpts available
at

. The book was inspired by the actions of an individual who operated in the

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

area. Calling himself " The Fox", he engaged in such activities as plugging smokestacks and entering the offices of corporate executives to dump sewage on their desks. In turn, some of the actions suggested in ''Ecotage!'' actually began to be carried out, particularly billboarding, when small groups in the early 1970s such as the one calling themselves the "Eco-Raiders" in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

, began cutting down billboards. The term

ecotage Ecotage ( ) is sabotage carried out for environmental reasons. Cases All damage figures below are in United States dollars. Some well-known acts of ecotage have included: *Circa 1969–1985; ecological activist James F. Phillips, operatin ...

may have originated with this book;Clarence Petersen
"Paperbacks"
''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'', March 26, 1972 ("''Ecotage!'' ... adds a new word to the language ..."). the term has since passed into general use as a synonym for various direct action tactics (see also

monkeywrenching Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identiti ...

Publication

*Love, Sam and David Obst, eds. (1972), ''Ecotage!''

References

1972 non-fiction books 1972 in the environment Environmental non-fiction books Books about environmentalism Radical environmentalism {{environment-book-stub