''Ecodefense: A Field Guide to Monkeywrenching'' is a book edited by

Dave Foreman William David Foreman (October 18, 1946 – September 19, 2022) was an American environmentalist and author, he was a co-founder of Earth First! and a prominent member of the radical environmentalism movement. Early life and education William ...

(and Bill Haywood in later editions), with a foreword by

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 Solit ...

Background

Much of the inspiration for the book, as well as the term "

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 identitie ...

", came from Edward Abbey'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 ...

''. Other inspiration for the book likely came from the 1972 book ''

Ecotage! ''Ecotage!'' was a 1972 paperback book edited by Sam Love and David Obst and published by Pocket Books. The book was a collection of ideas that had been solicited by the group Environmental Action over the previous year in preparation for the pub ...

'', which was published by the group

Environmental Action Environmental Action is a 501(c)(4) non-profit environmental advocacy organization in the United States. Founded in 1970 by environmental activists at the first Earth Day, it operated until 1996 but was then rebooted in 2012 as part of the Publi ...

and was in turn inspired by the actions of an activist 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 who called himself " The Fox", and engaged in such

vigilante Vigilantism () is the act of preventing, investigating and punishing perceived offenses and crimes without Right, legal authority. A vigilante (from Spanish, Italian and Portuguese “vigilante”, which means "sentinel" or "watcher") is a pers ...

actions to protect the environment as plugging smokestacks. The Fox named after the Fox River northwest of Chicago was an avid historical boater who educated and demonstrated Native American and early trapper fishing and boating techniques. The Fox was radicalized and became a founding mentor of the Earth Liberation Front movement after witnessing toxic dumping into the Fox River over decades which polluted the river to near-death. The Fox became infamous after dumping a bucket of said toxic waste upon the desk of a

Stone Container Corporation Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation was a global paperboard and paper-based packaging company based in Creve Coeur, Missouri, and Chicago, Illinois, with approximately 21,000 employees. In 2007, Smurfit-Stone was ranked 13 in PricewaterhouseC ...

executive in Chicago. The Fox was rumored also to plug drainage pipes from toxic industrial plants from his canoe along the Fox River. Much of the actual content for ''Ecodefense'' came from the "Dear Ned Ludd" column in the

Earth First! Earth First! is a radical environmental advocacy group that originated in the Southwestern United States. It was founded in 1980 by Dave Foreman, Mike Roselle, Howie Wolke, Bart Koehler, and Ron Kezar. Today there are Earth First! groups around ...

newsletter during the 1980s. This book was banned in Australia, gazetted in 1992 as "refused classification" and a prohibited import.

Publication history

Ned Ludd Books published the first edition in 1985 and the second edition, revised and enlarged, in 1987. Abbzug Press in

Chico, California Chico ( ; Spanish for "little") is the most populous city in Butte County, California. Located in the Sacramento Valley region of Northern California, the city had a population of 101,475 in the 2020 census, reflecting an increase from 86,18 ...

published the third edition. Bill Haywood joined Dave Foreman as editor for the second and subsequent editions.

References

External links

Online text of ''Ecodefense''
1985 non-fiction books 1985 in the environment Radical environmentalism Environmental non-fiction books Political books Handbooks and manuals Edited volumes

Background

Publication history

See also

References

Further reading

External links