''Ecodefense: A Field Guide to Monkeywrenching'' is a book edited by Dave Foreman (and Bill Haywood in later editions), with a foreword by Edward Abbey.

Background

Much of the inspiration for the book, as well as the term " monkeywrenching", came from Edward Abbey's 1975 novel '' The Monkey Wrench Gang''. 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 area who called himself " The Fox", and engaged in such vigilante 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! 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 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