Deep Green Resistance (DGR) is a radical

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement) is a social movement that aims to protect the natural world from harmful environmental practices in order to create sustainable living. In its recognition of humanity a ...

that perceives the existence of industrial civilization itself as the greatest threat to the natural environment and calls for its dismantlement and a return to a pre-agricultural level of technology. Although DGR operates as an aboveground group, it calls on others to use underground and violent tactics such as attacks on infrastructure or assassination. A repeated claim in DGR literature is that acts of sabotage could cause a cascading effect and lead to the end of civilization. DGR and far-right ecofascists use similar accelerationist and anti-majoritarian tactics, seeking systemic collapse. DGR is widely denounced by other radical environmentalists, even those who support sabotage, because of "the group's

vanguardism Vanguardism, a core concept of Leninism, is the idea that a revolutionary vanguard party, composed of the most conscious and disciplined workers, must lead the proletariat in overthrowing capitalism and establishing socialism, ultimately progre ...

, its disregard for billions of already-precarious human lives dependent on

agriculture Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

, its self-defeating attacks on

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

and

veganism Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a vega ...

, and the virulent

transphobia Transphobia consists of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender or transsexual people, or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger towards people who do not conform to socia ...

of the group's leaders, Lierre Keith and Derrick Jensen". Some Native American and other environmental groups have refused to work with DGR because of its controversial stance on transgender issues.

Beliefs

In the 2011 book ''Deep Green Resistance'', the authors Lierre Keith, Derrick Jensen and Aric McBay state that civilization, particularly industrial civilization, is fundamentally unsustainable and must be actively and urgently dismantled in order to secure a future for all species on the planet.McBay, Aric, Lierre Keith, and Derrick Jensen. 2011. ''Deep Green Resistance.'' New York: Seven Stories Press. DGR calls for the dismantling of industrial civilization, and the return to a pre-agricultural lifestyle.

Tactics

DGR operates as an aboveground movement and requires members to take a nonviolence pledge as of 2019, calling on others to use underground and violent tactics such as attacks on infrastructure or

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

. DGR is one of very few environmental groups to endorse lethal violence as sometimes justified. A repeated claim in DGR literature is that acts of sabotage could cause a cascading effect and lead to the end of civilization. Because the organization advocates sabotage and violence, which it views as necessary tactics to achieve its goal of dismantling industrialized society and

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

, it can be classified as an apocalyptic or

millenarian Millenarianism or millenarism () is the belief by a religious organization, religious, social, or political party, political group or Social movement, movement in a coming fundamental Social transformation, transformation of society, after which ...

movement. DGR and far-right ecofascist groups such as The Green Brigade share similar tactics and an anti- majoritarian and

vanguardist Vanguardism, a core concept of Leninism, is the idea that a revolutionary vanguard party, composed of the most conscious and disciplined workers, must lead the proletariat in overthrowing capitalism and establishing socialism, ultimately prog ...

approach to activism, and both are accelerationist, seeking systemic collapse. In 2017, DGR filed a lawsuit against the state of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

arguing that the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

should be recognized as a legal person. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2019. An article in '' Journal of Strategic Security'' describes the group as a "worrying

bioterrorism Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents include bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or their toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in mu ...

threat", citing its strategy and propensity towards violence. Beginning in 2014, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

investigated Deep Green Resistance.

Criticism

Anarcho-primitivists John Zerzan, Kevin Tucker and others criticize DGR's promotion of hierarchy in organizing an underground resistance, the code of conduct, the historical understanding of revolution and radical history, and the

cult of personality A cult of personality, or a cult of the leader,Cas Mudde, Mudde, Cas and Kaltwasser, Cristóbal Rovira (2017) ''Populism: A Very Short Introduction''. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 63. is the result of an effort which is made to create ...

around Jensen and Keith. Michelle Renée Matisons and Alexander Reid Ross of the Institute for Anarchist Studies have accused DGR of "emulating right-wing militia rhetoric, with the accompanying hierarchical vanguardism, personality cultism, and reactionary moralism." '' How to Blow Up a Pipeline'' author Andreas Malm—who argues that some forms of infrastructural sabotage are justified to advance the environmental movement—condemned DGR, arguing its proposals, if implemented, would spell disaster for the vast majority of people in the world.

Anti-trans views

DGR describes itself as a radical feminist organization, and has been described by critics as transphobic and TERF. The organisation has described hormone therapy for

transgender youth Transgender youth are children or adolescents who do not identify with the Sex assignment, sex they were assigned at birth. Because transgender youth are usually dependent on their parents for care, shelter, financial support, and other needs ...

eugenics Eugenics is a set of largely discredited beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter the frequency of various human phenotypes by inhibiting the fer ...

and excludes transgender women from women's spaces, while Keith has compared

gender transitioning Gender transition is the process of affirming and expressing one's internal sense of gender, rather than the sex assigned to them at birth. It is a recommended course of treatment for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria, providing impro ...

to mutilation. In 2019, Jensen, Keith, as well as DGR activist Max Wilbert published an article in Feminist Current saying "Hands up everyone who predicted that when Big Brother arrived, he’d be wearing a dress, hauling anyone who refuses to wax his ladyballs before a human rights tribunal, and bellowing ‘It’s Ma’am!’" Keith linked the group's views on transgender issues to the environment, claiming that trans women "want to violate the basic boundaries of women" and comparing that to "violating the boundaries of forests and rivers and prairies". During the fight against the Thacker Pass lithium mine, some members of DGR formed another group called Protect Thacker Pass without disclosing their affiliation with DGR. They worked with local Native American group People of Red Mountain, which broke off the affiliation saying that DGR members had not been transparent about their anti-trans views. In 2012, founder McBay left the group, saying that it promoted transphobia. '' Earth First! Journal'' repudiated DGR in 2013 and said that it would "no longer print or in any way promote DGR material" because of its leaders' anti-transgender stances. In 2022, during the resistance to the Thacker Pass Lithium Mine, Indigenous group People of Red Mountain broke ties with attorney and DGR member Will Falk, citing transphobia as the reason. Other environmental groups involved in opposing the Thacker Pass project have distanced themselves from DGR. The organization has also faced criticism for its association with Jennifer Bilek, an investigative journalist, who has, with antisemitic connotations, argued that transgender rights are a

transhumanist Transhumanism is a philosophical and intellectual movement that advocates the human enhancement, enhancement of the human condition by developing and making widely available new and future technologies that can greatly enhance longevity, cogni ...

conspiracy.

References

External links

Could climate change fuel eco terrorism?
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610033437/https://www.dw.com/en/could-climate-change-fuel-eco-terrorism/av-53432054 , date=2022-06-10 ,

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

14.05.2020 Environmental organizations based in the United States Deep ecology Radical environmentalism Simple living Anti-consumerist groups Anti-capitalism Organizations that oppose transgender rights in the United States Anarcho-primitivism Dark green environmentalism