Earth liberation is an ideology founded by the

radical environmental movement Radical environmentalism is a grass-roots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged from an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism. As a movement Philosophy The radical environmental mo ...

and was popularised by the

Earth Liberation Front The Earth Liberation Front (ELF), also known as "Elves" or "The Elves", is the collective name for autonomous individuals or covert cells who, according to the ELF Press Office, use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploita ...

(ELF) as well as the

Earth Liberation Army The Earth Liberation Army (ELA), similar to the Earth Liberation Front (ELF), is the collective name for anonymous and autonomous individuals or groups that use "economic sabotage and guerrilla warfare to stop the exploitation and destruction of th ...

(ELA) in the 1990s.

History

Earth liberation has no universal understanding as a concept, as it is much considered to be a part of

radical environmentalism Radical environmentalism is a grass-roots branch of the larger environmental movement that emerged from an ecocentrism-based frustration with the co-option of mainstream environmentalism. As a movement Philosophy The radical environmental mo ...

, or as a militant offshoot, favouring instead radical ''and''

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

environmentalism. Bron Taylor, Best, Steven and Best & Nocella. ''Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth'', Lantern Books, 2006, p.4 & 5

As a movement

Earth liberationists reject the mainstream

environmental movement The environmental movement (sometimes referred to as the ecology movement), also including conservation and green politics, is a diverse philosophical, social, and political movement for addressing environmental issues. Environmentalists a ...

and include a diversity of individuals with a variety of different ideologies as well as theories. Activists include

animal liberationists The animal rights (AR) movement, sometimes called the animal liberation, animal personhood, or animal advocacy movement, is a social movement that seeks an end to the rigid moral and legal distinction drawn between human and non-human animals, ...

, anti-capitalists,

green anarchists Green anarchism (or eco-anarchism"green anarchism (also called eco-anarchism)" in ''An Anarchist FAQ'' by various authors.) is an anarchist school of thought that puts a particular emphasis on ecology and environmental issues. A green anarchist ...

deep ecologists Deep ecology is an environmental philosophy that promotes the inherent worth of all living beings regardless of their instrumental utility to human needs, and the restructuring of modern human societies in accordance with such ideas. Deep ecolo ...

, eco-feminists and

anti-globalisation The anti-globalization movement or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist m ...

ists.Manes, Christopher, 1990. ''Green Rage: Radical Environmentalism and the Unmaking of Civilization'', Boston: Little, Brown and Co. They are notably also within the ELF and ELA, with others from the

Animal Liberation Front The Animal Liberation Front (ALF) is an international, leaderless, decentralized political and social resistance movement that engages in and promotes non-violent direct action in protest against incidents of animal cruelty. It originated in th ...

(ALF) and

Class War Class War is an anarchist group and newspaper established by Ian Bone and others in 1983 in the United Kingdom. An incarnation of Class War was briefly registered as a political party for the purposes of fighting the 2015 United Kingdom genera ...

.Quoting "Burn the Rich", popular

slogan
House Fires With a Message in the Northwest
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', March 3rd 2008. A primary concern is making long lasting, systemic change, by overturning contemporary social and

ecological Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their biophysical environment, physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosy ...

conditions, as part of an ''earth liberation movement'', similar to the aims of the animal liberation movement.

References

Earth Liberation Front Green anarchism Radical environmentalism {{environmental-org-stub