The seminal work of fiction featuring

eco-terrorism Eco-terrorism is an act of violence which is committed in support of environmental causes, against people or property. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines eco-terrorism as "...the use or threatened use of violence ...

as a major focal point is

Edward Abbey Edward Paul Abbey (January 29, 1927 – March 14, 1989) was an Americans, American author, essayist, and anarchist, environmental activist noted for his advocacy of environmentalism, environmental issues and criticism of public land policies. His ...

'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 ...

'', wherein a group of environmentalists disrupt various projects that are damaging to the environment. The novel inspired 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 ...

movement and directly influenced 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 ...

. The term "monkeywrenching", in the sense of

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 identiti ...

, derives from the book. The 1985 film ''

Pale Rider ''Pale Rider'' is a 1985 American Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood, who also stars in the lead role. The title is a reference to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, as the pale horse's ghost rider (Eastwood) represents Dea ...

'', directed by and starring

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' D ...

, likewise frames eco-terrorism positively; in the film, the

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

morality which is a common feature of the

Western genre The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referre ...

is applied to environmentally destructive mining practices. In contrast,

Michael Crichton John Michael Crichton (; October 23, 1942 – November 4, 2008) was an American author and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature tech ...

's 2004 novel ''

State of Fear ''State of Fear'' is a 2004 techno-thriller novel by Michael Crichton, his fourteenth under his own name and twenty-fourth overall, in which eco-terrorists plot mass murder to publicize the danger of global warming. Despite being a work of fictio ...

'' portrays eco-terrorists—in this case a group of environmentalists who seek to raise awareness about

anthropogenic global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

by creating extreme weather events—in a negative light. The

Exxon Valdez oil spill The ''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989. '' Exxon Valdez'', an oil supertanker owned by Exxon Shipping Company bound for Long Beach, California struck Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef, west ...

in 1989 precipitated an increase in eco-terrorism appearing in fiction. Examples include

Paul Di Filippo Paul Di Filippo (born October 29, 1954) is an American science fiction writer. He is a regular reviewer for print magazines ''Asimov's Science Fiction'', ''The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction'', '' Science Fiction Eye'', ''The New York R ...

's 1993 short story " Up the Lazy River" and

Rebecca Ore Rebecca Ore is the pseudonym of science fiction writer Rebecca B. Brown. She was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1948. In 1968 she moved to New York City and attended Columbia University. Rebecca Ore is known for the ''Becoming Alien'' series and ...

's 1995 novel '' Gaia's Toys''. Besides film and literature, the theme has also appeared in video games such as ''

Final Fantasy VII is a 1997 role-playing video game developed by Square for the PlayStation console. It is the seventh main installment in the '' Final Fantasy'' series. Published in Japan by Square, it was released in other regions by Sony Computer Enterta ...

''. In more recent years, eco-terrorist antagonists such as those in the 2018 superhero films ''Aquaman'' and '' Avengers: Infinity War'' have been portrayed as being right about the issues but wrong about the solutions. The portrayal of eco-terrorist protagonists also shifted in the second half of the 2010s; whereas in earlier works such as the 2013 film ''Night Moves'' they would be motivated by idealism, later works such as the 2017 film ''

First Reformed ''First Reformed'' is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by Paul Schrader. It stars Ethan Hawke, Amanda Seyfried, and Cedric Kyles, and follows a Protestant minister (Hawke) struggling with his faith while serving as pastor of a ...

'' and the 2018 novel ''

The Overstory ''The Overstory'' is a novel by Richard Powers published in 2018 by W. W. Norton & Company. It is Powers' twelfth novel. The book is about nine Americans whose unique life experiences with trees bring them together to address the destruction o ...

'' have them motivated by the existential dread of perceiving human society as fundamentally unsustainable in relation to nature.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ecoterrorism In Fiction

See also

References