Earth First!
Earth First! is an international network of radical environmental groups, which mainly attracted attention through spectacular direct actions .
There are Earth First! Groups, according to their own account, in Great Britain, the USA, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Canada, Australia, Nigeria, Italy, Mexico, the Slovak Republic and the Philippines.
origin
Earth First was created around 1979 in the southwestern United States. Inspired by Rachel Carson's Silent Spring (1962), Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic (1949) and Edward Abbey's The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975), a group of activists advocated No Compromise in Defense of Mother Earth! (No compromise in defending Mother Earth ). It was inspired by the US environmental activist Dave Foreman (* 1947), who was until then an environmental verifier and an active member of the Wilderness Society . Foreman says he was inspired by the novella The Monkey Wrench Gang . The adjustable wrench ( engl. Monkey wrench ) became a symbol of sabotage and become a part of the logo of Earth First !.
Earth First since 1990
It has been identified as the goal of all actions to stop the destruction of nature. Action within the Earth First! Movement was or is being influenced by anarchist ideas . The change brought a change in the primary media organ in various regions, aversions to an organized leadership or an administrative structure and a new trend in the identification of Earth First! as more of an open movement than an organization. The Jolt of Earth First! Towards Open Movement 1992 led members who refused to stop criminal activity to found the militant organization Earth Liberation Front . Most of the members of Earth First! tend towards decentralized, locally informed activism based on a communal ethic, while opponents of Earth First! accuse the groups of using some form of terrorism.
Earth First! Groups organize grassroots political actions . The actions can be legal (e.g. protests, appeals and awareness campaigns), civil disobedience (e.g. tree occupations , field occupations , chaining to construction vehicles and road blockades) or illegal. Solidarity campaigns with indigenous people who have been affected by habitat destruction are also part of the Earth First! B. the South Pacific Solidarity campaign with indigenous people on West Papua.
Self-image
Earth First! does not believe that leaders, governments or companies can effectively protect nature. For them, direct action is the central means of combating the destruction of nature. Earth First! sees itself as a loose network of individuals, groups and campaigns that work together for ecological direct actions and are not organized hierarchically. The name Earth First! can be used by anyone who feels close to this mentality.
Actions
Earth First! were among others:
- Blocking of driveways and devices
- Driving long nails into trees ( tree spiking ) to protect against felling with chainsaws
- Removal of survey markings for (road) construction projects
- Sabotage of construction machinery, such as pouring sand into tanks or cutting hydraulic cables
- Overturning of ski lift masts
According to the company, the top principle is not to hurt people. Actions are sometimes announced afterwards.
See also
Web links
- UK Earth First!
- Earth First! journal
- Earth First 1, No 1 - the first issue of the journal with self-presentation by Earth First, 1980