“Ecoterrorism”: Correcting Misperceptions in Activists’ Own Words

• In Event: Sabotage, Contention, and Violence in Movements

Abstract

The popular narrative of “ecoterrorism” distorts at least two aspects of radical environmental action. First, it suggests that activists are more violent than they are in reality. Second, it suggests that activists are primarily motivated by ecological concerns, notwithstanding the clear links between “eco” activism and other social causes. This paper corrects these misperceptions, based on dozens of field interviews at two sites: the Wet’suwet’en land defense (Canada) and the Defend the Atlanta Forest/Stop Cop City protest camp. Activists’ professed motivations are complex and intersectional. Many bristle at the “environmentalist” label, identifying primarily with Indigenous struggles and the Black Lives Matter movement. Activists are also quite diverse in their attitudes toward violence. Most eschew it. A small minority expresses willingness to use violence, specifically in response to attacks by police. In practice, violence by “eco” activists is quite rare, and the stringent target selection is intended not to cause terror, but to defend against the pervasive use of force by the state.

Author

• Joseph Brown, University of Massachusetts Boston