Extraction, Extremism, and the Environment: Using Land the (Far) Right Way

Session Submission Type: Complete Panel

Abstract

In the last century, environmentalism, conservationism, and natural resources became hotly debated topics as battles developed in many communities over who could and should be allowed to use the environment. In the spirit of the conference theme of “Changing Climates: Environmental Histories of Extractivism and Speculation,” our session examines how land use and natural resource decisions became a backdrop for the expression of extremist ideologies in the last century. Resource extraction, conservation, and extremism collided as concerns over the environment led some on the far-right to claim they should have primacy over land use decisions. Their targets have been long-standing enemies of extremists – the government, people of color, immigrants, and Jewish people, as just a few examples – and were used to rally and recruit others to extremist movements where they saw themselves as defenders of appropriate land and resource use. Our papers show how political extremists utilized anger over the environment and resource extraction to make their case for white supremacy and anti-government rhetoric, often threatening or using violence to support their ideologies. As a whole, this panel provides important context to examine current extremist movements and discusses how fights over the environment have fueled anger and violence against many who are accused of using the land incorrectly.

Sub Unit

• ASEH Annual Conference

Individual Presentations

• Forceful Civil Disobedience’: Anti-Government Extremists and the EPA Collide in a Small Montana Town at the End of the Twentieth Century - Jen Dunn, Montana State University

• Ranching Interests and Anti-Government Politics in the Sagebrush-Era West - Jason Heppler, George Mason University

• Mystic Knights of the Forest: Nature and Nativism in the Ku Klux Klan’s Lumber Wars - Owen Hyman, University of Mississippi

• Racializing Conservation: Conservation, Eugenics, and Interpreting White Supremacy in Museums and Parks - Nicky Rehnberg, University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Chair

• Traci Brynne Voyles, North Carolina State University

Discussant

• Lawrence Culver, Utah State University