This is the End: Earth First! and Apocalyptic Utopianism

This essay looks at the role of violence within radical environmentalist groups, such as ELF or Earth FIRST!, that engage in or support the use of ecotage or monkeywrenching. By looking at the philosophical underpinnings of monkeywrenching in terms of apocalyptic and utopian discourses within the mo...

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Autor principal:	Michael Mikulak
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	University of Edinburgh 2007
Materias:	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/d44ac72446e243da94ef9c30d2e79380
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:d44ac72446e243da94ef9c30d2e79380
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:d44ac72446e243da94ef9c30d2e793802021-11-23T09:46:01ZThis is the End: Earth First! and Apocalyptic Utopianism1749-9771https://doaj.org/article/d44ac72446e243da94ef9c30d2e793802007-12-01T00:00:00Zhttp://www.forumjournal.org/article/view/588https://doaj.org/toc/1749-9771This essay looks at the role of violence within radical environmentalist groups, such as ELF or Earth FIRST!, that engage in or support the use of ecotage or monkeywrenching. By looking at the philosophical underpinnings of monkeywrenching in terms of apocalyptic and utopian discourses within the movement, the author argues that violence against property functions to create a form of subjectivity that can account for the dialectic tension and irreconcilability of utopian and apocalyptic discourses within the group. This tension, with its simultaneous elevation and denigration of the Human, is fundamental to the ecological subjectivity of the members and allows them to act despite a truly apocalyptic belief in the reality of biological meltdown. In addition to providing a way to escape paralysis within such an apocalyptic framework, the eco-warrior functions within the group as well as within larger environmental circles to provide a counter-narrative to benign images of industrial progress by providing an archetypal figure of resistance that marries the modern-primitive, nature-culture, and apocalyptic-utopian together. As such, the author argues that the narrative violence of the eco-warrior provides a way to mobilize a very disparate group of people on the margins of both society and more 'legitimate' environmental groups.Michael MikulakUniversity of EdinburgharticleFine ArtsNLanguage and LiteraturePENForum, Iss 05, Pp 1-22 (2007)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P
spellingShingle	Fine Arts N Language and Literature P Michael Mikulak This is the End: Earth First! and Apocalyptic Utopianism
description	This essay looks at the role of violence within radical environmentalist groups, such as ELF or Earth FIRST!, that engage in or support the use of ecotage or monkeywrenching. By looking at the philosophical underpinnings of monkeywrenching in terms of apocalyptic and utopian discourses within the movement, the author argues that violence against property functions to create a form of subjectivity that can account for the dialectic tension and irreconcilability of utopian and apocalyptic discourses within the group. This tension, with its simultaneous elevation and denigration of the Human, is fundamental to the ecological subjectivity of the members and allows them to act despite a truly apocalyptic belief in the reality of biological meltdown. In addition to providing a way to escape paralysis within such an apocalyptic framework, the eco-warrior functions within the group as well as within larger environmental circles to provide a counter-narrative to benign images of industrial progress by providing an archetypal figure of resistance that marries the modern-primitive, nature-culture, and apocalyptic-utopian together. As such, the author argues that the narrative violence of the eco-warrior provides a way to mobilize a very disparate group of people on the margins of both society and more 'legitimate' environmental groups.
format	article
author	Michael Mikulak
author_facet	Michael Mikulak
author_sort	Michael Mikulak
title	This is the End: Earth First! and Apocalyptic Utopianism
title_short	This is the End: Earth First! and Apocalyptic Utopianism
title_full	This is the End: Earth First! and Apocalyptic Utopianism
title_fullStr	This is the End: Earth First! and Apocalyptic Utopianism
title_full_unstemmed	This is the End: Earth First! and Apocalyptic Utopianism
title_sort	this is the end: earth first! and apocalyptic utopianism
publisher	University of Edinburgh
publishDate	2007
url	https://doaj.org/article/d44ac72446e243da94ef9c30d2e79380
work_keys_str_mv	AT michaelmikulak thisistheendearthfirstandapocalypticutopianism
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This is the End: Earth First! and Apocalyptic Utopianism

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