Earth First!: Environmental Apocalypse

Front Cover
Syracuse University Press, Nov 1, 1995 - Political Science - 218 pages
In the summer of 1980, Dave Foreman, along with four conservationist colleagues, founded the millenarian movement Earth First!. A provocative counterculture that ultimately hoped for the fall of industrial civilization, the movement emerged in response to rapid commercial development of the American wilderness. “The earth should come first” was a doctrine that championed both biocentrism (an emphasis on maintaining the earth’s full complement of species) and biocentric equality (the belief that all species are equal). Martha Lee was successful in gaining extraordinary access to information about the movement, as well as interviews with its members. While following Earth First’s development and methods, she illustrates the inherent instability and the dangers associated with all millenarian movements. This book will be of interest to environmentalists and those interested in political science and sociology.
 

Contents

The Founding of a Movement
25
The Cracking of Glen Canyon Dam
45
The Battle Begins
58
The Eve of the Apocalypse
78
Misanthropy and Social Justice
96
A Parting of the Ways
115
The Resurgence of Millenarianism
128
Conclusion
141
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (1995)

Martha F. Lee is assistant professor of Political Science at the University of Windsor, Ontario. She is the author of The Nation of Islam: An American Millenarian Movement.

Bibliographic information