This more radical version of environmental action is illegal, as compared to its more moderate forerunner of eco-activism which is not illegal and would be classified as a form of civil disobedience and uses protests, sit ins and other civil actions to effect environmental change. Eco-terrorists are willing to inflict emotional and physical distress on their victims if they believe it will further their environmental goals. Eco-terrorism, civil disobedience, and sabotage Įco-terrorism is often defined as the use of violence to further environmental policy change. However, the natives of Algeria engaged in battles in order to try and keep their land and lifestyle. When the French colonized Algeria they took the land from natives because they believed they were not using it properly, claiming that their nomadic lifestyle was damaging to the environment in order to justify their usurping of the land. An example of Europeans infringing on the rights of natives can be found in the colonial administration of Algeria. This is similar to the way that modern day environmentalists fight to protect land from major corporations aiming to deforest land to build factories. Oftentimes natives would engage in warfare to protect their land. Land was something that was meant to be profited and capitalized off of. When the Europeans colonized other foreign lands they believed that the natives were not using the land properly. Native and indigenous people didn't have the same view on land as property that Europeans did. Instances of pre-ecoterrorism can also be found in the age of colonialism and imperialism. The peasants committed their acts to protect the environment because they felt they had a claim to it due to it being their main source of income and way of life for generations. However, this is considered a pre-history rather than an actual act of eco-terrorism due to the fact that the peasants weren't environmentalist. They specifically targeted government officials who infringed on the rights of the forest. The peasants of Ariege masked their identities and committed acts of terror. This particular instance is considered an act of eco-terrorism due to the fact that the peasants used tactics similar to modern day eco-terrorist groups. The revolts persisted for four years until May 1832. In May 1829 groups of peasant men dressed in women's clothes and terrorized forest guards and charcoal-makers who they felt had wrongfully taken the land to exploit it. The War of the Demoiselles was a series of peasant revolts in response to the new forest codes implemented by the French government in 1827. It can be seen in the War of Desmoiselles, or War of the Maidens. Although not referred to as ecoterrorism at the time, there have been incidents in history of people using terror to protect or defend the environment. However, the history of ecoterrorism precedes that. The term ecoterrorism was not coined until the 1960s. Įco-terrorism is a form of radical environmentalism that arose out of the same school of thought that brought about deep ecology, ecofeminism, social ecology, and bioregionalism. A majority of states in the US have introduced laws aimed at penalizing eco-terrorism. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines eco-terrorism as ".the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or their property by an environmentally oriented, subnational group for environmental-political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often of a symbolic nature." The FBI attributed eco-terrorists to US $200 million in property damage between 20. Eco-terrorism is an act of violence which is committed in support of environmental causes, against people or property.
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