What is Green Anarchy Primer

8/9/2019 What is Green Anarchy Primer

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What Is Green Anarchy?


Anarchy vs. AnarchismOne qualifier that we feel is important to beginwith is the distinction between anarchy andanarchism. Some will write this off asmerely semantics or trivial, but for most

post-left and anti-civilization anarchists, thisdifferentiation is important. While anarchismcan serve as an important historical referencepoint from which to draw inspiration andlessons, it has become too systematic, fixed,and ideologicaleverything anarchy is not.Admittedly, this has less to do withanarchisms social/political/philosophicalorientation, and more to do with those whoidentify as anarchists. No doubt, many from ouranarchist lineage would also be disappointed bythis trend to solidify what should always be influx. The early self-identified anarchists

(Proudhon, Bakunin, Berkman, Goldman,Malatesta, and the like) were responding totheir specific contexts, with their own specificmotivations and desires. Too often, contemporaryanarchists see these individuals as representingthe boundaries of anarchy, and create a

W.W.B.D. [What Would Bakunin Do (or morecorrectlyThink)] attitude towards anarchy,which is tragic and potentially dangerous.Today, some who identify as classicalanarchists refuse to accept any effort inpreviously uncharted territory within anarchism(ie. Primitivism, Post-Leftism, etc.) or trendswhich have often been at odds with the rudi-mentary workers mass movement approach(ie. Individualism, Nihilism, etc.). These rigid,dogmatic, and extremely uncreative anarchistshave gone so far as to declare that anarchism is avery specific social and economic methodology

for organizing the working class. This is obvi-ously an absurd extreme, but such tendenciescan be seen in the ideas and projects of manycontemporary anarcho-leftists (anarcho-sydicalists, anarcho-communists, platformists,federationists). Anarchism, as it stands today,

is a far-left ideology, one which we need to getbeyond. In contrast, anarchy is a formless,fluid, organic experience embracing multi-faceted visions of liberation, both personal andcollective, and always open. As anarchists, weare not interested in forming a new frameworkor structure to live under or within, howeverunobtrusive or ethical it claims to be.Anarchists cannot provide another world forothers, but we can raise questions and ideas,try to destroy all domination and that whichimpedes our lives and our dreams, and livedirectly connected with our desires.

by theGreen Anarchy Collective

This primer is not meant to be the defining principles for a greenanarchist movement, nor an anti-civilization manifesto. It is a look atsome of the basic ideas and concepts which collective members sharewith each other, and with others who identify as green anarchists. Weunderstand and celebrate the need to keep our visions and strategiesopen, and always welcome discussion. We feel that every aspect of

what we think and who we are constantly needs to be challenged andremain flexible if we are to grow. We are not interested in developinga new ideology, nor perpetuating a singular world-view. We alsounderstand that not all green anarchists are specifically anti-civilization(but we do have a hard time understanding how one can be against alldomination without getting to its roots: civilization itself). At this point,however, most who use the term green anarchist do indict civilizationand all that comes along with it (domestication, patriarchy, division oflabor, technology, production, representation, alienation, objectification,control, the destruction of life, etc.). While some would like to speak interms of direct democracy and urban gardening, we feel it is impossibleand undesirable to green up civilization and/or make it more fair.

We feel that it is important to move towards a radically decentralizedworld, to challenge the logic and mindset of the death-culture, to endall mediation in our lives, and to destroy all the institutions and physicalmanifestations of this nightmare. We want to become uncivilized.In more general terms, this is the trajectory of green anarchy in thoughtand practice.

Back to Basicsvolume four:

An Introduction to Anti-CivilizationAnarchist Thought and Practice



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BACK TO BASICS volume #4

What Is Primitivism?While not all green anarchists specificallyidentify as Primitivists, most acknowledgethe significance that the primitivist critique hashad on anti-civilization perspectives. Primitivismis simply an anthropological, intellectual, andexperiential examination of the originsof civilization and the circumstancesthat led to this nightmare we currently

inhabit. Primitivism recognizes that formost of human history, we lived inface-to-face communities in balancewith each other and our surroundings,without formal hierarchies and insti-tutions to mediate and control ourlives. Primitivists wish to learn fromthe dynamics at play in the past and incontemporary gatherer-hunter/primitivesocieties (those that have existed andcurrently exist outside of civilization).While some primitivists wish for animmediate and complete return togatherer-hunter band societies, mostprimitivists understand that anacknowledgement of what has beensuccessful in the past does not uncon-ditionally determine what will work in thefuture. The term Future Primitive, coined byanarcho-primitivist author John Zerzan, hints thata synthesis of primitive techniques and ideas canbe joined with contemporary anarchist conceptsand motivations to create healthy, sustainable, andegalitarian decentralized situations. Appliednon-ideologically, anarcho-primitivism canbe an important tool in the de-civilizing project.

What is Civilization?Green anarchists tend to view civilization asthe logic, institutions, and physical apparatusof domestication, control, and domination.While different individuals and groups prioritizedistinct aspects of civilization (i.e. primitiviststypically focus on the question of origins,feminists primarily focus on the roots and

manifestations of patriarchy, and insurrectionaryanarchists mainly focus on the destruction ofcontemporary institutions of control), mostgreen anarchists agree that it is the underlyingproblem or root of oppression, and it needs tobe dismantled. The rise of civilization canroughly be described as the shift over the past

10,000 years from an existence within anddeeply connected to the web of life, to oneseparated from and in control of the rest of life.Prior to civilization there generally existed ampleleisure time, considerable gender autonomyand equality, a non-destructive approach to thenatural world, the absence of organized violence,no mediating or formal institutions, and stronghealth and robusticity. Civilization inauguratedwarfare, the subjugation of women, populationgrowth, drudge work, concepts of property,entrenched hierarchies, and virtually every

known disease, to name a few of its devastatingderivatives. Civilization begins with and relieson an enforced renunciation of instinctualfreedom. It cannot be reformed and is thusour enemy.

(For a more in-depth look at civilization, check out:

Back to Basics Volume One: The Origins of Civilization)

Biocentrism vs.Anthropocentrism

One way of analyzing the extreme discordbetween the world-views of primitive andearth-based societies and of civilization, is that

of biocentric vs. anthropocentric outlooks.Biocentrism is a perspective that centersand connects us to the earth and the

complex web of life, while anthro-pocentrism, the dominant world view ofwestern culture, places our primaryfocus on human society, to the exclusionof the rest of life. A biocentric view doesnot reject human society, but does moveit out of the status of superiority and putsit into balance with all other life forces.It places a priority on a bioregionaloutlook, one that is deeply connectedto the plants, animals, insects, climate,geographic features, and spirit of the placewe inhabit. There is no split betweenourselves and our environment, so therecan be no objectification or othernessto life. Where separation and objecti-fication are at the base of our ability to

dominate and control, interconnectedness isa prerequisite for deep nurturing, care, andunderstanding. Green anarchy strives tomove beyond human-centered ideas anddecisions into a humble respect for all lifeand the dynamics of the ecosystems thatsustain us.

A Critique of Symbolic CultureAnother aspect of how we view and relate tothe world that can be problematic, in the sense

that it separates us from a direct interaction, isour shift towards an almost exclusively symbolicculture. Often the response to this questioningis, So, you just want to grunt? Which mightbe the desire of a few, but typically thecri tique is a look at the problems inherent witha form of communication and comprehensionthat relies primarily on symbolic thought atthe expense (and even exclusion) of othersensual and unmediated means. The emphasison the symbolic is a movement from directexperience into mediated experience in theform of language, art, number, time, etc.Symbolic culture filters our entire perceptionthrough formal and informal symbols. Itsbeyond just giving things names, but havingan entire relationship to the world that comesthrough the lens of representation. It is debat-able as to whether humans are hard-wiredfor symbolic thought or if it developed as acultural change or adaptation, but the symbolicmode of expression and understanding iscertainly limited and its over-dependence leadsto objectification, alienation, and a tunnel-vision of perception. Many green anarchistspromote and practice getting in touch with andrekindling dormant or underutilized methods

Thesuccess of Civilization can be measured in thedegree of control over life (domestication), and inthe piles of bodiesit has consumedand destroyed.


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of interaction and cognition, such as touch,smell, and telepathy, as well as experimentingwith and developing unique and personalmodes of comprehension and expression.

The Domestication of LifeDomestication is the process that civilizationuses to indoctrinate and control life accordingto its logic. These time-tested mechanisms of

subordination include: taming, breeding,genetically modifying, schooling, caging,intimidating, coercing, extorting, promis-ing, governing, enslaving, terrorizing,murderingthe list goes on to include almostevery civilized social interaction. Their move-ment and effects can be examined and feltthroughout society, enforced through variousinstitutions, rituals, and customs. It is also theprocess by which previously nomadic humanpopulations shift towards a sedentary or settledexistence through agriculture and animalhusbandry. This kind of domestication demandsa totalitarian relationship with both the land

and the plants and animals being domesticated.Whereas in a state of wildness, all life sharesand competes for resources, domesticationdestroys this balance. The domesticated land-scape (e.g. pastoral lands/agricultural fields,and to a lesser degree horticulture andgardening) necessitates the end of open sharingof the resources that formerly existed;where once this was everyones, it isnow mine. In Daniel Quinns novel

Ishmael, he explains this transformationfrom the Leavers (those who acceptedwhat the earth provided) to that of theTakers (those who demanded fromthe earth what they wanted). This notion

of ownership laid the foundation forsocial hierarchy as property and poweremerged.

Domestication not only changes theecology from a free to a totalitarianorder, it enslaves the species that aredomesticated. Generally the more anenvironment is controlled, the lesssustainable it is. The domestication ofhumans themselves involves manytrade-offs in comparison to the foraging,nomadic mode. It is worth noting herethat most of the shifts made fromnomadic foraging to domestication

were not made autonomously, theywere made by the blade of the swordor barrel of the gun. Whereas only 2000years ago the majority of the worldpopulation were gatherer- hunters, it is now.01%. The path of domestication is a colonizingforce that has meant myriad pathologies forthe conquered population and the originatorsof the practice. Several examples include adecline in nutritional health due to over-reliance on non-diverse diets, almost 40-60diseases integrated into human populations perdomesticated animal (influenza, the common

cold, tuberculosis, etc.), the emergenceof surplus which can be used to feed apopulation out of balance and whichinvariably involves property and an endto unconditional sharing.

The Origins and Dynamicsof Patriarchy

Toward the beginning in the shift to civi-lization, an early product of domesticationis patriarchy: the formalization of male domi-nation and the development of institutionswhich reinforce it. By creating false genderdistinctions and divisions between menand women, civilization, again, creates another that can be objectified, controlled,dominated, utilized, and commodified.This runs parallel to the domestication ofplants for agriculture and animals forherding, in general dynamics, and also inspecifics like the control of reproduction. Asin other realms of social stratification, rolesare assigned to women in order to establish

a very rigid and predictable order, beneficialto hierarchy. Woman come to be seen asproperty, no different then the crops in thefield or the sheep in the pasture. Ownershipand absolute control, whether of land, plants,animals, slaves, children, or women, is partof the established dynamic of civilization.

Patriarchy demands the subjugation of thefeminine and the usurpation of nature, propel-ling us toward total annihilation. It definespower, control and dominion over wildness,freedom, and life. Patriarchal conditioningdictates all of our interactions; with ourselves,our sexuality, our relationships to each other,and our relationship to nature. It severelylimits the spectrum of possible experience.

The interconnected relationship between thelogic of civilization and patriarchy is undeni-able; for thousands of years they have shapedthe human experience on every level, from theinstitutional to the personal, while they have

devoured life. To be against civilization,one must be against patriarchy; and toquestion patriarchy, it seems, one mustalso put civilization into question.

Division of Labor and

SpecializationThe disconnecting of the ability to carefor ourselves and provide for our ownneeds is a technique of separation anddisempowerment perpetuated by civiliza-tion. We are more useful to the system, andless useful to ourselves, if we are alienatedfrom our own desires and each otherthrough division of labor and specialization.We are no longer able to go out into theworld and provide for ourselves and ourloved ones the necessary nourishmentand provisions for survival. Instead, we areforced into the production/consumption

commodity system to which we arealways indebted. Inequities of influencecome about via the effective power ofvarious kinds of experts. The concept of a

specialist inherently creates power dynamicsand undermines egalitarian relationships.While the Left may sometimes recognizethese concepts politically, they are viewedas necessary dynamics, to keep in check orregulate, while green anarchists tend to seedivision of labor and specialization as funda-mental and irreconcilable problems, decisiveto social relationships within civilization.


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The Rejection of ScienceMost anti-civilization anarchists reject scienceas a method of understanding the world.Science is not neutral. It is loaded with

motives and assumptions that come out of, andreinforce, the catastrophe of dissociation,disempowerment, and consuming deadnessthat we call civilization. Science assumesdetachment. This is built into the very wordobservation. To observe something is toperceive it while distancing oneself emotionallyand physically, to have a one-way channel ofinformation moving from the observed thingto the self, which is defined as not a part ofthat thing. This death-based or mechanisticview is a religion, the dominant religion of ourtime. The method of science deals only withthe quantitative. It does not admit values oremotions, or the way the air smells when itsstarting to rain or if it deals with thesethings, it does so by transforming them intonumbers, by turning oneness with the smellof the rain into abstract preoccupation with thechemical formula for ozone, turning the wayit makes you feel into the intellectual idea thatemotions are only an illusion of firing neurons.Number itself is not truth but a chosen styleof thinking. We have chosen a habit of mindthat focuses our attention into a world removedfrom reality, where nothing has quality orawareness or a life of its own. We have chosento transform the living into the dead. Careful-thinking scientists will admit that what they

study is a narrow simulation of the complexreal world, but few of them notice that thisnarrow focus is self-feeding, that it has builttechnological, economic, and political systemsthat are all working together, which suck ourreality in on itself. As narrow as the world ofnumbers is, scientific method does not evenpermit all numbers only those numberswhich are reproducible, predictable, and thesame for all observers. Of course reality itselfis not reproducible or predictable or the samefor all observers. But neither are fantasy worldsderived from reality.

Science doesnt stop at pulling us into adream world it goes one step further andmakes this dream world a nightmare whosecontents are selected for predictability andcontrollability and uniformity. All surpriseand sensuality are vanquished. Becauseof science, states of consciousness thatcannot be reliably disposed are classifiedas insane, or at best non-ordinary, and

excluded. Anomalous experience,

anomalous ideas, and anomalous peopleare cast off or destroyed like imperfectly-

shaped machine components. Science isonly a manifestation and locking in of an

urge for control that weve had at least sincewe started farming fields and fencing animalsinstead of surfing the less predictable (butmore abundant) world of reality, or nature.

And from that time to now, this urge has drivenevery decision about what counts asprogress, up to and including the geneticrestructuring of life.

The Problem of TechnologyAll green anarchists question technology onsome level. While there are those who stillsuggest the notion of green or appropriatetechnology and search for rationales to clingto forms of domestication, most reject tech-nology completely. Technology is more thanwires, silicon, plastic, and steel. It is a complexsystem involving division of labor, resourceextraction, and exploitation for the benefit ofthose who implement its process. The interfacewith and result of technologyis always an alienated, medi-ated, and distorted reality.Despite the claims of post-

modern apologists and othertechnophiles, technology isnot neutral. The values andgoals of those who produceand control technology arealways embedded within it.Technology is distinct fromsimple tools in many regards.A simple tool is a temporaryusage of an element withinour immediate surroundingsused for a specific task.Tools do not involve complexsystems which alienate theuser from the act. Implicit in

technology is this separation,creating an unhealthy andmediated experience whichleads to various forms of au-thority. Domination increasesevery time a new time-savingtechnology is created, as itnecessitates the construction ofmore technology to support,fuel, maintain and repair theoriginal technology. Thishas led very rapidly to theestablishment of a complex

technological system that seems to have anexistence independent from the humans whocreated it. Discarded by-products of the techno-logical society are polluting both our physicaland our psychological environments. Livesare stolen in service of the Machine and thetoxic effluent of the technological systemsfuels both are choking us. Technologyis now replicating itself, with somethingresembling a sinister sentience. Technological

society is a planetary infection, propelledforward by its own momentum, rapidly orderinga new kind of environment: one designed formechanical efficiency and technologicalexpansionism alone. The technological systemmethodically destroys, eliminates, or sub-ordinates the natural world, constructing aworld fit only for machines. The ideal forwhich the technological system strives is themechanization of everything it encounters.

Production and IndustrialismA key component of the modern techno-capitaliststructure is industrialism, the mechanized

system of production built on centralizedpower and the exploitation of people and nature.Industrialism cannot exist without genocide,ecocide, and colonialism. To maintain it, coercion,land evictions, forced labor, cultural destruction,assimilation, ecological devastation, and globaltrade are accepted as necessary, even benign.Industrialisms standardization of life objectifiesand commodifies it, viewing all life as apotential resource.

Industrialism has infecteus like syphilis


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A critique of industrialism is a naturalextension of the anarchist critique of the statebecause industrialism is inherently authoritarian.In order to maintain an industrial society, onemust set out to conquer and colonize lands inorder to acquire (generally) non-renewableresources to fuel and grease the machines. Thiscolonialism is rationalized by racism, sexism,and cultural chauvinism. In the process ofacquiring these resources, people must be

forced off their land. And inorder to make people workin the factories that producethe machines, they must beenslaved, made dependent,and otherwise subjectedto the destructive, toxic,degrading industrial system.Industrialism cannot existwithout massive central-ization and specialization:Class domination is a toolof the industrial system thatdenies people access to

resources and knowledge,making them helpless andeasy to exploit. Furthermore,industrialism demands thatresources be shipped fromall over the globe in orderto perpetuate its existence,and this globalism undermines local autonomyand self-sufficiency. It is a mechanistic world-view that is behind industrialism. This is thesame world-view that has justified slavery,exterminations, and the subjugation of women.It should be obvious to all that industrialismis not only oppressive for humans, but that itis also fundamentally ecologically destructive.

Beyond LeftismUnfortunately, many anarchists continue to beviewed, and view themselves, as part of theLeft. This tendency is changing, as post-leftand anti-civilization anarchists make cleardistinctions between their perspectives and thebankruptcy of the socialist and liberal orien-tations. Not only has the Left proven itself tobe a monumental failure in its objectives, butit is obvious from its history, contemporarypractice, and ideological framework, that theLeft (while presenting itself as altruistic andpromoting freedom) is actually the antithesis

of liberation. The Left has never fundamentallyquestioned technology, production, organization,representation, alienation, authoritarianism,morality, or Progress, and it has almost nothingto say about ecology, autonomy, or the individualon any meaningful level. The Left is a generalterm and can roughly describe all socialistleanings (from social democrats and liberalsto Maoists and Stalinists) which wish tore-socialize the masses into a more pro-gressive agenda, often using coercive andmanipulative approaches in order to create a

false unity or the creation of politicalparties. While the methods or extremes inimplementation may differ, the overallpush is the same, the institution of a collec-tivized and monolithic world-view basedon morality.

(For a more in-depth look at the anti-civilizationanarchist view of the Left check out: Back to Basics

Volume Two: The Problem of the Left)

Against Mass SocietyMost anarchists and revolutionaries spenda significant portion of their time developingschemes and mechanisms for production,distribution, adjudication, and communicationbetween large numbers of people; in otherwords, the functioning of a complex society.

But not all anarchists accept the premise ofglobal (or even regional) social, political, andeconomic coordination and interdependence,or the organization needed for their adminis-tration. We reject mass society for practicaland philosophical reasons. First, we reject theinherent representation necessary for thefunctioning of situations outside of the realmof direct experience (completely decentralizedmodes of existence). We do not wish to runsociety, or organize a different society, we wanta completely different frame of reference. Wewant a world where each group is autonomousand decides on its own terms how to live, withall interactions based on affinity, free and open,and non-coercive. We want a life which we live,not one which is run. Mass society brutallycollides not only with autonomy and theindividual, but also with the earth. It is simplynot sustainable (in terms of the resourceextraction, transportation, and communicationsystems necessary for any global economicsystem) to continue on with, or to providealternative plans for a mass society. Again,radical de-centralization seems key to autonomyand providing non-hierarchical and sustainablemethods of subsistence.

Liberation vs. OrganizationWe are beings striving for a deep and totalbreak with the civilized order, anarchistsdesiring unrestrained freedom. We fight forliberation, for a de-centralized and unmediatedrelationship with our surroundings and thosewe love and share affinity with. Organizationalmodels only provide us with more of the samebureaucracy, control, and alienation that we

receive from the currentset-up. While there might bean occasional good intention,the organizational modelcomes from an inherentlypaternalistic and distrustingmindset which seemscontradictory to anarchy.True relationships of affinitycome from a deep under-standing of one anotherthrough intimate need-basedrelationships of day-to-daylife, not relationships based

on organizations, ideologies,or abstract ideas. Typically,the organizational modelsuppresses individual needsand desires for the good ofthe collective as it attemptsto standardize both resistance

and vision. From parties, to platforms, tofederations, it seems that as the scale ofprojects increase, the meaning and relevancethey have for ones own life decrease.Organizations are means for stabilizing cre-ativity, controlling dissent, and reducingcounter-revolutionary tangents (as chieflydetermined by the elite cadres or leadership).

They typically dwell in the quantitative, ratherthan the qualitative, and offer little space forindependent thought or action. Informal,affinity-based associations tend to minimizealienation from decisions and processes, andreduce mediation between our desires and ouractions. Relationships between groups ofaffinity are best left organic and temporal,rather than fixed and rigid.

Revolution vs. ReformAs anarchists, we are fundamentally opposedto government, and likewise, any sort ofcollaboration or mediation with the state(or any institution of hierarchy and control).This position determines a certain continuityor direction of strategy, historically referredto as revolution. This term, while warped,diluted, and co-opted by various ideologiesand agendas, can still have meaning to theanarchist and anti-ideological praxis. Byrevolution, we mean the ongoing struggle toalter the social and political landscape in afundamental way; for anarchists, this meansits complete dismantling. The word revolutionis dependent on the position from which it is


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directed, as well as what would be termedrevolutionary activity. Again, for anarchists,this is activity which is aimed at the completedissolving of power. Reform, on the otherhand, entails any activity or strategy aimed atadjusting, altering, or selectively maintainingelements of the current system, typicallyutilizing the methods or apparatus of thatsystem. The goals and methods of revolutioncannot be dictated by, nor performed within,

the context of the system. For anarchists,revolution and reform invoke incompatiblemethods and aims, and despite certainanarcho-liberal approaches, do not exist on acontinuum. For anti-civilization anarchists,revolutionary activity questions, challenges,and works to dismantle the entire set-up orparadigm of civilization. Revolution is also nota far-off or distant singular event which we buildtowards or prepare people for, but instead, alife-way or practice of approaching situations.

Resisting the Mega-MachineAnarchists in general, and green anarchists inparticular, favor direct action over mediatedor symbolic forms of resistance. Variousmethods and approaches, including culturalsubversion, sabotage, insurrection, and politicalviolence (although not limited to these) havebeen and remain part of the anarchist arsenalof attack. No one tactic can be effective insignificantly altering the current order or itstrajectory, but these methods, combined withtransparent and ongoing social critique, areimportant. Subversion of the system canoccur from the subtle to the dramatic, and canalso be an important element of physicalresistance. Sabotage has always been a vital

part of anarchist activities, whether in the formof spontaneous vandalism (public or nocturnal)or through more highly illegal undergroundcoordination in cell formation. Recently,groups like the Earth Liberation Front, a radicalenvironmental group made up of autonomouscells targeting those who profit off of thedestruction of the earth, have caused millions ofdollars of damage to corporate outlets andoffices, banks, timber mills, genetic researchfacilities, sport utility vehicles, and luxuryhomes. These actions, often taking the form ofarson, along with articulate communiqusfrequently indicting civilization, have inspired

others to take action, and are effective meansof not only bringing attention to environmentaldegradation, but also as deterrents to specificearth destroyers. Insurrectionary activity, orthe proliferation of insurrectionary momentswhich can cause a rupture in the social peacein which peoples spontaneous rage can beunleashed and possibly spread into revolutionaryconditions, are also on the rise. The riots inSeattle in 1999, Prague in 2000, and Genoain 2001, were all (in different ways) sparksof insurrectionary activity, which, althoughlimited in scope, can be seen as attempts to move

in insurrectionary directions and makequalitative breaks with reformism andthe entire system of enslavement.Political violence, including the tar-geting of individuals responsible forspecific activities or the decisions whichlead to oppression, has also been afocus for anarchists historically. Finally,considering the immense reality and all-pervasive reach of the system (socially,

politically, technologically), attacks onthe techno-grid and infrastructure of themega-machine are of interest to anti-civilization anarchists. Regardless ofapproaches and intensity, militantaction coupled with insightful analysisof civilization is increasing.

The Need To Be CriticalAs the march towards global anni-

hilation continues, as society becomesmore unhealthy, as we lose more controlover our own lives, and as we fail to createsignificant resistance to the death-culture,it is vital for us to be extremely critical ofpast revolutionary movements, currentstruggles, and our own projects. We cannotperpetually repeat the mistakes of the pastor be blind to our own deficiencies. The radicalenvironmental movement is filled with single-issued campaigns and symbolic gestures andthe anarchist scene is plagued with leftist andliberal tendencies. Both continue to go throughrather meaningless activist motions, rarelyattempting to objectively assess their(in)effectiveness. Often guilt and self-sacrifice,rather than their own liberation and freedom,guide these social do-gooders, as they proceed

along a course that has been plotted out by thefailures before them. The Left is a festering soreon the ass of humanity, environmentalists havebeen unsuccessful at preserving even a fractionof wild areas, and anarchists rarely have any-thing provocative to say, let alone do. Whilesome would argue against criticism because itis divisive, any truly radical perspectivewould see the necessity of critical examination,in changing our lives and the world we inhabit.Those who wish to quell all debate untilafter the revolution, to contain all dis-cussion into vague and meaningless chatter,and to subdue criticism of strategy, tactics,or ideas, are going nowhere, and can only hold

us back. An essential aspect to any radicalanarchist perspective must be to put everythinginto question, certainly including our ownideas, projects, and actions.

Influences and SolidarityThe green anarchist perspective is diverse andopen, yet it does contain some continuity andprimary elements. It has been influenced byanarchists, primitivists, Luddites, insurrec-tionalists, Situationists, surrealists, nihilists, deepecologists, bioregionalists, eco-feminists, various

indigenous cultures, anti-colonial struggles,the feral, the wild, and the earth. Anarchists,obviously, contribute the anti-authoritarianpush, which challenges all power on a funda-mental level, striving for truly egalitarianrelationships and promoting mutual aidcommunities. Green anarchists, however,extend ideas of non-domination to all of life, not

just human life, going beyond the traditionalanarchist analysis. From primitivists, green

anarchists are informed with a critical andprovocative look at the origins of civilization,so as to understand what this mess is and howwe got here, to help inform a change in direction.Inspired by the Luddites, green anarchistsrekindle an anti-technological/industrial directaction orientation. Insurrectionalists infuse aperspective which waits not for the fine-tuningof a crystalline critique, but identify andspontaneously attack current insti tutions ofcivilization which inherently bind our freedomand desire. Anti-civilization anarchists owemuch to the Situationists, and their critique ofthe alienating commodity society, which wecan break from by connecting with our dreams

and unmediated desires. Nihilisms refusal toaccept any of the current reality understandsthe deeply engrained unhealth of this societyand offers green anarchists a strategy whichdoes not necessitate offering visions for society,but instead focuses on its destruction. Deepecology, despite its misanthropic tendencies,informs the green anarchist perspective withan understanding that the well-being and flour-ishing of all life is linked to the awareness ofthe inherent worth and intrinsic value of thenon-human world independent of use value.Deep ecologys appreciation for the richness and


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Special Back to Basics Distro:

diversity of life contributes to the realizationthat the present human interference with thenon-human world is coercive and excessive,with the situation rapidly worsening.Bioregionalists bring the perspective of livingwithin ones bioregion, and being intimatelyconnected to the land, water, climate, plants,animals, and general patterns of theirbioregion. Eco-feminists have contributed tothe comprehension of the roots, dynamics,

manifestations, and reality of patriarchy, andits effect on the earth, women in particular,and humanity in general. Recently, the destruc-tive separation of humans from the earth(civilization) has probably been articulatedmost clearly and intensely by eco-feminists.Anti-civilization anarchists have been profoundlyinfluenced by the various indigenous culturesand earth-based peoples throughout historyand those who still currently exist. While wehumbly learn and incorporate sustainabletechniques for survival and healthier ways ofinteracting with life, it is important to not flattenor generalize native peoples and their cultures,

and to respect and attempt to understand theirdiversity without co-opting cultural identities andcharacteristics. Solidarity, support, and attemptsto connect with native and anti-colonial struggles,which have been the front-lines of the fightagainst civilization, are essential as we attempt todismantle the death-machine. It is also important

to understand that we, at some point, haveall come from earth-based peoples forciblyremoved from our connections with the earth,and therefore have a place within anti-colonialstruggles. We are also inspired by the feral,those who have escaped domestication andhave re-integrated with the wild. And, ofcourse, the wild beings which make up thisbeautiful blue and green organism called Earth.It is also important to remember that, while

many green anarchists draw influence fromsimilar sources, green anarchy is somethingvery personal to each who identify or connectwith these ideas and actions. Perspectivesderived from ones own life experiences withinthe death-culture (civilization), and ones owndesires outside the domestication process, areultimately the most vivid and important in theuncivilizing process.

Rewilding and ReconnectionFor most green/anti-civilization/primitivistanarchists, rewilding and reconnecting with

the earth is a life project. It is not limited tointellectual comprehension or the practice ofprimitive skills, but instead, it is a deepunderstanding of the pervasive ways in whichwe are domesticated, fractured, and dis-located from our selves, each other, and theworld, and the enormous and daily undertaking

to be whole again. Rewilding has a physicalcomponent which involves reclaiming skillsand developing methods for a sustainableco-existence, including how to feed, shelter,and heal ourselves with the plants, animals,and materials occurring naturally in ourbioregion. It also includes the dismantling ofthe physical manifestations, apparatus, andinfrastructure of civilization. Rewilding has anemotional component, which involves healing

ourselves and each other from the 10,000year-old wounds which run deep, learninghow to live together in non-hierarchicaland non-oppressive communities, and de-constructing the domesticating mindset in oursocial patterns. Rewilding involves prioritizingdirect experience and passion over mediationand alienation, re-thinking every dynamic andaspect of our reality, connecting with our feralfury to defend our lives and to fight for a liberatedexistence, developing more trust in our intuitionand being more connected to our instincts, andregaining the balance that has been virtuallydestroyed after thousands of years of patriarchal

control and domestication. Rewilding is theprocess of becoming uncivilized.(For a more in-depth look at reconnecting to our

wild-selves and primitive skills, check out:Back to Basics Volume Three: Rewilding)

For the Destruction of Civilization!

For the Reconnection to Life!

Industrial Society & Its Future:The Unabombers ManifestoF.C. (Unambomber) $4

An in-depth manifesto against indus-trialism, technology, and the Left.The Nihilists Dictionary $2Originally a regularly running columnby John Zerzan in Anarchy: A Journalof Desire Armedand published inits entirety in Future Primitive.Our Enemy, Civilization$3Essays against civilization, indus-trialism, and modernity.Primitivist PrimerJohn Moore $1Accessible introduction to themovement against civilization.Progress and Nuclear PowerFredy Perlman $1Traces the systematic colonizationof North America, and links it to themind-set which perpetuates industryand nuclear power.Some Notes On InsurrectionaryAnarchismKilling King Abacus $2An introduction to the insurrec-tionary school of anarchist thought.Species TraitorCoalition AgainstCivilization, Current issue only $4Anarcho-primitivist zine focusing ontheory and insurrection.

Videos:Videos:Videos:Videos:Videos:

Fuck The Systemand Takin ItDown!by Destruction Productions$15FTS is a 60-minute music-docu-mentary of anarchist uprisings inEugene and around the world, in-cluding various inciteful music vid-eos!TID!, the long-awaited sequel,is an additional 60 minuets of anti-civilization music and videos.Surplus$12This collage/commentary by Italianfilmmaker, Erik Gandini, takes a hardlook at the grotesque nature ofcivilization and the multifacetedresistance to it. Tackling weightythemes like consumption, technology,objectification, and domination.

* All of these zines, pamphlets, and videos (plus tons more!) areavailable from Green Anarchy. You can get the full lists of our dis-tribution in the back of each issue, by writing to: GA P.O. Box 11331,Eugene, OR 97440, by emailing: [email protected],or online at: www.greenanarchy.org

* You can get this entire Introto Green Anarchy package(including all of these zines,pamphlets, and videos) for $70(thats a saving of over $10!)


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websites:www.greenanarchy.orgwww.blackandgreen.org

www.coalitionagainstcivilization.orgwww.wildroots.org

www.geocities.com/kk abacuswww.geocities.com/aliveandawol

www.greenanarchist.org/index.htmwww.re-pressed.org.ukwww.radicalanhropology.com

www.primitivism.comwww.insurgentdesire.org.uk

www.earthliberationfront.comwww.gowildordietryin.org

www.earthskills.orgwww.teachingdrum.org

(see more weblinks atwww.greenanarchy.org)

Contacts:Green Anarchy/Feral VisionsGreen Anarchy/Feral VisionsGreen Anarchy/Feral VisionsGreen Anarchy/Feral VisionsGreen Anarchy/Feral Visions

P.O. Box 11331, Eugene, OR [email protected]

[email protected]

Coalition Against CivilizationCoalition Against CivilizationCoalition Against CivilizationCoalition Against CivilizationCoalition Against CivilizationP.O. Box 835, Greensburg, PA 15601

[email protected]

Wildroots/Feral ForagerWildroots/Feral ForagerWildroots/Feral ForagerWildroots/Feral ForagerWildroots/Feral ForagerPO BOX 1504, Asheville, NC 28802

[email protected]

Venemous Butterfly PublicationsVenemous Butterfly PublicationsVenemous Butterfly PublicationsVenemous Butterfly PublicationsVenemous Butterfly Publications818 SW 3rdAve., PMB 1237, Portland, OR 97204

Green AnarchistGreen AnarchistGreen AnarchistGreen AnarchistGreen AnarchistBCM 1715, London, WC1N 3XX, UK

Re-pressed DistroRe-pressed DistroRe-pressed DistroRe-pressed DistroRe-pressed Distroc/o The Cardigan Centre

145-149 Cardigan Rd, Leeds, 1LJ, UK

Do Or DieDo Or DieDo Or DieDo Or DieDo Or Die (Prior House)POB 2971, Brighton East Sussex

BN2 2TT England

Terra SelvaggiaTerra SelvaggiaTerra SelvaggiaTerra SelvaggiaTerra Selvaggia (Silvestre)(anti-civ Italian language publication)via del Coure no.1, 56100 Pisa, Italia

Suggested Books:HHHHHere is just a partial list of some of theere is just a partial list of some of theere is just a partial list of some of theere is just a partial list of some of theere is just a partial list of some of thebooksbooksbooksbooksbookswhich have been influential to ourwhich have been influential to ourwhich have been influential to ourwhich have been influential to ourwhich have been influential to ourunderstanding of civilization, and why itunderstanding of civilization, and why itunderstanding of civilization, and why itunderstanding of civilization, and why itunderstanding of civilization, and why it

needs to be destroyed!needs to be destroyed!needs to be destroyed!needs to be destroyed!needs to be destroyed!

Elements of Refusal, Against Civilization,Elements of Refusal, Against Civilization,Elements of Refusal, Against Civilization,Elements of Refusal, Against Civilization,Elements of Refusal, Against Civilization,Future Primitive,Future Primitive,Future Primitive,Future Primitive,Future Primitive,andRunning on EmptinessRunning on EmptinessRunning on EmptinessRunning on EmptinessRunning on EmptinessbyJohn ZerzanAgainst History, Against LeviathanAgainst History, Against LeviathanAgainst History, Against LeviathanAgainst History, Against LeviathanAgainst History, Against LeviathanandAny-Any-Any-Any-Any-thing Can Happenthing Can Happenthing Can Happenthing Can Happenthing Can Happen by Fredy Pearlman

Feral RevolutionFeral RevolutionFeral RevolutionFeral RevolutionFeral Revolutionby Feral FaunA Language Older Than WordsA Language Older Than WordsA Language Older Than WordsA Language Older Than WordsA Language Older Than WordsandThe Culture ofThe Culture ofThe Culture ofThe Culture ofThe Culture ofMake-BelieveMake-BelieveMake-BelieveMake-BelieveMake-Believeby Derrick Jensen

My Name Is Chellis and I Am In Recovery FromMy Name Is Chellis and I Am In Recovery FromMy Name Is Chellis and I Am In Recovery FromMy Name Is Chellis and I Am In Recovery FromMy Name Is Chellis and I Am In Recovery FromWestern CivilizationWestern CivilizationWestern CivilizationWestern CivilizationWestern CivilizationandOff the MapOff the MapOff the MapOff the MapOff the MapbyChellis GlendeningWoman and Nature: The Roaring Inside HerWoman and Nature: The Roaring Inside HerWoman and Nature: The Roaring Inside HerWoman and Nature: The Roaring Inside HerWoman and Nature: The Roaring Inside HerbySusan GriffinGreen History Of The World: The EnvironmentGreen History Of The World: The EnvironmentGreen History Of The World: The EnvironmentGreen History Of The World: The EnvironmentGreen History Of The World: The Environmentand the Collapse of Great Civilizationsand the Collapse of Great Civilizationsand the Collapse of Great Civilizationsand the Collapse of Great Civilizationsand the Collapse of Great CivilizationsbyClive PontingThe Only World WeThe Only World WeThe Only World WeThe Only World WeThe Only World Weve Gotve Gotve Gotve Gotve GotandComing Home toComing Home toComing Home toComing Home toComing Home tothe Pleistocenethe Pleistocenethe Pleistocenethe Pleistocenethe Pleistoceneby Paul ShepardAgainst the MegaMachineAgainst the MegaMachineAgainst the MegaMachineAgainst the MegaMachineAgainst the MegaMachineby David WatsonDirect Action: Memoirs of an Urban GuerrillaDirect Action: Memoirs of an Urban GuerrillaDirect Action: Memoirs of an Urban GuerrillaDirect Action: Memoirs of an Urban GuerrillaDirect Action: Memoirs of an Urban Guerrillaby Ann HansenIn The Absence Of The SacredIn The Absence Of The SacredIn The Absence Of The SacredIn The Absence Of The SacredIn The Absence Of The Sacredby Jerry ManderThe Technological SocietyThe Technological SocietyThe Technological SocietyThe Technological SocietyThe Technological Societyby Jacques EllulThe Myth of the Machine, volumes 1 and 2,The Myth of the Machine, volumes 1 and 2,The Myth of the Machine, volumes 1 and 2,The Myth of the Machine, volumes 1 and 2,The Myth of the Machine, volumes 1 and 2,byLewis MumfordVoices of the First Day: Awakening in theVoices of the First Day: Awakening in theVoices of the First Day: Awakening in theVoices of the First Day: Awakening in theVoices of the First Day: Awakening in theAboriginal DreamtimeAboriginal DreamtimeAboriginal DreamtimeAboriginal DreamtimeAboriginal Dreamtimeby Robert LawlorJourney to the Ancestral Self: The NativeJourney to the Ancestral Self: The NativeJourney to the Ancestral Self: The NativeJourney to the Ancestral Self: The NativeJourney to the Ancestral Self: The NativeLifeway Guide to Living in Harmony with EarthLifeway Guide to Living in Harmony with EarthLifeway Guide to Living in Harmony with EarthLifeway Guide to Living in Harmony with EarthLifeway Guide to Living in Harmony with EarthMotherMotherMotherMotherMotherby Tamarack SongIshmaelIshmaelIshmaelIshmaelIshmaelby Daniel QuinnSince Predator CameSince Predator CameSince Predator CameSince Predator CameSince Predator Came,Marxism vs Indigenism,Marxism vs Indigenism,Marxism vs Indigenism,Marxism vs Indigenism,Marxism vs Indigenism,and a number of other titlesby Ward ChurchillGone to Croatan: Origins of North AmericanGone to Croatan: Origins of North AmericanGone to Croatan: Origins of North AmericanGone to Croatan: Origins of North AmericanGone to Croatan: Origins of North AmericanDropout CultureDropout CultureDropout CultureDropout CultureDropout Cultureby Ron Sakolsky and JamesKoehnlineAnarchy After LeftismAnarchy After LeftismAnarchy After LeftismAnarchy After LeftismAnarchy After Leftismby Bob BlackThe Revolution of Everyday LifeThe Revolution of Everyday LifeThe Revolution of Everyday LifeThe Revolution of Everyday LifeThe Revolution of Everyday Lifeby RaoulVaneigem

Note: Most of these books are readily available at competent new andused bookstores, and many are available (along with lots of other great titles)from Black and Green Distribution, P.O. Box 835, Greensburg, PA 15601or check-out: www.blackandgreen.org/biblio.html

websites:www.greenanarchy.orgwww.blackandgreen.org

www.coalitionagainstcivilization.orgwww.wildroots.org

www.geocities.com/kk abacuswww.geocities.com/aliveandawol

www.greenanarchist.org/index.htmwww.re-pressed.org.ukwww.radicalanhropology.com

www.primitivism.comwww.insurgentdesire.org.uk

www.earthliberationfront.comwww.gowildordietryin.org

www.earthskills.orgwww.teachingdrum.org

(see more weblinks atwww.greenanarchy.org)

@nti-civililzation resources:

Documents

What is Green Anarchy Primer