Green Rage: Radical Environmentalism and the Unmaking of Civilization [Paperback]

Christopher Manes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2, 1991

Radical environmental groups throughout the world, militantly committed to defending the ecology, are growing in size and influence. In this country, activists engage in ecological civil disobedience and "ecotage"-- the sabotaging of equipment to prevent ecological damage-- in the struggle to preserve wilderness lands. These ecoteurs have gone beyond traditional conservation concerns to a new philosophy-- Deep Ecology, or biocentrism-- that calls into question not only the wisdom, but the legitimacy of humanity's domination of nature. In "Green Rage", Christopher Manes has written a brilliant defense of radical environmentalism, challenging the ethics of modern industrial society and asserting the right of the natural world to blossom, evolve, and exist for its own sake.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Written by a member of Earth First!, this spirited defense of radical environmentalism looks at the Green movement in Europe; discusses "ecotage," the practice of damaging industrial equipment; and argues for biocentrism rather than anthropocentrism. "Readers interested in preserving our environment will find the book very much worth their time," said PW .
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

The end is at hand, declares Manes, and radical measures are needed to avoid an ecological disaster. He decries industrial society's assault on the natural world and lionizes those, such as the group Earth First! (of which Manes is a member), who are taking direct action to halt these incursions. The acts Manes admiringly recounts include scuttling whaling vessels, destroying bulldozers, and driving spikes into trees slated to be cut. Even mainstream environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club and the Wilderness Society, are objects of his scorn, because of the timidity of their positions and recommendations. This is well-written, riveting, angry work. You do not need to agree with all of Manes's assertions to find his book provocative and challenging. Recommended for most collections.
- Randy Dykhuis, OCLC, Dublin, Ohio
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 291 pages
• Publisher: Back Bay Books (April 2, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316545325
• ISBN-13: 978-0316545327
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #667,370 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Christopher Manes is an award-winning author, journalist and documentary film-maker

His books include Green Rage (Little, Brown), nominated for a LA Times book award in science; and Other Creations: Rediscovering the Spirituality of Animals (Doubleday). A chapter from Other Creations was anthologized in the CAFO Reader: The Tragedy Of Industrial Animal Factories (Univ. Of Cal. Press), which is the 2011 Winner of the Nautilus Book Award for Investigative Reporting, and the 2011 Independent Publishers Award for Outstanding Book "Most Likely to Save the Planet."

His articles have ranged from solo treks across the interior of Iceland to Beowulf scholarship to explorations of environmental ethics. They have appeared in numerous publications, including Los Angeles Magazine, Mother Earth News, California Lawyer, Palm Springs Life, Environmental Ethics, Orion Nature Quarterly, Northern Lights, Houghton Mifflin's Encyclopedia of the Environment, English Language Notes, Human Ecology Review, Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, and have been widely anthologized and quoted.

He wrote and produced the documentary, Earth First!: The Politics of Radical Environmentalism, which was screened at the 1st Annual Environmental Film Festival in Colorado Springs, Colorado, with excerpts appearing on "60 Minutes," MTV, "Inside Edition," and numerous news programs.

Full biography available at christophermanes.net

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Green Rage!, April 14, 2006

By 

Cwn_Annwn (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Green Rage: Radical Environmentalism and the Unmaking of Civilization (Paperback)

I admire the old Earth First!. They had the repution for being over the top radicals, but in retrospect were they really all that radical? I don't recall anybody involved with Earth First! ever doing anything violent, even in self defense, and there were several instances where EF! people were physically attacked. There were tree spikings and vandalism that was attributed to them but the majority of the tactics they used were really just text book civil disobedience. The out and out criminal acts that were attributed to Earth First! turned out to be done by government agents in their bogus attempts to frame Dave Foreman. EF's main thing was the idea that forests and wildlife were just as important as human life and were more than something to be exploited and used for profit and enjoyment.

Although Green Rage isn't exactly that, it is probably the closest you will get to a manifesto for the old Earth First! before the founding members left and Earth First! became intertwined with bad left wing political causes and political correctness. Green Rage also serves as a pretty good history of the environmental/conservation movement. Highly recomended reading!

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The finest book written about the enviornmental crisis., September 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Green Rage: Radical Environmentalism and the Unmaking of Civilization (Paperback)

Green Rage is a must read for all human inhabitants of this planet. Mr. Manes lays out in plain Engish why the civilization complex is the greatest enemy facing every facet of nature, including humanity itself. Aside from laying out a scathing critique of modern civilization, Manes offers viable solutions to the ongoing rape of our planet. They are not easy solutions, but they are necessary.

Green Rage gives the reader a general overview of the environmental movement up to 1991 (the publication date of the book). Manes concentrates on radical enviromentalism but he also writes in detail about the mainstream movement also. His comparison of the two movements is a perfect method of proving the necessity of ecodefense. Other points discussed include (but are not limited to) ecotage, Adat (natural law), the downfall of humanism, and industrial collapse.

An important point that manes touches on very lightly is mankind' seemingly innate hatred of nature (or misothery). He mentons this unfortunate state of affairs and concedes that he has no explanation for it. Luckily two years later Jim mason wrote a book called "An Unnatural Order" (ISBN 0-8264-1028-6) in which he gives an exhaustive view of man's hated of and alienation from nature. These two books read together will give any reader a good picture of what must be done to save all of the species of the world.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Green Rage, the birth or modern environmental activism, February 18, 2007

By 

J. Walker - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Green Rage: Radical Environmentalism and the Unmaking of Civilization (Paperback)

Green Rage charts the American environmental activism movement from Alod Leopold through Dave Foreman and the Sierra Club to the more demanding activism of EarthFirst! and ecotage. A must read for anyone serious about the denfence of the environment against the onslaught of those who view our wilderness areas as a pile of commodities available to the highest corporate bidder.