Table Of ContentRadical Environmentalism
Palgrave Studies in Green Criminology
This book series aims to showcase new ideas and cutting edge research in green
criminology. It provides a distinctive and exciting forum within which to
explore the theoretical and empirical frontiers of green criminology, and the key
contemporary debates surrounding environmental crime. Reflecting the range,
depth and diversity of research and scholarship in this burgeoning area, the
series welcomes contributions from early career researchers as well as established
scholars. Books in this series reflect both the global nature of the issues
pertaining to environmental harms and harms to animals, and the international
span of scholarship researching and writing about them.
Series editors:
Dr Angus Nurse
Department of Criminology and Sociology, Middlesex University, UK
Professor Rob White
School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania, Australia
Dr Melissa Jarrell
School of Social Sciences, Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, USA
Series advisory board:
Avi Brisman, Eastern Kentucky University, USA, Silvia Ciotti, Eurocrime
Research Institute, Eve de Coning, University of Oslo, Norway, Matthew Hall,
University of Lincoln, UK, Ron Kramer, Western Michigan University, USA,
Rachel Newman, The League against Cruel Sports, Grant Pink, Australian
Government, Department of the Environment and Vice Chair of Interpol’s
Environmental Crime Committee, Nigel South, University of Essex, UK, Toine
Spapens, Tilburg University, Netherlands, Noriyoshi Takemura,Toin University
of Yokohama, Japan, Reece Walters. Queensland University of Technology,
Australia, Tanya Wyatt, Northumbria University, UK, Damian Zaitch, Utrecht
University, Netherlands.
Titles include:
Angus Nurse
POLICING WILDLIFE
Perspectives on the Enforcement of Wildlife Legislation
John Cianchi
RADICAL ENVIRONMENTALISM
Nature, Identity and More-than-human Agency
Palgrave Studies in Green Criminology
Series Standing Order ISBN 9781–137–47093–5 hardback
(outside North America only)
You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a stand-
ing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of diffi culty, write to us at the
address below with your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN
quoted above.
Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England
Radical Environmentalism
Nature, Identity and More-than-human
Agency
John Cianchi
Research Associate, University of Tasmania, Australia
© John Cianchi 2015
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this
work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire, RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave is a global academic imprint of the above companies and has
companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-50145-8 ISBN 978-1-137-47378-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137473783
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
For Miriam, Freja, Indigo and Saffron,
who remind me to be fully alive.
Contents
Tables and Figures viii
Acknowledgements ix
A Note on the Author x
1 Defending Nature 1
2 What is Nature Doing?: Radical Environmentalism
and the Role of Nature 15
3 Nature, Identity and More-than-human Agency 28
4 ‘I Talked to My Tree and He Talked Back’: Activism,
Nature and Meaning-making 39
5 Encounters with Activists 60
6 Radicalisation: Activist Journeys to Direct Action
Campaigning 73
7 Transcendence: Experiences of Nature that Transform
Activist Identity 95
8 Connection: The Formation of Relationships with Nature 112
9 Communication: Dialogic Relationships with Animals,
Plants and Landscapes 131
10 Grief from the Destruction of Nature 141
11 Alive to the World: Interconnection, Kinship and
Responsibility 154
References 164
Index 172
vii
Tables and Figures
Tables
2.1 Environmental activism and tactical repertoires 17
4.1 Participant characteristics at time of interview 50
Figure
11.1 Transformation of activist concepts and actions over time 160
viii
Acknowledgements
This book was written by spending time with many people and land-
scapes. I am particularly grateful to the activists who shared their experi-
ences and stories. Their humility, generosity and commitment continue
to inspire me. I hope this book will repay their trust.
Rob White encouraged me to set out on this journey. I am very grate-
ful for his guidance, patience and teaching. Rob’s comments on the
drafts were insightful and instructive, and this book would not have
been written without him. John Cameron helped shape my research
approach through many conversations and bushwalks. Especially
memorable is a three-day walk on the Freycinet peninsula, immersed in
conversation about landscape, identity and more-than-human agency,
punctuated by raucous groups of swift parrots chasing through the blue
gums, steep granite hill climbs that made conversation impossible, and
icy swims in crystalline seas. Thanks also to Di Heckenberg, Felicity
Picken and Doug Ezzy for their ideas and encouragement.
The Institute for the Study of Social Change at the University of
Tasmania provided a fellowship that supported me to complete the
final manuscript. I also owe thanks to the staff at Palgrave Macmillan,
especially Julia Willan, Dominic Walker and Richard Bouwman who
provided valuable advice.
Above all I would like to thank my parents Peter and Zelda for their
love and encouragement, and introducing me to the outdoors. My wife
Miriam and my daughters Freja, Indigo and Saffron animate my life.
This book, in so many ways, is driven by our shared love of adventure
and concern for wild nature.
ix
A Note on the Author
John Cianchi is a Research Associate in the School of Social Sciences at
the University of Tasmania. He holds a PhD in environmental sociology
and a Masters of criminology and corrections. He joined the university
having established careers in outdoor education and criminal justice.
x
