Earth First! Activism: Ecological Postmodern Praxis in Radical Environmentalist Identities

Abstract

Classical and conventional sociological theories cannot explain social-psychological dynamics in contemporary social movements. A synthesis of symbolic interactionism and New Social Movement theory offers a useful framework for analyzing and interpreting the role of consciousness/identity and culture/lifestyle in new social movements. Movement identifications are social-interactional processes that symbolize collectively constructed cognitive frameworks. Activist identities are forms of collective consciousness that function as symbolic resources in the ongoing mobilization of collective action. Activism in the radical environmentalist Earth First! movement is theorized as an ecological postmodern identity praxis that expresses biocentric, transpersonal ecological consciousness. The identity-constructs of the “Ecological Self” and “Wild Within” are expressed in activists' social gatherings and symbolic direct actions. These movement identifications/activist identities represent symbolic, counter-discursive challenges to technocracy.