Florian Andrei Vlad -
Terror, Monkey-Wrenching and (Counter)Netwar: Reading Edward Abbey in the Age of Pure War
(pag. 189-200)
Edward Abbey has been a major inspiration for radical environmentalist, neo-Luddite/green anarchist and eco-terrorist movements, and his most influential work in that respect has been, without a doubt, The Monkey Wrench Gang (the title of which has inspired the phrase “monkey wrenching” – anti-technological acts of sabotage). Acknowledging Abbey’s historical significance, this article engages critically with his most controversial novel, through a lens informed by more recent theoretical developments on asymmetrical warfare and radical resistance (drawing from theorists such as Ronfeldt and Arquilla, Hardt and Negri, and Virilio), to assess the novel’s continued relevance.