The Monkey Wrench Gang

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June 17, 2026

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Edward Abbey's novel, The Monkey Wrench Gang, published in 1975, chronicles the actions of a group of radical environmentalists in the American Southwest. The book describes their use of sabotage and nonviolent disobedience against those they perceive as harming the environment. This tactic, also known as ecotage, became a touchstone for the environmental movement. Abbey, a former park ranger, drew on his deep connection to the southwestern landscape to inform his writing, which often explored themes of wilderness preservation and the impact of human civilization on nature. The novel's characters engage in acts of destruction against unattended property and equipment to disrupt environmentally damaging activities.123

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Edward Abbey
Abbey’s novel The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975) recounts the exploits of a band of guerrilla environmentalists; both it and Desert Solitaire became handbooks of the environmental movement. The strain of cynicism that runs through much of Abbey’s writing is leavened by a bracing prose style and mischievous…
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Abbey’s novel The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975) recounts the exploits of a band of guerrilla environmentalists; both it and Desert Solitaire became handbooks of the environmental movement. The strain of cynicism that runs through much of Abbey’s writing is leavened by a bracing prose style and mischievous…
Read More

monkeywrenching
of author Edward Abbey’s novel The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975), which described the activities of a group of “environmental warriors” in Utah and Arizona. Beginning in the early 21st century, the term was used occasionally to indicate other forms of anticapitalist global activism. An equivalent term is ecotage (a portmanteau…
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of author Edward Abbey’s novel The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975), which described the activities of a group of “environmental warriors” in Utah and Arizona. Beginning in the early 21st century, the term was used occasionally to indicate other forms of anticapitalist global activism. An equivalent term is ecotage (a portmanteau…
Read More