A Reading List for Environmental Resistance

We have entered a challenging new era for conservation and the environmental movement. Some of us feel as if we are hanging from the edge of a cliff. Others are preparing for the battles ahead. And many of us are still reeling from the whirlwind of changes taking place seemingly overnight.

We can’t tell you how to feel or how to act. We can’t really offer any comfort either, at least none that feels sincere. What we can provide are resources culled from a lifetime working in conservation science to provide, if not a map, than at least a scattered set of guideposts to remind us of where we’ve been and direct us to where we need to be going.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been collecting and curating a reading list for the conservation professionals, managers, and activists. I’ve culled from a diverse groups of writers to both focus and expand my vision of what conservation could become in the coming years.

This is, of course, not a comprehensive list of writings, but rather those which I have turned to, or turned back to, in the last few months, for inspiration and understanding. Some of them may seem a little out of place, but they have all offered guidance and insight as we move forward into this brave new world.

History

• March Volumes 1 through 3
• An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States
• Ecodefense: A Field Guide to Monkeywrenching
• Crimes Against Nature

Fiction

• The Monkeywrench Gang
• The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas
• The Parable of the Sower
• The Parable of the Talents

Non-Fiction

• Dataclysm
• Conservation is our Government Now
• Hope in the Dark
• The Elephant in the Room: A Journey into the Trump Campaign and the “Alt-Right”

Online

• Environmental science in a post-truth world
• Autocracy: Rules for Survival
• A Yale history professor’s powerful, 20-point guide to defending democracy under a Trump presidency
• A Clarifying Moment in American History

Tools

• Resistance Manual Home
• Indivisible: A Practical Guide for Resisting the Trump Agenda
• Digital Security Tips for Protesters

Feel free to use the comment thread to recommend other writings that you’ve found valuable.