Eco

Eco, Umberto, 1932-, Italian novelist, essayist, and scholar. His first novel, The Name of the Rose (tr. 1983), is a medieval mystery. A pastiche of detective fiction, medieval philosophy, and moral reflection, it encapsulates his semiotic theory, which describes how signs are produced and interpreted in the world. The novel presents clues for the reader to decode, but as the reader grapples with the novel's deeper meanings, the mystery becomes secondary. Eco's other novels include Foucault's Pendulum (tr. 1989), The Island of the Day Before (tr. 1995), Baudolino (tr. 2002), and The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana (tr. 2005). Among his important theoretical books are A Theory of Semiotics (1976), The Role of the Reader (1979), and The Limits of Interpretation (1990).

(born Jan. 5, 1932, Alessandria, Italy) Italian critic and novelist. He has taught since 1971 at the University of Bologna. In The Open Work (1962), he suggested that some literature and modern music is fundamentally ambiguous and invites the audience to participate in the interpretive and creative process. He explored other areas of communication and semiotics in A Theory of Semiotics (1976), Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language (1984), and The Limits of Interpretation (1991). His novels include the erudite but best-selling murder mystery The Name of the Rose (1980; film, 1986), Foucault's Pendulum (1988), and The Island of the Day Before (1995).

Learn more about Eco, Umberto with a free trial on Britannica.com.

(born Jan. 5, 1932, Alessandria, Italy) Italian critic and novelist. He has taught since 1971 at the University of Bologna. In The Open Work (1962), he suggested that some literature and modern music is fundamentally ambiguous and invites the audience to participate in the interpretive and creative process. He explored other areas of communication and semiotics in A Theory of Semiotics (1976), Semiotics and the Philosophy of Language (1984), and The Limits of Interpretation (1991). His novels include the erudite but best-selling murder mystery The Name of the Rose (1980; film, 1986), Foucault's Pendulum (1988), and The Island of the Day Before (1995).

Learn more about Eco, Umberto with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Eco-terrorism, also called ecoterrorism or green terrorism, is terrorism committed in support of ecological, environmental, or animal rights causes. The word is a neologism and its application is contested.

Eco-terrorism is defined by the FBI as "the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or property by an environmentally-oriented, subnational group for environmental-political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often of a symbolic nature." This characterization of property destruction as "violence against property" rather than as vandalism is highly contentious. Within this article, however, acts labeled eco-terrorism by law enforcement are considered, whether or not they involve violence against persons or living things.

The FBI has credited to eco-terrorism 200 million dollars in property damage from 2003 and 2008, and a majority of states within the USA have introduced laws aimed at eco-terrorism.

Application of the term

The acts described by law enforcement organizations as eco-terrorism vary widely. Many involve sabotage of equipment and unmanned facilities using arson. Tree spiking, the embedding of metal spikes in trees, is sometimes described as eco-terrorism. In the case of Peter Daniel Young, the release of minks was called "animal enterprise terrorism."

Acts of civil disobedience may be described as eco-terrorism. In 2003, a conservative Texas legislative reform group, the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), proposed the "Animal and Ecological Terrorism Act" which defined an "animal rights or ecological terrorist organization" as "two or more persons organized for the purpose of supporting any politically motivated activity intended to obstruct or deter any person from participating in an activity involving animals or an activity involving natural resources. The legislation has not been enacted.

Eco-terrorism has also been used, rhetorically, to describe ecological destruction. Paul Watson, the founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, has presented his own definition: "an act that terrorizes other species and threatens the ecological systems of the planet". Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki described the former Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, as an "eco-terrorist" for failing to abide by the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. Environmentalists have accused corporations ranging from ExxonMobil and General Electric to McDonalds of eco-terrorism. Paul Watson accused Japanese Whalers of eco-terrorism, saying "They are the real eco-terrorists. They terrorise the environment.

Groups accused of ecoterrorism

Organizations that have been labeled as "eco-terrorists" in the United States include the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF),. The FBI in 2001 named the ELF as "one of the most active extremist elements in the United States", and a "terrorist threat," although they publicly disavow harm to humans or animals.

Ecoterrorism in fiction

See also

• List of environment topics
• List of environmental organisations
• Earth Liberation Front Press Office (ELFPO)
• North American Animal Liberation Press Office (NAALPO)
• Earth Liberation Prisoner Support Network (ELPSN)
• Animal Liberation Front Supporters Group (ALFSG)
• Green Scare
• THERMCON – FBI operation against the "Evan Mecham Eco-Terrorist International Conspiracy" (EMETIC)
• Operation Backfire – FBI operation

Ideologies

• Anarcho-primitivism
• Green anarchism
• Radical environmentalism

Individuals

Except otherwise noted, these individuals have been convicted under terrorism laws for eco-terrorism.

• Tre Arrow – set fire to trucks used in tree logging.
• Rod Coronado – at a public gathering, explained how to create an arson device.
• Ted Kaczynski (the "Unabomber") – used a mail-bomb campaign to force the Washington Post to publish his manifesto. (Not convicted under terrorism laws.)
• Wiebo Ludwig – saboteur of petroleum mining.
• Jeff Luers and William Cottrell – arsonists of SUVs.
• Eric McDavid – attempted to construct a bomb in a plan to sabotage the Nimbus Dam, the U.S. Forest Service's Institute of Forest Genetics, and other targets.
• Daniel McGowan – set fire to a lumber farm.
• William C. Rodgers – accused of setting fire to the National Wildlife Research Center in Olympia, Washington.
• Craig Rosebraugh – ELF "spokesman." (Not convicted of any crime.)
• Darren Thurston – set fire to a horse corral at the Bureau of Land Management after releasing the horses.
• Peter Daniel Young – released mink into the wild from fur farms.

References