October 10, 2006

Radicals and Revolutionaries: An Interview with Maxwell Schnurer

Max and ocean

Why do some people become radical activists? Could poking around in their brains elicit any clues? Dr. Maxwell Schnurer, author of "They Took Ulrike Meinhof's Brain: A Comparative Study of the Causes of and Justifications for Militant Direct Action", argues against biological explanations for radical and revolutionary behaviour. Instead, Schnurer examines what activists say about their involvement in militant actions. Comparing the left-wing radicalism of the 1960s and 70s to current groups such as the ELF (Earth Liberation Front), he offers crucial insight into why people engage in extralegal activities.

Schnurer, a long time animal activist, is a contributing author to the new anthology Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth (AK Press, 2006). He is currently an Assistant Professor of Communication at Humboldt State University in Arcata, California.

Download mp3s of the interview: part 1 (3.23 MB) and part 2 (2.61 MB)

Submitted by Steven (not verified) on Sat, 2006-12-09 12:02.

This man is a Thug. Burning cars and shooting liberians seem to be perfectly legitimate forms of "revolution" in his mind. The Weather Underground was a failure and to see this man compare groups like the ELF and ALF as a continuation of old Marxist dog shit is gross. Marxism was dogmatic and oppressive in even it's most liberal forms; I want no alinement with such dead and useless concepts. Post-structuralism explains anything marxism raises, in a far better way them marxism ever did.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Mon, 2006-12-11 21:59.

to the post above, i have a one word reply: yawn.

i thought the interview was totally interesting.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 2006-12-12 19:20.

Steven, I suggest you go back to school...or hit spell check.

Submitted by Earl (not verified) on Wed, 2009-08-12 18:18.

The logic is "the end justifies the means." So if you destroy some property - or people - to turn back the tide of climate change, you may end up saving millions of people. I've been dealing with the obvious solution - capitalistic and industrialized countries must consciously lower their standard of living. Consume less stuff. Make less stuff. Drive less. We can't be guilty about the consumer society our parents made. But we can change how we live and collectively reduce carbon-dependent living.