ABSTRACT
This chapter uses the described events —an 'ethical shoplift' —as a touchstone for exploring idealism in the Earth First! (EF!) movement, and the kind of future which many of its activists envisage. It discusses three areas: philosophy, organization and campaigning strategy, and looks at the premises which underpin them, and which consequently play a part in shaping the EF! view of the future. EF! was formed in April 1991 by two eighteen year old students from the southeast of England who had previously worked with Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. Their motivation to start a new group stemmed from the lack of opportunity for direct action in environmental campaigning within these organizations, which to many young activists were increasingly seen as inaccessible and at a local level often more linked to fund-raising than action. Ultimately, in the history of environmental protest, it is possible to see them as the first grassroots globally conscious environmental group in the West.
