Environmental Defenders: Deadly Struggles for Life and Territory

This book is about environmental defenders and the violence they face while seeking to protect their land and the environment.

Between 2002 and 2019, at least two thousand people were killed in 57 countries for defending their lands and the environment. Recent policy initiatives and media coverage have provided much needed attention to the protection and support of defenders, but there has so far been little scholarly work. This edited volume explains who these defenders are, what threats they face, and what can be done to help support and protect them. Delving deep into the complex relations between and within communities, corporations, and government authorities, the book highlights the diversity of defenders, the collective character of their struggles, the many drivers and forms of violence they are facing, as well as the importance of emotions and gendered dimensions in protests and repression. Drawing on global case studies, it examines the violence taking place around different types of development projects, including fossil fuels, agro-industrial, renewable energy, and infrastructure. The volume also examines the violence surrounding conservation projects, including through militarized wildlife protection and surveillance technologies. The book concludes with a reflection on the perspectives of defenders about the best ways to support and protect them. It contrasts these with the lagging efforts of an international community often promoting economic growth over the lives of defenders.

This volume is essential reading for all interested in understanding the challenges faced by environmental defenders and how to help and support them. It will also appeal to students, scholars and practitioners involved in environmental protection, environmental activism, human rights, social movements and development studies.

Mary Menton is a Research Fellow in Environmental Justice with the Sussex Sustainability Research Programme at the University of Sussex, UK. She is a part of the core-team of Not1More, a collective that works to support at-risk environmental defenders.

Philippe Le Billon is Professor in the Department of Geography and the School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia, Canada. He is the author of multiple publications, including Fuelling War: Natural Resources and Armed Conflicts (Routledge, 2013), and collaborates with human rights and environmental investigation organizations.