Lierre Keith (; born 1964) is an American writer, Radical feminism, food activist, and radical environmentalist.
Biography
She began her public involvement in the feminist movement as the founding editor of
Vanessa and Iris: A Journal for Young Feminists (1983–1985).
[ Periodicals Collection, 1784- (ongoing), Sophia Smith Collection, Five College Archives & Manuscript Collections, Asteria.][ Lierre Keith CV , Lierre Keith official website] During this same period, she also volunteered with a group called Women Against Violence Against Women in Cambridge, where she participated in educational events and protest campaigns.
[ In 1984, she was a founding member of Minor Disturbance, a protest group against militarism from a feminist perspective.][ In 1986, she was a founding member of Feminists Against Pornography in Northampton, Massachusetts.][ She is a founding editor of Rain and Thunder, a radical feminist journal in Northampton.][ Rain and Thunder, About]
As a radical feminist, and, more recently, as a radical environmentalist, Keith has had many appearances, interviews, and speeches around the U.S. and Canada.[ Lierre Keith appearance , contains many external links to radio and press interviews]
Keith was an early public advocate of the U.S. local food movement. In a 2006 Boston Globe human interest story, she said, "I like knowing that I'm supporting the local economy, and not corporate America."[ "Movement toward more sustainable food systems is growing", By Emily Shartin, Boston Globe Staff, July 26, 2006]
Her views have attracted negative attention from some vegetarians, what one journalist has called a "Vegan War".[ "Pies-in-face attack roils anarchist-vegan world", Demian Bulwa, San Francisco Chronicle Staff, March 17, 2010] She has been called the Northanger of the environmentalist movement.
The Vegetarian Myth
Keith's 2009 book is a controversial examination of the ecological effects of agriculture and vegetarianism. In The Vegetarian Myth, she offers evidence of agriculture destroying entire eco-systems, such as the North American prairie. She also argues in favour of animal agriculture over plant agriculture, citing that the latter destroys topsoil,[ while animal farming rebuilds it.
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Deep Green Resistance
Keith is associated with the Deep Green Resistance movement, and together with Aric McBay and Derrick Jensen, she co-wrote Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet, published in May 2011.[Aric McBay, Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith. Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet . Seven Stories Press, May 2011. . Last accessed May 29, 2011.] The book describes itself as a "manual on how to build a resistance movement that will bring down industrial civilization and save the planet", and "evaluates strategic options for resistance, from non-violence to guerrilla warfare, and the conditions required for those options to be successful".[
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After the publication of this book, the authors co-founded an organization by the same name. McBay left the organization in early 2012, saying he disagreed with Jensen and Keith's cancellation of a transgender-inclusive policy.[Aric McBay, "DGR and Transphobia", May 14, 2013.] Deep Green Resistance has disputed this account, saying that the women's safe space policy was one issue among many, and that the decision to restrict women's spaces was made by the women of DGR, and not by Jensen or Keith.
Women's Liberation Front
Keith is a founder of the Women's Liberation Front, and, , serves as its chair.
Works
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''"Bright Green Lies: How the Environmental Movement Lost Its Way and What We Can Do About It" by Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith, and Max Wilbert (Monkfish Book Publishing Company). 2021.
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Earth at Risk: Building a Resistance Movement to Save the Planet (edited by L.K. and Derrick Jensen), PM Press, 2012,
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Deep Green Resistance: Strategy to Save the Planet (written by L.K., Derrick Jensen and Aric McBay), Seven Stories Press, 2011,
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The Vegetarian Myth, PM Press, 2009,
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Skyler Gabriel, Fighting Words Pr, 1995,
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Conditions of War, Fighting Words Pr, 1993,
Notes
External links
