Biography

Derrick Jensen (born December 19, 1960) is an American ecophilosopher, writer, author, teacher and environmentalist in the anarcho-primitivist tradition, though he rejects the label "anarchist". Utne Reader named Jensen among "50 Visionaries Who Are Changing the World" in 2008, and Democracy Now! says that he "has been called the poet-philosopher of the ecology movement".

Jensen is a critic of the mainstream environmental movement's focus on preserving civilization and technology over preserving the natural world. He specifically challenges the lifestyle changes and individualistic solutions broadly advocated, considering them drastically inadequate to the global scale of environmental catastrophe. Instead, he promotes civil disobedience, radical activism, and dismantling infrastructure on a massive level in order to halt what he has called "the murder of the planet".Jensen is a founder and leader within Deep Green Resistance; his and the organization's belief that women-only spaces should exclude trans women has led to accusations of transphobia.Jensen lives in Crescent City, California.