Скачать или смотреть Getting to Know Ronnie Lee: co-founder of The Animal Liberation Front (ALF)

In June of 1973, Ronnie Lee and 5 other young activists met in a basement cafe in London. Although they did not know it at the time, that meeting would go on to produce one of the most radical animal rights organizations in the history of the movement: the Animal Liberation Front (ALF).

Dissatisfied with traditional methods of activism, the ALF engaged in economic sabotage (through property destruction), primarily against industries that use animals for fur or for testing or scientific research. Though aggressive, the ALF was strictly committed to nonviolence.

In this interview, I had the opportunity to sit down with Ronnie Lee. We discussed how the ALF was founded, why it was a loosely connected network of cells rather than a traditional hierarchical organization, the differences between ALF tactics and modern open rescue tactics, the relationship between state repression and the trajectory of the ALF, the ALF’s commitment to nonviolence, the effectiveness of the ALF, and what Ronnie thinks are the most effective forms of activism today.