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Leaderless resistance

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Leaderless resistance,orphantom cellstructure, is asocial resistancestrategyin which small, independent groups (covert cells), or individuals (a solo cell is called a "lone wolf"), challenge an established institution such as a law, economic system, social order, or government. Leaderless resistance can encompass anything fromnon-violentprotest andcivil disobediencetovandalism,terrorism,and other violent activity.

Leaderless cells lack vertical command links and so operate without hierarchical command,[1]but they have a common goal that links them to the social movement from which their ideology was learned.[2]

Leaderless resistance has been employed byanimal rights,radical environmentalist,anti-abortion,insurgent,anarchist,anti-colonial,andterroristmovements. It is a strategy used byhate groupsas well.[2]

General characteristics

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A covert cell may be a lone individual or a small group. The basic characteristic of the structure is that there is no explicit communication between cells that are acting toward shared goals. Members of one cell usually have little or no information about who else is agitating on behalf of their cause.[1]

Leaderless movements may have a symbolic figurehead.[1]This can be a public figure, amultiple-use name,or an inspirational author, who picks generic targets and objectives, but does not actually manage or execute plans.Media,in this case, often create apositive feedback loop:by publishing declarations of a movement's role model, this instills motivation, ideas, and assumed sympathy in the minds of potential agitators who in turn lend further authority to the figurehead.[1]While this may loosely resemble a vertical command structure, it is notably unidirectional: a titular leader makes pronouncements, and activists may respond, but there is no formal contact between the two levels of organization.[2]

As a result, leaderless resistance cells are resistant toinformantsandtraitors.As there is neither a center that may be destroyed, nor links between the cells that may be infiltrated, it is more difficult for established authorities to arrest the development of a leaderless resistance movement than it is with movements that adopt more conventional hierarchies.[1]

Giventhe asymmetrical character[clarification needed]of leaderless resistance, and the fact that it is often strategically adopted in the face of a power imbalance, it has much in common withguerrilla warfare.The latter strategy, however, usually retains some form of organized, bidirectional leadership and is often morebroad-based[clarification needed]than the individualized actions of leaderless cells. In some cases, a largely leaderless movement may evolve into a coherentinsurgencyor guerrilla movement, as with theYugoslav partisansofWorld War II.

Leaderless resistance often involves resistance by violent means, but it is not limited to them. Non-violent groups can use the same structure to author, print, and distributesamizdatliterature, to create self-propagatingboycottsagainst political opponents via the internet, to maintain an alternativeelectronic currencyoutside of the reach of ta xing governments and transaction-logging banks, and so forth.[3]

History

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The concept of leaderless resistance was developed by Col.Ulius Louis Amoss,a formerU.S. intelligenceofficer, in the early 1950s.[4][5]Ananti-communist,Amoss saw leaderless resistance as a way to prevent the penetration and destruction of CIA-supported resistance cells in Eastern European countries under Soviet control.[6][5]

The concept was revived and popularized in an essay published by the anti-governmentKu Klux KlanmemberLouis Beamin 1983, again in 1992, and was read as a keynote message at the 1992 gatheringRocky Mountain Rendezvousofright-wing extremists.[7][4][8]Beam advocated leaderless resistance as a technique forwhite nationaliststo continue the struggle against theU.S. government,despite an overwhelming imbalance in power and resources.[5]

Beam argued that conventionalhierarchicalpyramidal organizations are extremely dangerous for their participants, when employed in a resistance movement against government, because of the ease of disclosing thechain of command.A less dangerous approach would be to convince like-minded individuals to form independent cells without close communication between each other but generally operating in the same direction.[1]

More contemporary examples of social movements such asthe gilets jaunes (yellow vests)in France,Extinction Rebellion,or the#MeToo movementseem to have spontaneously arisen as leaderless movements, perhaps due to the prevalence of social media that bring together individuals with common grievances even in the absence of organized leadership.[9]

In practice

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Animal liberation

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Further information:Animal rights movement,Abolitionism (animal rights),Veganarchism,andAnarchism and animal rights

The first recordeddirect actionforanimal liberationwhich progressed (after a considerable delay) into a movement of leaderless resistance was by the original "Band of Mercy" in 1824 whose goal was to thwartfox hunters.[10]Inspired by this group and after seeing a pregnant deer driven into the village by fox hunters to be killed, John Prestige decided to actively oppose this sport and formed theHunt Saboteurs Associationin 1964. Within a year, a leaderless model of hunt-sabotage groups was formed across the United Kingdom.[10]

A newBand of Mercywas then formed in 1972. It used direct action to liberate animals and cause economic sabotage against those thought to be abusing animals.Ronnie Leeand others changed the name of the movement to theAnimal Liberation Front(ALF) in 1976 and adopted a leaderless resistance model focusing broadly on animal liberation.[11]

Earth First!and theenvironmental movementin the 1980s also adopted the leaderless resistance model.[12]An animal liberation movement advocating violence emerged with the nameAnimal Rights Militia(ARM) in 1982. Letter bombs were sent to the thenBritish Prime Minister,Margaret Thatcher.Two years later the name Hunt Retribution Squad (HRS) was also used.[13][14]

TheEarth Liberation Front(ELF) formed in 1992, breaking from Earth First! when that organization decided to focus on public direct action, instead of theecotagethat the ELF participated in.[15]Aviolentgroup called theJustice Departmentwas established in 1993, and in 1994sent razor blades[clarification needed]to hunters such asPrince Charlesand toanimal researchers.[16][17]

In 1999 the leaderless resistance strategy was employed by animal liberation organisations likeStop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty(SHAC), which was formed from theConsort beaglescampaign andSave the Hill Grove Catsto close downHuntingdon Life Sciences(HLS). Despite claiming successes[18]leaderless animal liberation and environmental movements generally lack the broad popular support that often occurs in strictly political or military conflicts.[citation needed]TheRevolutionary Cells--Animal Liberation Brigade(RCALB) appeared in 2003 and sent pipe bombs toChiron Corporationand usedincendiary devicesagainst other targets,whilst a year later on the south coast ofDorset,theLobster Liberation Front(LLF) was founded[clarification needed].[19]

Within a few years of the victories claimed by the SHAC, other campaigns against animal testing laboratories emerged. At the same time,SPEAK Campaignsand the more radical ALF militants,Oxford Arson Squadbegan their campaigns towards the same goal: to endOxford University's animal research.

In April 2009, theMilitant Forces Against Huntingdon Life Sciences(MFAH) became active. With the ALF, they began targeting HLS customer and financial Directors, as well as company property. Since then, groups[who?]have reported over a dozen actions in Europe, including painting homes, burning cars, and grave desecration. Militants[who?],however, opposeALF ideology[clarification needed],instead believing inany necessary actionto prevent suffering at HLS's laboratories.[20]

Radical Islamists

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Leaderless resistance is also often well-suited to terrorist objectives. TheIslamistorganizationAl-Qaedauses a typical figurehead/leaderless cell structure. The organization itself may be pyramidal, but sympathizers who act on its pronouncements often do so spontaneously and independently.

Given the small, clandestine character of terrorist cells, it is easy to assume they necessarily constitute leaderless resistance models. When there is bidirectional communication with external leadership, however, the label is inappropriate. The men who executed the bombings of theLondon Undergroundon July 7, 2005 constituted a leaderless resistance cell in that they purportedly acted out of sympathy forIslamic fundamentalismbut under their own auspices. The hijackers involved in theSeptember 11 attacks,by contrast, allegedly received training, direction, and funding from Al-Qaeda, and are not properly designated a leaderless cell.

Neo-Nazis and White nationalists

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The concept of leaderless resistance remains important to far-right thinking in the United States,[citation needed]as a proposed response to perceived federal government over-reach at the expense of individual rights.Simson Garfinkel,however, found in his research that for the most part the far right seldom used this tactic.[citation needed]Timothy McVeighis one example in the United States. McVeigh worked in a small cell which based its attack on motivations widespread among far-right anti-government groups and themilitia movement.[citation needed]

Leaderless resistance has been advocated by white supremacist groups such asWhite Aryan Resistance(WAR) and the British neo-NaziCombat 18(C18). The modernKu Klux Klanis also credited with having developed a leaderless resistance model.[21]Troy Southgatealso advocated forms of leaderless resistance during his time as a leading activist in theNational Revolutionary Factionand a pioneer ofNational-Anarchism.James Masona formerAmerican Nazi Partymember and neo-Nazi was a proponent of the idea of "leaderless resistance" as detailed inSIEGEa collection of writings from the defunct National Socialist Liberation Front (NSLF) which advocated violence against political opponents, Jews and non-whites of which he deemed to be the supposedly Jewish controlled entity he referred to as "The System" which has since been embraced by the terrorist groupAtomwaffen Division(AWD) in the modern day.

Stormfront,Aryan Nations,andHammerskin Nation(HSN) link to Beam'sLeaderless Resistance.These groups promote lone wolf actions.While nominally decrying violence, the sites praise the man who "practices what he preaches, and who backs up his words with his deeds."[clarification needed][22]Stormfront, while regretting the loss of life, explains how Benjamin Nathaniel Smith's1999 killing spreewas compelled by circumstances.[citation needed]TheWorld Church of the Creator(WCOTC) gave a mixed message, calling Smith "a selfless man who gave his life in the resistance to Jewish/mud tyranny," but noting "the Church does not condone his acts."[22]

Examples of modern-day leaderless resistance/lone-wolf terrorism include:

Radical environmentalism

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Main article:Radical environmentalism
Further information:Ecotage,Eco-terrorism,andEarth liberation

Leaderless resistance emerged in the environmental movement in 1976 whenJohn Hannaand others as theEnvironmental Life Force(ELF) (also known now as theoriginal ELF) used explosive andincendiary devices.The group conducted armed actions in northernCaliforniaandOregon,later disbanding in 1978 following Hanna's arrest for placing incendiary devices on seven crop-dusters at theSalinas, Californiaairport onMay Day,1977.[23]A decade and a half later this form ofguerrilla warfareresurfaced using the sameacronym.

The symbol ofEarth First!:a Monkey wrench and stone hammer.

In 1980Earth First!was founded byDave Foremanand others to confront environmental destruction, primarily of the American West. Inspired by theEdward AbbeynovelThe Monkey Wrench Gang,Earth First! made use of such techniques astreesitting[24]andtreespiking[25]to stoploggingcompanies, as well as other activities targeted towardsmining,roadconstruction,[26]suburbandevelopment, andenergy companies.

The organization was committed to nonviolentecotagetechniques from the group's inception. Others split from the movement in the 1990s, including theEarth Liberation Front(ELF) in 1992, which named itself after theAnimal Liberation Front(ALF) which had formed in the 1970s.[27]Three years later inCanada,inspired by the ELF inEurope,the firstEarth Liberationdirect actionoccurred, but this time as theEarth Liberation Army(ELA), a similar movement who use ecotage andmonkeywrenchingas a tool.

A series of actions earned ELF the label ofeco-terrorists,[28][29]including the burning of askiresort inVail, Coloradoin 1998, and the burning of anSUVdealership inOregonin 1999. In the same year the ELA made headlines by setting fire to theVail ResortsinWashington, D.C.,causing $12 million in damages.[30]The defendants in that case were later charged in theFBI's "Operation Backfire"with other crimes; this was later named by environmentalists as theGreen Scare,alluding to theRed Scareperiods of fear over communist infiltration of U.S.[31][32]

Following theSeptember 11, 2001 attacksseveral laws were passed increasing the penalty for ecoterrorism, and the U.S. Congress held hearings on the activity of groups such as the ELF. To date no one has been killed as a result of an ELF or ALF action, and both groups forbid harming human or non-human life.[33]

In 2005 the FBI announced that the ELF was America's greatest domestic terrorist threat, responsible for over 1,200 "criminal incidents" amounting to tens of millions of dollars in damage to property.[34]The United StatesDepartment of Homeland Securityconfirmed this with regards to both the ALF and ELF.[35]

Plane Stupidlaunched in 2005, an attempt to combat the growing airport expansions in the UK by usingdirect action.A year later the firstCamp for Climate Actionwas held, with 600 people attending a protest calledReclaim Powerand then converging onDrax Power StationinNorth Yorkshirein an attempt to shut it down. There were thirty-eight arrests, with four breaching the fence and the railway line being blocked.[36][37][clarification needed]

Movements/organizations

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Anti-abortion militancy

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Anti-abortionmilitantsThe Army of Goduse leaderless resistance as their organizing principle. As of 2009, The Army of God's webpage hosts a reprint of an article entitled "Leaderless Resistance" from a publication calledThe Seditionist.[38][39][40]

Countermeasures

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Network analysis in classical setting

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Leaderless resistancesocial networksare potentially vulnerable tosocial network analysisand its derivative,link analysis.Link analysis of social networks is the fundamental reason for the ongoing legislative push in the U.S. and the European Union for mandatoryretention of telecommunication traffic dataand for limiting access toanonymousprepaidcellphones,as the stored data contain important network analysis clues.[citation needed]

See also:MAINWAY

Network analysis was successfully used by French ColonelYves Godardto break theAlgerian resistancebetween 1955 and 1957 and force them to cease theirbombingcampaigns. The Algerian conflict may be better described as guerrilla in nature rather than leaderless resistance (seeModern Warfareby Col. Roger Trinquier), and this illustrates the weakness of cell-structured insurgents when compared to leaderless ones.The mapping data[clarification needed]were obtained by the use ofinformantsandtortureand were used to obtain the identities of important individuals in the resistance; these individuals were thenassassinated,which disrupted the Algerian resistance networks. The more irreplaceable the individual is in the adversary's network, the greater the damage is done to the network by removing them.

Advantages of leaderless resistance

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Traditional organizations leave behind much evidence of their activities, such as money trails, and training and recruitment material. Leaderless resistances, supported more byideologiesthan organizations, generally lack such traces. The effects of their operations, as reported by themass media,act as a sort of messaging and recruitment advertising.

Paul Joosse[clarification needed]argues that leaderless resistance movements can avoid the ideological disputes and infighting that plague radical groups. They do this bylimiting interaction to the virtual realm[clarification needed].[2]

The internet provides counter-insurgents with further challenges. Individual cells (and even a single person can be a cell) can communicate over the internet, anonymously or semi-anonymously sharing information online, to be found by others through well-known websites. Even when it is legally and technically possible to ascertain who accessed what, it is often practically impossible to discern in a reasonable time frame who is a real threat and who is just curious, a journalist, or aweb crawler.

Despite these advantages, leaderless resistance is often unstable.[citation needed]If the actions are not frequent enough or not successful, the stream of publicity, which serves as the recruiting, motivation, and coordination drives for other cells, diminishes. On the other hand, if the actions are too successful,support groupsand othersocial structureswill form that are vulnerable to network analysis.

In fiction

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  • The 1970 novelA Piece of Resistance,re-published in the US in 2004 under the titleNever SurrenderbyClive Egletondepicts resistance to a Soviet occupation of England.
  • The 1996 novelUnintended ConsequencesbyJohn Rossportrays a successful rebellion by the American heartland after decades of bullying by faraway Washington.

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdefGarfinkel, Simson (2003-03-03)."Leaderless resistance today".First Monday.8(3).doi:10.5210/fm.v8i3.1040.ISSN1396-0466.
  2. ^abcdJoosse, Paul (2007). "Leaderless Resistance and Ideological Inclusion: the Case of the Earth Liberation Front".Terrorism and Political Violence.19(3): 351–368.doi:10.1080/09546550701424042.S2CID17532687.
  3. ^Joosse, Paul (2012). "Elves, Environmentalism, and 'Eco-terror'".Crime, Media, Culture.8(1): 75–93.doi:10.1177/1741659011433366.S2CID145748563.
  4. ^abBerlet, Chip (Fall 2008)."Leaderless Counterterrorism Strategy—The 'War on Terror,' Civil Liberties, and Flawed Scholarship".The Public Eye.Retrieved27 June2022.
  5. ^abcMareš, Miroslav (2020)."Leaderless Resistance: Development, Countering and Research of Insurgent Concept".Vojenské rozhledy.29(3): 41–56.doi:10.3849/2336-2995.29.2020.03.041-056.ISSN1210-3292.S2CID225320075.
  6. ^Amoss as cited in"Leaderless Resistance: Amoss Version 1953-1962".Defending Dissent Foundation Study Guide.Archived fromthe originalon 2015-06-26.
  7. ^Beam, Louis (February 1992) [1983]."Leaderless Resistance".The Seditionist(12).
  8. ^"Peter J." Pete "Peters".Anti-Defamation League.Archived fromthe originalon June 28, 2008.RetrievedJune 27,2023.
  9. ^Ross, Carne (2018-12-13)."How to create a leaderless revolution and win lasting political change".The Guardian.ISSN0261-3077.Retrieved2023-02-15.
  10. ^abBest, Steven; Nocella, Anthony J., eds. (2004).Terrorists or Freedom Fighters.Lantern Books.
  11. ^Webb, Robin (2004). "Animal Liberation — By 'Whatever Means Necessary'".In Best, Steven; Nocella, Anthony J. (eds.).Terrorists or Freedom Fighters.Lantern Books. p. 77.
  12. ^Southern Poverty Law Center."From Push to Shove".Archived fromthe originalon November 22, 2009.RetrievedMay 7,2006.
  13. ^Singer, Peter (1985).The Animal Liberation Movement: Its philosophy, its achievements and its future.Old Hammond Press.ISBN0948062029.Retrieved2007-11-09.
  14. ^Chittenden, Maurice (2004-10-17)."Focus: Desecrated".The Sunday Times.Archived fromthe originalon 2011-06-29.
  15. ^Alleyne, Richard (January 19, 2001)."Terror tactics that brought a company to its knees".The Daily Telegraph.Archived fromthe originalon 2003-03-01.
  16. ^"Animal rights, terror tactics".BBC News.30 August 2000.
  17. ^"From push to shove".Southern Poverty Law Group Intelligence Report.Fall 2002. p. 3. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-11-22.
  18. ^"Quantum Analytics: Drop HLS".Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty.Archived from the original on 2005-03-26.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  19. ^"Activists' 'war' to save lobsters".BBC News.July 30, 2004. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-12-03.
  20. ^"MFAH Communique".Bite Back Magazine.7 April 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 2009-08-16.
  21. ^University of Michigan."Right-Wing Domestic Terrorism"(PDF).RetrievedMay 7,2006.
  22. ^abRay, Beverly; George E. Marsh II (February 2001)."Recruitment by Extremist Groups on the Internet".First Monday.6(2).doi:10.5210/fm.v6i2.834.
  23. ^"Original ELF".Archived fromthe originalon 2012-04-15.Retrieved2018-12-01.
  24. ^Earth First's first treesitting civil disobedience actionArchived2005-10-16 at theWayback Machine,Earth First! 1985,Oregon, June 1985.
  25. ^Tree Spiking MemoArchived2008-04-24 at theWayback Machine,Earth First!,April 1990.
  26. ^Wall, Derek (1999).Earth First! and the Anti-Roads Movement: Radical Environmentalism and Comparative Social Movements.Routledge.
  27. ^ELF Burns Down VailArchived2006-02-11 at theWayback Machine,FIRE,December 1999.
  28. ^Earth Liberation Front is now FBI's No. 1 Domestic Terrorist Threat,Property Rights of America Foundation Inc,March 2001.
  29. ^ELF NewsArchived2009-02-11 at theWayback Machine,Earth Liberation Front
  30. ^Paige, Sean."waste & abuse"Archived2008-09-25 at theWayback Machine,BNet,September 27th 1999.
  31. ^Eco-Terror Indictments: "Operation Backfire" Nets 11Archived2010-08-17 at theWayback Machine,FBI,January 20th 2006.
  32. ^Resentencing date set for Jeff Luers,Freedom4um,29 December 2007.
  33. ^Bron Taylor,1998. Religion, Violence and Radical Environmentalism: From Earth First! to the Unabomber to the Earth Liberation Front,Terrorism and Political Violence10(4):1-42doi:10.1080/09546559808427480
  34. ^Best, Stevenand Best & Nocella.Igniting a Revolution: Voices in Defense of the Earth,Lantern Books,2006, p. 47.
  35. ^FBI, ATF address domestic terrorism,CNN,May 19th 2005.
  36. ^Brown, Jonathan (2006-09-01)."The Battle of Drax: 38 held as protest fails to close plant".The Independent.Archived fromthe originalon March 1, 2007.RetrievedApril 4,2010.
  37. ^Wainwright, Martin (2006-09-01)."In the shadow of Drax, not so much a fight as a festival".The Guardian.London.RetrievedApril 4,2010.
  38. ^Louis Beam (1962-04-17)."Leaderless Resistance".Armyofgod.Retrieved2012-11-07.
  39. ^"A Most Dangerous Profile: The Loner".The Washington Post.August 18, 1998.RetrievedApril 4,2010.
  40. ^Jennifer Gonnerman (1998-11-10)."The Terrorist Campaign Against Abortion".Village Voice.Retrieved2012-11-07.

Further reading

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