Derrick Jensen
Derrick Jensen is an American environmental activist, author and ecophilosopher in the anarcho-primitivist tradition. He believes that human civilization is and has always been unsustainable for the planet.
Derrick Jensen

Escape with Lord Hugh R. Adumbass · YouTube: https– View/save archived versions on archive.org Title: Derrick Jensen - "Mind over matter" · CC BY 3.0
- Name
- Derrick Jensen
- Born
- 1960
- Birthplace
- Nebraska, United States
- Education
- * Colorado School of Mines (BSc)
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- novelist · writer · environmentalist · philosopher · teacher
- Fields
- deep ecology · criticism of technology
- Movements
- radical environmentalism
- Known for
- Endgame · The Culture of Make Believe · A Language Older Than Words
- Languages
- English
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Derrick Jensen is an American environmental activist, author and ecophilosopher in the anarcho-primitivist tradition. He believes that human civilization is and has always been unsustainable for the planet.
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Authority files
wikidata · Q1199836
In this article
Biography
Biography
Derrick Jensen studied at Colorado School of Mines and Eastern Washington University. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is deep ecology and criticism of technology. Places of work recorded in the authority are Crescent City. Works named in the authority record are Endgame, The Culture of Make Believe and A Language Older Than Words.

Derrick Jensen, in discussion with Lord Hugh about Bright Green Lies, Extinction Rebellion, collapse, and the system.
Escape with Lord Hugh R. Adumbass · YouTube – View/save archived versions on archive.org Title: Derrick Jensen - "Mind over matter"

Youtube description: Combined footage of all four Deep Green Resistance related speakers at Occupy Oakland in 2011: Derrick Jensen, Lierre Keith, Aric McBay, and Waziyatawin. You can also see each speaker individually in the other videos in this playlist. Help us caption translate this video! http: amara.org/v/DWOK/
Deep Green Resistance · YouTube: https– View/save archived versions on archive.org Title: Deep Green Resistance Occupy Oakland - all 4 speakers
Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Derrick Jensen • Born — 1960 • Birthplace — Nebraska, United States • Language — English • Education — * Colorado School of Mines (BSc) • Eastern Washington University (MFA) • Website — https: derrickjensen.org/
Early life
Early life
Derrick Jensen was born in 1960 in Nebraska and was raised in Colorado. He attended the Colorado School of Mines with a scholarship and graduated with a bachelor's degree in mineral engineering and physics. Even before graduating, he intended to become a writer. Jensen worked briefly in engineering and as a small commercial beekeeper. He became ill from Crohn's disease and had a slow recovery. His experience with the disease contributed to his approach towards Western culture. In 1991, Jensen received a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing from Eastern Washington University.
Writing and activism
Writing and activism
people • Illustration — Lierre Keith (left) and Jensen (right) with Deep Green Resistance at Occupy Oakland in 2011 Jensen contends that human civilization is and has always been unsustainable for the planet. His writing and philosophy centers on the destructive tendencies of Western culture and how it proliferates between people and generations. His The Culture of Make Believe, a nonlinear composite of memoir and philosophy, outlines how Western culture was built upon brutality. Jensen has said this approach comes from wanting to be honest and "forthright without whining". When writing about massacres, slavery, and industrial forestry, he balances statistics and personal stories to "mix analysis with blood". He wrote for two environmental organizations in 1995. A commission from an environmental organization led to his co-authored Railroads and Clearcuts, and Sierra Club Books published his interviews with activists, Listening to the Land. Jensen began A Language Older Than Words in 1996, published by Context Books in 2000. He described the book as beginning a trilogy, starting with how to be "sane in a crazy culture", followed by what one sees by becoming sane (The Culture of Make Believe), followed by what to do about what one sees. Jensen is a critic of the mainstream environmental movement's focus on preserving civilization and technology over preserving the natural world. 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". Lierre Keith and Jensen co-founded Deep Green Resistance in 2011. His belief, and the organization's position, that women-only spaces should exclude trans women has drawn criticism.
Personal life
Personal life
Jensen lives in Crescent City, California, and has cats.
Selected works
Selected works
* • Republished by Chelsea Green in 2004 with. • Republished by Chelsea Green in 2004 with. * * * * * * * * * *
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 1 entries
1960
Derrick Jensen born.
Reception
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".
References
Citations
References
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authority record
General reference
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
Derrick Jensen worked in deep ecology and criticism of technology. His work is associated with radical environmentalism. He belonged to Deep Green Resistance. He worked at Crescent City. Work and production. Works recorded as notable number 3: Endgame, The Culture of Make Believe and A Language Older Than Words. Recorded as novelist, writer, environmentalist, philosopher and teacher.
Career and activity
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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