Kevin Tucker (anarchist)

Kevin Tucker grew up in suburban St. Louis, Missouri, surrounded by protests against local corporations such as Monsanto.[10] He became involved in anarchism and hardcore punk around the same time and at age twelve started working on causes ranging from animal rights to Shell Oil's incursions upon Nigerian tribal lands. Simultaneously, he became an anarcho-syndicalist, straight edge and vegan.[11] Between 1998 and 2000, he switched his approach from anarcho-syndicalism to anarcho-primitivism. From 2000-2002, he worked at an animal sanctuary which contributed to him abandoning veganism.[3][11] He studied anthropology at the University of Pittsburgh, graduating in 2004.[3]

Kevin Tucker is an anarcho-primitivist. His primary contributions to this ideology have been the expansion of anthropological understanding, focusing on the importance of spirituality and domestication, a deep critique of revolution, and the act of rewilding.[12] A common theme among Tucker's writings have been the consequences of domestication and sedentism among nomadic gather-hunters. The central argument being that human nature has been shaped by evolution in accordance with wildness, what Tucker calls "primal anarchy".[13] That "primal anarchy" is exemplified by nomadic gatherer-hunter life. By focusing on the changes brought about by various levels of domestication one can see the impacts of domestication and ultimately civilization.[14]

Tucker has written extensively regarding the impacts and plausibility of revolution.[15] Concluding that revolution will always be political in nature and therefore has no relevance to the destruction of civilization or further aid in its collapse. Focus has instead been turned towards what Tucker calls 'Primal War':[16] a notion based on rewilding and undermining domestication rather than hope for liberation through a historical event.

Tucker is a colleague of fellow anarcho-primitivist John Zerzan and the two have engaged on multiple speaking tours focusing on the origins of civilization and the consequences of domestication.[3]

As of 2019, Tucker has openly spoken about moving on from the term "anarcho-primitivist" in lieu of "primal anarchy." Stating:

It’s felt increasingly apparent that the name is a limitation, attaching itself to two different lineages—anarchism and primitivism—neither of which is necessarily fitting in its own right. Anarcho-primitivism becomes the square peg, tethered to sets of rules that are neither applicable nor useful. I’ve increasingly used another phrase: primal anarchy. As both anarchism and primitivism seem to quickly wither and decay on their own, I’m only finding more reasons to embrace that term entirely.[17]

Tucker received some attention in the media after being subpoenaed to a Grand Jury, as a part of the Green Scare round up of Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF) activists;[18][19] a move Tucker called "harassment".[20] Even though he was not a suspect of committing any crime, he was questioned because the FBI believed he might have had some information on the actions of these organizations. He has stated that he has no knowledge of the ELF and the ALF, other than what is publicly known.[21]

Tucker's band Peregrine released its debut album The Agrarian Curse in 2008 and a split with Pittsburgh band Auryn the next year. Proceeds from the split with Auryn went to "folks facing jail time and courts in the Green Scare." Both were released on Andy Hurley's record label Fuck City.[22][23] In 2011, they released a split 7" with Sweden's Seeds in Barren Fields which was released by Crimethinc CZ.[24]

• Green anarchism

• Kevin Tucker's website
• Black and Green Press website
• Official Myspace Profile of Kevin Tucker's band
• Archive with several of Tucker's articles
• Free Radical Radio interview with Tucker