pixie

v. to practice sabotage as an expression of environmental politics. Subjects: English, United Kingdom, Environment, Slang

Editorial Note: Pixieing can range from mischievous to criminal acts, including occupying a site, crippling machinery, or removing survey markers. Etymological Note: The article cited in the Oct. 2004 citation says, “The Earth Liberation Front initial ELF led to the use of the term ‘elf’ and then to ‘pixie-ing.’”

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Citations: 1997 Do or Die “Life on the Battle Star” no. 6, p. 82: The security started putting up fences between the camps with razor wire. You could lose your finger on it. We started resisting, they started arresting us. Soon the security started conniving with the police to help beat us so we pixied at night generally just snipping it and taking it back to camp for building material. 1998 UHC Collective (United Kingdom) (Summer) “DIY tunnelling”: Its best not to get too nocturnal as it can make your body clock do weird things and means that others aren’t as able to help you—though it can make pixieing more convenient. 2001 SchNEWS (United Kingdom) (July 13) “Race Against Time: Peatiful” no. 313,: After pixieing for the day and seriously affecting the peat harvesting everyone left the site, no arrests were made. 2001 Andy Letcher Folklore (Oct.) “The Scouring of the Shire: Fairies, Trolls and Pixies in Eco-Protest Culture”: The final example is the use of the word “pixieing.” It is in extremely common usage among protesters. It can mean any act of cheeky defiance of authority, such as the snatching and wearing of a security guard’s hard hat, but it more properly refers to acts of eco-sabotage. Here the heavy machinery used in, say, the construction of a road, is damaged so as to prevent it being used again and to escalate the costs.…“Pixieing” is a word specific to Britain, reflecting the underlying fairy mythology in British protest culture. In contrast, eco-sabotage is called “monkey-wrenching” in America. 2004 Alexandra Plows, Derek Wall, Brian Doherty Social Movement Studies (Oct.) “Covert Repertoires: ecotage in the UK” vol. 3, no. 2, p. 205: I went on rallies for example, but I never really did that thing of kind of living in the trees and being there when evictions were happening. But things I did were more like ‘pixieing.’ So at that time I was going along in the middle of the night and you know putting knives in tyres of the Landrovers [sic] that the security guards were in, and you know, or otherwise when they started putting out signs for where the road was going to go…I’d be out there moving them somewhere else. 2006 [avocado] Kathleen’s internet journal (Sheffield, U.K.) (May 12) “Fucking Finished The Essay Of Doom”: “Pixieing” is a slang term for the act of damaging or sabotaging machinery, usually carried out in a covert way. This tactic differs from some symbolic actions carried out by peace groups, where protestors damage military equipment and then wait to be arrested, in that those doing the “pixieing” hoped and tried to evade arrest.

Posted 16 May 06 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

Isn’t there already a term pixie-ing…umm “eco-terrorism” ? Pixies are a small troublesome group of fairies, althoug I believe Tinkerbell was one. I mean I’m totally up for learning new slang terms but, aren’t we kind of mudding up the English language a bit? Not affended so much as worried about how words seem to be losing there actual meanings. After-all, if there is already a slang term for it (although I guess one has an issue with the word “Terrorism” now-days)why change the meaning of a fairly charming word to something slightly ugly.

by Catherine Schulze 16 May 06, 0720 GMT

There are a couple of ways I disagree with what you’re saying, Catherine. First, “ecoterrorism” is not a perfect synonym with “pixieing” (that vowel sequence is strange, eh?). Ecoterrorism does not include things as simple as removing surveying boundaries. It can also describe much more severe acts, including despoiling or destruction of land, which are actions take by people who do not respect the environment, whereas “pixieing” is carried out by people who claim to want to protect the Earth and would not ordinarily do things like setting forests alight. Second, “ecoterrorism” is used mostly by some people of an anti-activist mindset to describe the actions of activists, and by some people of an anti-development/anti-min ing mindset to describe the actions of developers or mining companies, while “pixieing” is used by some activists themselves.

by Grant Barrett 16 May 06, 0747 GMT

This is a good point Grant, that Eco-terrorism is more of a derogatory than a descriptive word, however it is my concern that Pixie will also be considered one if used in that way. Lol, not that the word hasn’t had it’s own share of misuse already. I am however, not altogether sure about Eco-terrorists despoiling the land(seems counter-productive), although I have heard of them spiking trees.

by Catherine 17 May 06, 0320 GMT

It’s not that ecoterrorists (meaning pro-environmental activists) are despoiling the land, it’s that people who despoil the land are sometimes called ecoterrorists. The word “ecoterrorist” has different uses depending upon your political point of view.

by Grant Barrett 17 May 06, 0336 GMT

Someone called me a little pixie.
Does that mean they think that I am the cause of something bad that I don’t know about?
Really how wide spread is this meaning?

by Rose 19 Nov 06, 0345 GMT