Sabotage is intentional damage, interference or disruption designed to hinder a business, create chaos and generate money problems. It can take many forms, including military, political and ecological sabotage, and is usually illegal. The term comes from the French word saboter, meaning “to walk awkwardly,” not from throwing wooden shoes into machines.
Sabotage is a form of subversion involving intentional damage, interference or disruption. In a classic example, environmental activists have shut down the engines of logging equipment in the Pacific Northwest to keep loggers from working at various points in history. There are different forms of sabotage, all designed to hinder a business in some way, creating chaos and often generating money problems as people struggle to fix the damage.
Many people are unfamiliar with the true origins of this word, although they may know the folk etymology, which holds that the term comes from the practice of throwing wooden shoes known as sabots into the mechanisms of machines. While that’s a fascinating idea, it’s actually not correct. “Sabotage” actually comes from the French word saboter, meaning “to walk awkwardly,” a reference to the same sabots discussed above; the term is actually meant to describe work stoppage and the disruption created by sabotage.
One of the more infamous forms is military sabotage, where saboteurs penetrate an enemy’s defenses and attempt to disrupt weapon systems, military strategy, and so on. Sometimes, the damage comes from within, with rebels sabotaging their own nations’ militaries in an effort to help the enemy gain the upper hand. It can also take a political form, in which case it is mostly done through press releases and timely commentary that are designed to undermine opposing political campaigns.
Ecological sabotage, or ecotage, involves acts carried out with the aim of helping the environment in some way. Ecotage typically involves damage to equipment used in activities considered environmentally harmful. In industrial sabotage, saboteurs penetrate enemy companies to damage their productivity, sometimes before the release of an important product. This can also be done to gather information about ongoing projects and upcoming product releases, with the goal of dating a competing product.
Since sabotage usually involves the destruction of property, it is usually illegal in nature. If the charges can be proven, the perpetrators can face a harsh sentence, especially in the case of military sabotage, which is often treated as treason. Milder forms can be designed to circumvent the law, especially in the case of political sabotage, which can be frustrating for victims, as they have no legal recourse.
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