Articles

A dandelion releasing its seeds.

Basic Principles, Future Prospects

10.09.2011
In this interview from 1994, Murray Bookchin presents a summary of his ideas on social ecology and libertarian municipalism. Although intended for a Japanese audience, it is a very good general introduction to his thought.
Woman´s power Courtesy of CEBimagery common license

Is Power Always Bad?

08.09.2011
Is power something negative? Does it always have to corrupt? And does “taking power” necessarily have to mean taking state power? This critique of John Holloway shows that communalism and autonomism provides two different answers to these questions.
Fascism never again: Portugal 1974

In Memoriam: Portugal 1974

04.09.2011
In Portugal, new social movements are stirring in defense of workers rights and protesting austerity measures—against the neo-liberalist agenda furthered by the IMF, The EU and the Portuguese Government. It seems timely to recollect the experiences of the Portuguese revolution.
Vegetables

A Social Ecology of Food

01.09.2011
We can choose to strengthen local economic resilience and reconnect people with land and place. But the real prospects of the local food revolution is in a decoupling of people from the expectation of next-day-delivery, the challenge that regional-based eating has on our idea of endless consumption.
Movie poster for Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times

Radical Politics in an Era of Advanced Capitalism

28.08.2011
There is a sense in which any new forms of resistance must open alternative areas of life that can countervail and undo the embourgeoisement of society at all its levels. The issue of the relationship of “society,” “politics,” and “the state” becomes one of programmatic urgency.
Spanish Civil War poster modified by Sowizo

Anarchism and Power in the Spanish Revolution

14.08.2011
How to address the issue of power—which confronts all revolutionaries in periods of social upheaval—is one of the major differences between a society based on anarchy and one based on the principles of social ecology. The experiences of the 1936 Spanish revolution reveals its crucial importance.
Sign from the Kurdish village Hasenkeyf

Hasankeyf: A Story of Resistance

07.08.2011
The Turkish government plans to dam up the Tigris near Hasankeyf. This will spell disaster for the ancient archeological sites in the region and its rich ecosystem, as well as its villages and farms. To fight this, the Kurdish communities have mobilized.
Demonstration in Keratea

The Gallic village of Keratea

03.08.2011
All of Greece is under financial occupation…or, is it? To this question, borrowing from Asterix, the answer is a resounding NO! A village of undisciplined citizens in a small Greek municipality has been resisting and will apparently resist, causing trouble to the contemporary IMF legionaries.
Janus face

Double Standards on the Left

18.07.2011
Why do socialists and communists regard popular participation in official politics in Norway as a ruling tool of the bourgeoisie? And why do they view similar forms of participation in Latin-American countries as a revolutionary strategy?
We have just begun to fight: Strikers on March

The Communist Manifesto: Insights and Problems

15.07.2011
The Manifesto of the Communist Party was a groundbreaking document when it was published in 1848. In an article written for its 150th anniversary, social ecologist Murray Bookchin evaluated its insights and problems, and its continued relevance for radicals today.
Painting of participants in a popular assembly

Popular Assemblies in Revolts and Revolutions

08.07.2011
Amidst the recent social protests in Europe, the emergence of a people’s assembly movement seems to have taken everyone by surprise. Popular assemblies, however, are not new to revolts and revolutions, and have formed an essential feature of numerous popular uprisings throughout history.
The logo of Planka Oslo

The Transports of Tomorrow: Free and Common

03.07.2011
What does city infrastructure tell us about the limitations and possibilities of our every day life? For whom are the cities built? The new action group Planka Oslo is eager to further these questions. The shape of our cities of tomorrow begins with public transportation.
A corn shaped grenade amongst ears of corn.

Agribusiness, Biotechnology and War

29.06.2011
Since the earliest origins of modern industrial agriculture, Brian Tokar writes, agribusiness has been at war against all life on earth. An examination of the origins of today’s agrochemical technologies—and the companies that first advanced them—can reveal a great deal about where we may be heading.
Riots in Greece

The Greek Frustration and the Riots

19.06.2011
Western media often blames the massive riots currently taking place in Greece on the economical crisis. But is that really why thousands of young people take to the streets? This article explores the long historical roots of the Greek’s frustrations - now exploding in the streets.
People outside supporting a large globe above their heads.

Revving It Up!

15.06.2011
Chaia Heller analyzes the antiglobalization movement and explores its potential to affect the tenor of current global social movements toward a more comprehensive and integrated analysis of the sociopolitical order. Social ecology has much to offer us in this reevaluation of the revolutionary project.

Pages