During his long career, Murray Bookchin became an extremely influential figure within the anarchist and environmental movements. He was the first to insist that an ecological society would also have to be a liberatory society, and early on he advocated principles such as decentralization, eco-technology, and direct democracy - principles that have now been widely taken up by the green and libertarian left. He died in July 2006 at the age of 85.This text focuses on Bookchin's political ideas, expressed through a range of thought-provoking essays. He argued that capitalism and the nation state, as well as oppressive social relations in general, must be abolished if we are to have a rational and ecological society. According to Bookchin, we must fundamentally remake society along ecological lines, based on principles of confederation, humanism, non-hierarchy and direct democracy. In a time when the Left is highly defensive and reactive, Bookchin's radical political ideas of Social Ecology present a strong vision of an alternative society. To counter today's crisis, Bookchin appeals to the Left to adopt a Communalist vision and politics.
With today's huge improvements in communications, his bold ideas are increasingly practical and, faced with ecological catastrophe, they are increasingly necessary. This is a must-read for students of political theory and anti-globalisation activists.
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Für höhere Schule und Studium
ISBN-13
978-0-7453-2819-5 (9780745328195)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Murray Bookchin (1921-2006) was a left-libertarian social theorist who, in the early 1960s, introduced the concept of ecology into radical politics. Self-educated, and a foundryman and autoworker by trade, he wrote more than two dozen books on ecology, history, politics, philosophy and urban planning. He is widely recognised as one of the most important radical thinkers of the twentieth century.Eirik Eiglad is international secretary and co-founder of Alternative Democracy, a Scandinavian organisation committed to libertarian municipalism. He is on the editorial board of the organisation's magazine Direct Democracy and is also editor of Communalism: International Journal for a Rational Society. He has translated and edited many of Murray Bookchin's articles.
