Throughout his life, prophetic American philosopher Murray Bookchin created social ecology as a comprehensive social program for the challenges of our present era. Through tireless teaching, speaking, organizing, and writing, Bookchin presented a humanist vision of ecology based on community, direct democracy, and the better promises of the Enlightenment, showing how we could transform our society into one that is free and egalitarian.
Enlightenment and Ecology is an international collection of commemorative essays by scholars and activists who have each incorporated the ideas of social ecology into their own work. This book also examines how the Kurdish freedom movement is using the Bookchin’s utopian ideas. In a time of urgent need for radical change, these essays provide both precious historical lessons and a transformative road map.
About the Editor
Yavor Tarinski is independent researcher, activist and author. He participates in social movements around the Balkans, as well as in transnational organizations, dedicated to the production of grassroots knowledge. Author of the book Direct Democracy: Context, Society, Individuality (Durty Books 2019). Articles of his have been translated into 10 languages.
What People Are Saying
"This book is crucial for everyone trying to understand what the social ecology movement in Europe is about and the influence it has had on the Left and on movements like Occupy, Indignados, the climate justice movement and the Yellow Vests movements in the twenty-first century. This anthology greatly sheds light not only on Bookchin’s ideas but also on the practices and actions of many different people and groups who have been inspired by those ideas." Rafa Grinfeld
Table of Contents
Preface by Yavor Tarinski
Introduction by Yavor Tarinski
PART I: Bookchin’s Theoretical Legacy
The Unique Contribution of Murray Bookchin to Political Thought by Jean-François Filion
Bookchin and the Legacy of Direct Democracy by Yavor Tarinski
Bookchin, Öcalan, and the Dialectics of Democracy by Janet Biehl
Murray Bookchin and Radical Agriculture by Brian Morris
The Ecology of Urban Regeneration by Eirik Eiglad
The Significance of the City for Social Ecology by Giorgos Papahristodoulou
On Hannah Arendt and Murray Bookchin: Bridging Intellectual Legacies by Jason Toney
Can Cyborgs Dream of Social Ecology by Nikos Vrantsis
On Connecting a New Scientific Economics with Social Ecology by Peter Piperkov
Reflections on "Limits of the City" by Kostas Papoulis
Murray Bookchin's Legacy of Freedom by Ramazan Kaya
On the Re-organization of Society: or Eco-Anarchism by Georgi Konstantinov
PART II: Bookchin’s Influence on Political Practice Around the World
Bookchin's journey to ancient and modern Greece by Stavros Karageorgakis and Niovi Hatzinikolaou
Murray Bookchin In Greece: The publication of his works and the impact of his ideas by Costas Despiniadis
Murray Bookchin and contemporary Greek social movements: The influence of social ecology on democratic political discourse by Alexandros Schismenos
Bookchin's Influence on Ocalan and the PKK's Evolution by Hawzhin Azeez
Bookchin and the Kurdish movement in Turkey by Reco Akgün
Spreading Murray Bookchin’s ideas in Germany by Wolfgang Haug
Montreal and Murray Bookchin by Dimitri Roussopoulos
From Athens to Cork: Collective Design as a Social Ecological Praxis of Community Building by Eve Olney
Murray Bookchin In Flanders Fields (Belgium) by Roger Jacobs
Social Ecology Education and Demonstration School (SEEDS—A Brief History) by Bob Spivey
A Revolutionary Agenda Whose Time has Come: an Emerging Municipalist Wave in France? by Theo Rouhette
Murray Bookchin in Italy by Selva Varengo
Conclusion by Yavor Tarinski