Ecology or Catastrophe
The Life of Murray Bookchin
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- £34.99
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- £34.99
Publisher Description
Murray Bookchin was not only one of the most significant and influential environmental philosophers of the twentieth century--he was also one of the most prescient. From industrial agriculture to nuclear radiation, Bookchin has been at the forefront of every major ecological issue since the very beginning, often proposing a solution before most people even recognized there was a problem.
Ecology or Catastrophe: The Life of Murray Bookchin is the first biography of this groundbreaking environmental and political thinker. Author Janet Biehl worked as his collaborator and copyeditor for 19 years, editing his every word. Thanks to her extensive personal history with Bookchin as well as her access to his papers and archival research, Ecology or Catastrophe offers unique insight into his personal and professional life. Founder of the social ecology movement, Bookchin first started raising environmental issues in 1952. He foresaw global warming in the 1960s and even then argued that we should look into renewable energy sources as an alternative to fossil fuels. Wary of pesticides and other chemicals used in industrial agriculture, he was also an early advocate of small-scale organic farming, which has developed into the present locavore movement and the revival of organic markets. Even Occupy can trace the origins of its leaderless structure and general assemblies to the nonhierarchical organizational form Bookchin developed as a libertarian socialist.
Bookchin believed that social and ecological issues were deeply intertwined. Convinced that capitalism pushes businesses to maximize profits and ignore humanist concerns, he argued that eco-crises could be resolved by a new social arrangement. His solution was Communalism, a new form of libertarian socialism that he developed. An optimist and utopian, Bookchin believed in the potentiality for human beings to use reason to solve all social and ecological problems.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Biehl offers up this tribute to anarchist political philosopher and activist Bookchin who, throughout his life, opposed capitalism, which he believed was inimical to both ecology and the good of the people. Biehl's chapter titles outline Bookchin's evolving philosophy, beginning as a "Young Bolshevik" at the age of nine and transforming through stages such as "Eco-Anarchist," "Social Ecologist," "Green Politico," and finally, "Historian." He decided early in life, and ahead of the Green movement, that capitalism is incompatible with solutions to the ecological crisis. He was also certain that "the struggle for an ecological society... is inseparable from the struggles of oppressed peoples." Although his formal education was limited, Bookchin was an autodidact, teaching himself whatever he needed in order to understand situations and craft arguments, and eventually achieved the rank of full professor at Ramapo College. Bookchin could and did talk extemporaneously for hours on the subject of the moment, though he wasn't always patient with those who opposed him. He also held himself to a rigorous ethical standard that caused him to break with compatriots on occasion. Biehl has an insider's view of Bookchin as both his collaborator and his lover, and she uses that insight to paint a detailed and lively picture of this important figure.
Customer Reviews
Possibly the greatest book on Bookchin.
Possibly one of the easiest ways to understand the life of Murray Bookchin. A must read for anyone who wants to understand that we have a blueprint for democratic confederal future where freedom and ecology are enshrined at the core. The solution to world problems has been Bookchins life’s work. This great explainer by Biehl is a great opener to his own works.