Brian Tokar: Myths of Green Capitalism
An article from the Winter 2014 issue of the journal New Politics, based on a presentation at the 2013 Left Forum in New York City. Tokar examines the political and ideological origins of “market-oriented” approaches that aim to substitute permit-trading regimes for environmental regulation: The theoretical origins of carbon trading go back to the early 1960s, […]
Brian Tokar on Dave Van Ronk vs. “Llewyn Davis”
For a change of pace from our usual entries, here’s a commentary just posted on Counterpunch by Brian Tokar. The original title was “Dave Van Ronk’s story is much better than Llewyn Davis’ – and a lot more fun,” and Counterpunch shortened it to “The Real Van Ronk.” Tokar compares the acclaimed Coen Brothers’ film, […]
New international handbook of the climate change movement
Several contributions by ISE faculty member Brian Tokar are featured in the brand new Routledge Handbook of the Climate Change Movement. Tokar’s chapters include an in-depth review of the emergence of climate justice as a movement-building paradigm, along with several organizational profiles. Edited by 2 professors from the University of Bremen in Germany, the Handbook […]
A Spanish village utopia
In two articles from The Guardian and New Compass, authors Dan Hancox and Lisa Roth describe how an impoverished village in southern Spain made a conscious choice to create a socialist utopia influenced by the rich anarchist history of the region. Hancox has recently published a book that offers a more expansive analysis of this successful […]
New Book: Democratic Autonomy in North Kurdistan
New from New Compass Press: In the fall of 2011, a group of German activists journeyed into the Kurdish regions of Turkey to learn how the theory of Democratic Autonomy was being put into practice. They discovered a remarkable experiment in face-to-face democracy—all the more notable for being carried out in wartime. Past ISE associate […]
US Occupy Movement at the Front Lines of the Crisis
An essay by ISE alum, Rob Ogman, available in full at http://www.socialistproject.ca/bullet/895.php: Three years after the financial meltdown of 2008, the U.S. Occupy movement opened the possibility for a left regroupment against resurgent neoliberalism. Yet the forceful eviction from the squares just two months after the movement emerged, cut short the development of such a […]
2014 Social Ecology Intensive Seminar
January 3-10, 2014 in Denton, Texas This year Texas has become an inspirational focal point in struggles for reproductive rights, anti-racism, climate justice, and democracy. This January, the Institute for Social Ecology (ISE) will be coming for the first time to Texas (just 40 min. north of Dallas) to offer a 7-day Intensive Seminar. During […]
VT History panels on communes & cooperatives
ISE faculty and board members Dan Chodorkoff and Grace Gershuny are presenting on 2 panels for the Vermont History Association’s annual meeting, Sat. Sept. 21st at the Pavilion auditorium next to the VT State House in Montpelier. Dan will be on the “Colleges and Communes” panel at 1:15 and Grace is on a Cooperatives panel […]
Vermont Yankee is closing!
Let’s celebrate, unify allied struggles, and focus on fights to come By Ben Grosscup The announcement this week that Vermont Yankee – the 41 year old nuclear power plant in southern Vermont that has been an object of derision for decades for anti-nuclear social movement activists – will be closed is an opportunity for climate […]
What would real democracy look like?
Norwegian social ecologist Camilla Hansen, a member of the New Compass publishing collective, has posted an exceptionally comprehensive overview of current models of direct democracy that are in use today around the world. Camilla offers a clear analysis of the potentialities of each model, the obstacles to their fullest realization, and the need for a […]
