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Ben Grosscup: Questioning “economic development”

It is time to question the ideology of job creation that holds sway in most discussions of so-called economic development… The real mark of economic health is not merely that firms in a given municipality are hiring. Economic health is when the basic economic functions of society make ours a healthier place to live – a place with less war, less disease, more ecological health and justice.

Popular Assemblies in Revolts and Revolutions

A new article by Norwegian social ecologist Sveinung Legard offers a thoughtful historical assessment of the re-emergence of popular assemblies in Europe this spring and summer: “These assemblies derive not only from the initiative of their protagonists but also from the history of the major revolutions in Europe from the 18th to the 20th century […]

Nationwide strike and state repression in Britain

Written the day before the June 30th general strike, this article examines the rising repression against protests in the UK, the historical mindset that makes it possible, and how people are continuing to resist. British unions were predicting a walkout of as many as 750,000 people to protest budget cuts and drastic changes in the public pension system […]

Assemblies & self-organization in Spain

Indignant and Organized: from 15-M to 19-J By David Marty By late June, when 250,000 people marched in Madrid, David Marty reports on ZNet, “15-May was no longer just the date of a protest, but also the name of a very organized movement with immediate demands as well as long-term political ambitions. The movement now […]

A new politics in Greece?

Social ecologist Peter Prontzos recommends a report on the continuing street protests in Greece, in response to the austerity plan passed by the Greek Parliament this week. The article explores some of the uncertainties, tensions and possibilities inherent in the Greek revolt. Excerpt: “Costas Douzinas, a law professor at Birkbeck, University of London, recently penned […]

New from Argentina: “Anti-Capitalism for Beginners”

Just out in English from Seven Stories Press. The author, Ezequiel Adamovsky, was interviewed this week on ZNet. Here’s an excerpt:

“Initially, the idea came to my mind in 2002. At that time, after the rebellion of December 2001 in Argentina, I was very much involved in the Neighbors’ Assemblies movement. We had all sorts of amazing political debates there. Most people had the feeling that the old Left had little to offer. And yet, they were craving for radical ideas and actions. There was the sense that we were building a new kind of movement, but there were no ideas, concepts or doctrines to name it […]

Vincent Gerber: 3 Facets of Social Ecology

So far only in French, at http://www.monde-libertaire.fr/ecologie/14178-les-trois-facettes-de-lecologie-sociale. Vincent also manages the French language social ecology web portal, www.ecologiesociale.ch. The site has an RSS feed that aims to inform subscribers of all new social ecology publications in French.

200th Anniversary of the Luddite Uprisings

November 2011 – January 2013 are the 200th anniversary of the Luddite uprisings: a great opportunity to celebrate their struggle and to redress the wrongs done to them and their name. Today science and technology raises many more critical social, environmental and ethical issues, but from GM food and eugenics to plans for engineering the planets climate, from surveillance to nuclear power, these issues are rarely addressed properly, partly because anyone who raises criticism is denigrated as a ‘luddite’. History has been written by the victors and the Luddites are portrayed as opposed to all technology and progress: it is ironic that while the ideology of technology as progress has hardened into a rigid dogma, which must condemn all critics as ‘anti-science’, in fact the Luddites opposed only technology ‘hurtful to commonality’, (i.e. the common good). They destroyed some machines whilst leaving others, and earnt their living using a complex piece of technology, the hand loom. In their spirit, we make no apology for calling for real democratic control over science and technology. Public meeting in London, Weds. June 8th.