General strike in Spain
Adbusters reports: Spain was hit with a massive General Strike today (March 29th) that shut down shopping centers, roads and transportation hubs. Barricades of burning tires were erected in Barcelona, hundreds of airline flights were canceled across the nation, and an estimated 91% of all employees at large businesses stayed home or took the streets, […]
From Turkey: A social ecology challenge to environmentalism
From social ecologist Cagrideniz Eryilmaz in Turkey: Social Ecology Challenges Environmentalism: HES Opposition Cases in Turkey I have completed a sociology dissertation aiming to analyze environmental grassroots movements in Turkey within a frame of social ecology. Hundreds of local movements rose against the construction of thousands of HES[1] (hydroelectric power plants) in the last few […]
New SEEDS newsletter
ISE Board member and SEEDS co-founder Bob Spivey writes: We would like to announce the premiere issue of the new quarterly SEEDS newsletter, Broadcast. Our first issue includes an article on the future and promise of the Occupy movement by noted author Brian Tokar, an interview with frontline activist Swaneagle Harijan about her experience within […]
Rise & fall of the Argentine assembly movement
Norwegian social ecologist Sveinung Legard has posted to the New Compass website an enlightening review of a recent University of Oregon senior thesis, which explores the history of the popular assemblies that emerged throughout Argentina during the height of their 2001 financial crisis. Most notably, the thesis explores the reasons for the demise of the […]
Egypt’s Democracy: A Question of Legitimacy
One of our favorite recent websites, The New Significance, has posted a compelling and informative video account of the history and conditions leading up to the Egyptian revolution last winter. The story is told through interviews with activists who connect the ongoing crisis of governance in Egypt to the broader crisis of political and economic […]
Staughton Lynd to Occupy: Counterinstitutions over protest
Lifelong activist and labor lawyer Staughton Lynd has posted a “A Letter To Other Occupiers,” wherein he highlights the movement’s accomplishments to date and its current period of internal reflection. Based on his reading of the history of past movements, from the 1930s to the sixties, he suggests a note of caution vis-à-vis the planned […]
New book coming soon: “Rebel Cities”
ISE alum Rob Augman writes: David Harvey has been positively referencing Murray’s work on his recent writings and public talks. I just noticed this announcement of a new book of his, which similarly addresses the city as a site of struggle and reconstitution, speaking about the meaning of citizenship in relation to the city and to […]
From Spain: The movement beyond the protest
From ROARMag.org, thoughtful reflections from Spain by Carlos Delclós and Raimundo Viejo, calling for a renewed focus on building alternative institutions. However in the context of the right wing triumph in the recent Spanish elections, their focus is on social centers, activist collectives, cooperatives, etc., which frequently do not directly challenge the status quo. How […]
Solidify Occupy: A Suggestion for What’s Next
An essay by social ecologist and Prescott College student, Charles Imboden, drawing on writings by Zizek, Kovel, Bookchin, and others, as well as the author’s own experiences with Occupy Tucson. The full essay appears on Charles’ blog, Better Worlds, Brighter Futures: Social ecology analysis from the Sonoran Desert. Here are two key excerpts: Calls to […]
On Restorative Justice – From ISE alum Marie-Isabelle Pautz
After the summer I attended ISE my friends and I started a food project called EarthShare Gardens, which is still in existence. A couple years later I moved to New Orleans to work with Turning Point Partners and the Louisiana Violence Prevention Alliance. Turning Point Partners introduced me to Restorative Practices. It was a relief […]
