Mass protests and assemblies in Israel
ISE alum Rob Augman reports: On Saturday, August 6th, roughly 350,000 people (5% of the population) took part in mass protests calling for social justice, the largest protest in the country’s history. Like the recent Arab Spring protests and the European protests against austerity measures, what’s being called the “Israeli Summer” began on July 14th, […]
New French video on social ecology
Vincent Gerber reports:
“Floreal Romero, who lives in Spain, sent me this link to his lecture in France in June. Some of you have met him in Lisbon [at the international libertarian municipalism conference] in 1998… It’s interesting because in my opinion it is the first video in French about social ecology… !”
Brian Tokar reviews “Loisaida”
“Coming of Age in a Different Time,” by Brian Tokar Excerpt: Loisaida [is] a compelling coming-of-age story that describes one young woman’s journey of self-discovery and political awakening. Purple-haired Catherine … escaped a liberal but far too safe enclave in Scarsdale to live with her lover in a Lower East Side squat and work on […]
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 […]
Toward a “Green New Deal”?
My friend and colleague Richard Greeman, now living in France, has recently added some provocative and forward-looking comments to the ongoing discussion of whether a “Green New Deal” — centered in publicly funded expansion of renewable energy and other “green” technologies — can provide a necessary opening toward a more ecological future. Appropriately for a […]
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 […]
New review of “Remaking Society”
From U. of Toronto information & library science graduate student Ian Reddy. Interestingly, he describes first discovering Murray Bookchin’s writings after reading some of his 1990s critics. The review offers a fresh look at a classic work in social ecology: http://contratexts.blogspot.com/2011/06/book-murray-bookchin-1989-remaking.html.
