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 […]
A French fiction on municipal direct democracy
Vincent Gerber in Geneva writes: Hadrien Delahousse, whom some of you met in Vermont last year [and at the TRISE meeting in Greece –ed.], has lent me an interesting book (in French) : “La commune libre de Saint-Martin” by Jean-François Aupetitgendre (pseudonym), edited by Les éditions libertaires in 2012. It could be called a political […]
On Boston: The Inevitability of Vulnerability
From ISE board member and outstanding singer/songwriter Ben Grosscup: Boston Tragedy Reveals Inevitability of Vulnerability By Ben Grosscup Public acts of inexplicable and horrific violence such as what we saw in Boston on Monday reveal basic vulnerabilities that are painful but necessary to face. My whole family converged in Boston to cheer on my father […]
Vermont towns say no to tar sands oil
Tuesday, March 5th was Town Meeting Day in Vermont and, following a long tradition of our towns taking a stand on issues of wider importance, at least 29 towns, including Montpelier and Burlington, overwhelmingly passed resolutions opposing the proposed transport of tar sands oil through our region. The resolutions also supported efforts to eliminate oil […]
On the DC Climate Rally
At Least for a Day: The Fight Against Tar Sands Oil Unites Indigenous Activists, Occupiers, and Big Environmental NGOs
On Sunday, February 17th, nearly 50,000 people ventured out into the icy morning to gather at the Washington Monument in Washington, DC. There, braced against the biting February wind, the Forward on Climate Rally swelled into the largest climate march in history. The focal point of the rally was to challenge President Obama to reject a proposal by the multinational corporation TransCanada to transport tar sands oil across the U.S through their under-construction Keystone XL pipeline…
Report from the January ISE intensive
by Eleanor Finley This year the Institute for Social Ecology hosted its annual week-long Winter Intensive program in Northampton, Massachusetts. Participants gathered at the Northampton Friends Meetinghouse, a bright, serene space in the heart of downtown Northampton. Classes were held each day from 9 to 6:45, with eight instructors lecturing and leading discussions on topics […]
Libertarian Municipalism and Citizen’s Movements in France
Hadrien Delahousse presented the following essay at the 2012 Social Ecology colloquium in Marshfield, Vermont. This is his revised version, which seeks to incorporate some of the themes we discussed last summer in Vermont: How Libertarian Municipalism Can Help Citizen’s Movements in France Libertarian Municipalism is very little known in France. The idea of a […]
Soliman Lawrence on the revival of Jewish culture in Poland
ISE alum and former summer staff member Soliman Lawrence has been living in Berlin for many years and working as a documentary photographer. Recently he was interviewed by the popular German news magazine, Die Zeit, on his series of photographs documenting the recent revival of Jewish culture in Poland. Soli’s work explores the central paradox of […]
New documentary on “Europe’s Last Revolution”
We’ve received notice of a documentary film, currently in production, that tells the story of the expropriated and collectively managed factories in northern Spain during the lead-up to the Spanish Civil War. The full title is translated as Collective Economy: Europe’s Last Revolution. Readers may recall Sam Dolgoff’s landmark book, The Anarchist Collectives, which was prefaced […]
New book: “Our Food, Our Right”
This outstanding introduction to today’s community-based food movements is designed by Annie Brulé of SEEDS, the social ecology project on Washington state’s Vashon Island. This review was written for the publisher’s website at seattleglobaljustice.org:
Local food is all the rage these days, and rightfully so. People across the US are increasingly frustrated by the chemical-laden, processed calories that pass for food in most major supermarkets and are increasingly looking to alternative sources, from farmers markets and farm share programs to co-ops and natural food stores. But with food prices rising everywhere, healthy food is in danger of becoming even more of an elite niche market, accessible only to those with surplus income to spend. While some of us will pay more for food that is local, organic and fair-trade, many of our neighbors are often limited by shrinking household budgets to food that is nutrient-deficient, genetically engineered, and potentially hazardous to health.
