A-Infos (en) Canada, Anarchist journal Linchpin #7 of Common Cause - Anarchism 101: Social Ecology by Campbell Young

Common Cause has published the December '08 / January '09 issue of the Linchpin, with articles on 
the continuing strike of educational workers at York University, women organizing with IWW 
Edmonton, and two articles with more of a green focus. Murray Bookchin's social ecology is 
introduced in our continuing anarchism 101 section, and Ottawa Common Cause member Greg Macdougall 
synthesizes ideas on environmental justice presented at the November Organizing for Justice 
conference. ---- These days, concern for the state of the planet is all the rage in the mainstream 
media. But an ecological perspective on things is nothing new in anarchism. In fact, one of the 
first serious “green” thinkers of modern times was also a social anarchist. Murray Bookchin 
(1921-2006), the American philosopher/activist who was an early pioneer in the ecology movement, 
also played a major role in getting anarchism back on the political landscape.

Through numerous books and articles, Bookchin developed a radical, coherent analysis of such 
diverse topics as cities, revolutions, technology, gender, and labour. As a whole, he called his 
praxis (praxis = thought + action) social ecology.

The basic idea of social ecology is that a given society’s view of nature reflects the social 
relations of that society. Early human communities (and many existing aboriginal communities) saw 
themselves as equal participants in nature because there was a high degree of equality in their 
societies. But as hierarchy – sexism, age-ism, racism, class, etc – developed through history, so 
too did a domineering attitude toward the natural world. For Bookchin, “the very idea of dominating 
nature stems from the domination of human by human.” In other words, a society in which people see 
each other as instruments of domination is bound to see nature as an object to be exploited.

This has reached a crisis point in the present age. Competition dictates that the state-capitalist 
system must “grow-or-die” to stay alive, swallowing up every one and every thing in the process. No 
matter how “environmentally friendly” some corporations claim to be, the capitalist system as a 
whole will eventually outgrow the biosphere in its quest to control labour, markets, and resources. 
To do so it must break down every vestige of community, creating new, often irrational, “needs” in 
people.

Unlike other radical eco-philosophies such as primitivism and deep ecology, social ecology does not 
take a negative and simplistic view toward technology, civilization, and human progress. While 
hierarchy has expanded through history, the potential for freedom has also taken on a wider scope 
with resistance, revolution, and utopian visions.

Thus, for social ecology, efforts to heal the planet are ultimately futile without revolutionary 
action to bring about a cooperative, libertarian-socialist society. Appropriate technologies are 
important, but they must find their place in decentralized, confederated, and directly democratic 
communities.

As Bookchin once wrote: “The notion that what exists must necessarily exist is the acid that 
corrodes all visionary thinking.”

More info:
www.social-ecology.org
www.communalism.org
---------------------------------
Please contact us if you would like to contribute to Linchpin in the future, or if have any 
feedback on already published issues.

Copies of Linchpin are available in Ontario communities where we have branches and allies, and we 
are always looking to expand. These are some specific locations where you can find Linchpin:

HAMILTON - The Skydragon Centre, 27 King William St.

LONDON - Empowerment Infoshop, 636 Queen St.

OTTAWA - Exile Infoshop, 256 Bank St

TORONTO - Toronto Women’s Bookstore, 73 Harbord St.

If you'd like some copies to distribute in your town, do get in touch.

Download the pdf from
http://linchpin.ca/collections+/+Anarchist-movement+/+Linchpin-Issue-7

or read online at
http://linchpin.ca/collections+/+Anarchist-movement+/+Linchpin-Issue-7

Andrew Loucks
Linchpin Editor

Related Link: http://linchpin.ca/collections+/+Anarchist-movement+/+Linchpin-Issue-7
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S  N E W S  S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://ainfos.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/a-infos-en
Archive: http://ainfos.ca/en