Radical municipalism: The future we deserve
For many years the left has struggled with the question of how to bring our ideas, of equality, economic justice and human rights, to fruition. Murray Bookchin’s political trajectory is instructive for the argument that Debbie Bookchin makes in this article: that municipalism isn’t just…
On this day in 2006: Murray Bookchin passes away at 85
The American revolutionary theorist Murray Bookchin passed away on July 30, 2006. This piece contains a selection of articles, interviews and reviews from ROAR’s archives to disclose Bookchin’s long life, important work and achievements. Photo: Pixabay
Ecology or catastrophe: the life of Murray Bookchin
This book is the first-ever biography of Murray Bookchin, written by his personal collaborator and copyeditor, Janet Biehl. From 1987-2006, Biehl edited every word that Bookchin wrote, and worked with him on numerous articles and books. She tells the story of Bookchin’s life from a…
Murray Bookchin and the Kurdish resistance
Libertarian municipalism promotes the use of direct face-to-face assemblies in order to “steal” the practice of politics back from the professional politicians and place it back in the hands of citizens. Describing the state as “a completely alien formation”, Bookchin presents libertarian municipalism as “democratic…
The communalist project
Whether the twenty-first century will be the most radical of times or the most reactionary will depend overwhelmingly upon the kind of social movement and program that social radicals create out of the theoretical, organizational, and political wealth that has accumulated during the past two…
Thoughts on libertarian municipalism
Some issues have recently arisen in discussions of libertarian municipalism. One of the most important involves the distinction that should be drawn between libertarian municipalism and communitarianism, a distinction that is often lost in discussions of politics. The article offers the author’s views on this…
History, civilization, and progress: outline for a criticism of modern relativism
Murray Bookchin reviews aspects of the history of the US and abroad in recent decades leading of up to the 90’s from a political lens; the academy and a subculture of self-styled postmodernist intellectuals have nourished an entirely new ensemble of cultural conventions that stem…
What is social ecology?
What defines social ecology as “social” is its recognition of the often overlooked fact that nearly all our present ecological problems arise from deep-seated social problems. Conversely, present ecological problems cannot be clearly understood, much less resolved, without resolutely dealing with problems within society. Photo:…
Cities against centralization
This article is an homage to, and review of: The Rise of Urbanization and the Decline of Citizenship by Murray Bookchin. In Bookchin’s writing we can see that in his account is a pioneer effort that challenges misleading images of modern industrial achievement and triumphant western democracy….