Anarchism and Social Ecology
!anarchism@slrpnk.net
A community about anarchy. anarchism, social ecology, and communalism for SLRPNK! Solarpunk anarchists unite!
Feel free to ask questions here. We aspire to make this space a safe space. SLRPNK.net's basic rules apply here, but generally don't be a dick and don't be an authoritarian.
Anarchism
Anarchism is a social and political theory and practice that works for a free society without domination and hierarchy.
Social Ecology
Social Ecology, developed from green anarchism, is the idea that our ecological problems have their ultimate roots in our social problems. This is because the domination of nature and our ecology by humanity has its ultimate roots in the domination humanity by humans. Therefore, the solutions to our ecological problems are found by addressing our social and ecological problems simultaneously.
Libraries
Audiobooks
- General audiobooks
- LibriVox Public domain book collection where you can find audiobooks from old communist, socialist, and anarchist authors.
- Anarchist audiobooks
- Socialist Audiobooks
- Social Ecology Audiobooks
Quotes
Poetry and imagination must be integrated with science and technology, for we have evolved beyond an innocence that can be nourished exclusively by myths and dreams.
~ Murray Bookchin, The Ecology of Freedom
People want to treat ‘we’ll figure it out by working to get there’ as some sort of rhetorical evasion instead of being a fundamental expression of trust in the power of conscious collective effort.
~Anonymous, but quoted by Mariame Kaba, We Do This 'Til We Free Us
The end justifies the means. But what if there never is an end? All we have is means.
~Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven
The assumption that what currently exists must necessarily exist is the acid that corrodes all visionary thinking.
~Murray Bookchin, "A Politics for the Twenty-First Century"
There can be no separation of the revolutionary process from the revolutionary goal. A society based on self-administration must be achieved by means of self-administration.
~Murray Bookchin, Post Scarcity Anarchism
In modern times humans have become a wolf not only to humans, but to all nature.
The ecological question is fundamentally solved as the system is repressed and a socialist social system develops. That does not mean you cannot do something for the environment right away. On the contrary, it is necessary to combine the fight for the environment with the struggle for a general social revolution...
~Abdullah Öcalan
Social ecology advances a message that calls not only for a society free of hierarchy and hierarchical sensibilities, but for an ethics that places humanity in the natural world as an agent for rendering evolution social and natural fully self-conscious.
~ Murray Bookchin
Network
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It's a subcategory of Anarchism, similar to how Syndicalism is one. Some more purist Anarchist consider it a lesser form as it does include some state like characteristics at municipal level, and on the other hand the person who is maybe most well known for Communalism (Murray Bookchin) decided to denounce Anarchism, because of (old man yells at kids playing on his lawn) "lifestyle anarchists".
I don't agree with everything Bookchin said, but I believe that this is mostly due to the info that was available at the time (it's the ecology of freedom that I have in mind). At the same time, I really like his openness to look for new ways for social change. To my understanding, this is how he got to anarchy.
If I got this right, through his book social anarchism or lifestyle anarchim he actually denounced the path anarchy was taking: abandoning collective freedom practices, for personal freedom. I agree with this point, because imo, the important thing is to create societies that are organised in such a way (horizontaly, bottom-up etc) that nurture people so we can explore our full potential as humans. For me, the goal is not to do what I want at all times.
So he came up with social ecology and communalism, as a solution to the problems he found that contemporary anarchism had/has. And Rojava came along.
I dunno, at least this is my super-brief understanding so far.
I think realistically the two are about different time horizons. Anarchism is when the protocols are in our heads. It's how we live. Communalism, to some extent, is about existing in a world where the implied violence of the system will shut down any "pure" anarchism. Create structure so the hierarchies know how to deal with it.
Sometimes it's not even about hostility. People just can't imagine a world without what exists today. Just having anarchism in your head is revolutionary.
Glad to hear nothing ever changes lmao "these new punks are only in it for aesthetics!"
It's all posers man. It's about the ideas, not the tags.