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GUEST: Brian Tokar, Faculty member at the Institute for Social Ecology

On Sunday July 30th, renowned radical social ecologist Murray Bookchin died of heart failure at the age of 85 at his home in Burlington, Vermont. Born in New York City in 1921 to Russian immigrants, Bookchin became active in leftist politics early on in his life. At the age of nine, he joined the Young Communist League. But by age 18, he was expelled from the organization for openly criticizing Stalin. Eventually disillusioned by what he perceived as authoritarian currents, Bookchin turned to libertarian socialism or anarchism. As an early pioneer of social ecology, he argued that only libertarianism on a municipal level and direct democracy could confront and resolve the most pressing environmental issues of our time. Towards the end of his life, Bookchin became critical of anarchism, eventually breaking with the philosophy, and envisioned a new paradigm of communalism. I spoke recently with Brian Tokar who authored a piece in memory of Murray Bookchin entitled, “The Last Utopian,” and is also the editor of “Gene Traders: Biotechnology, World Trade and the Globalization of Hunger.” He is a faculty member at the Institute for Social Ecology.

Read Brian Tokar’s tribute to Murray Bookchin here.

For more information, visit www.social-ecology.org

Books by Murray Bookchin:

– The Murray Bookchin Reader by Murray Bookchin, Janet Biehl

– The Philosophy of Social Ecology by Murray Bookchin

– The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy by Murray Bookchin

– Post-Scarcity Anarchism by Murray Bookchin

– The Third Revolution: Popular Movements in the Revolutionary Era by Murray Bookchin

– Remaking Society: Pathways to a Green Future