Murray Bookchin was not only one of the most significant and influential environmental philosophers of the twentieth century--he was also one of the most prescient. From industrial agriculture to nuclear radiation, Bookchin has been at the forefront of every major ecological issue since the very beginning, often proposing a solution before most people even recognized there was a problem. Ecology or Catastrophe: The Life of Murray Bookchin is the first biography of this groundbreaking environmental and political thinker. Author Janet Biehl worked as his collaborator and copyeditor for 19 years, editing his every word. Thanks to her extensive personal history with Bookchin as well as her access to his papers and archival research, Ecology or Catastrophe offers unique insight into his personal and professional life. Founder of the social ecology movement, Bookchin first started raising environmental issues in 1952. He foresaw global warming in the 1960s and even then argued that we should look into renewable energy sources as an alternative to fossil fuels. Wary of pesticides and other chemicals used in industrial agriculture, he was also an early advocate of small-scale organic farming, which has developed into the present locavore movement and the revival of organic markets. Even Occupy can trace the origins of its leaderless structure and general assemblies to the nonhierarchical organizational form Bookchin developed as a libertarian socialist. Bookchin believed that social and ecological issues were deeply intertwined. Convinced that capitalism pushes businesses to maximize profits and ignore humanist concerns, he argued that eco-crises could be resolved by a new social arrangement. His solution was Communalism, a new form of libertarian socialism that he developed. An optimist and utopian, Bookchin believed in the potentiality for human beings to use reason to solve all social and ecological problems.

Ecology or Catastrophe: The Life of Murray Bookchin

Biographies & Memoirs

Biehl, Janet

Leaders & Notable People

Oxford University Press

The Murray Bookchin Reader

BOOKCHIN, MURRAY

Business & Money

UNKNO

This collection offers an overview of the thought of Murray Bookchin, today's foremost social theorist and political philosopher of the libertarian left. Best known for introducing ecology as a concept relevant to radical political thought in the early 1960s, Bookchin was the first to propose, in the body of ideas that he has called "social ecology", that a liberatory society would also have to be an ecological one. His writings span five decades and a wide range of subject matter. Bookchin's writings on revolutionary philosophy, politics and history are less known than the specific controversies that have surrounded him, but deserve possibly greater attention. Despite his critical engagement with both Marxism and anarchism, his political philosophy, known as libertarian municipalism, draws on the best of both for the emancipatory tools to build a democratic libertarian alternative. Consistent throughout his work is a search for ways in which to replace today's capitalist society with a more rational and humane alternative.

Politics & Social Sciences

Philosophy

Continuum Intl Pub Group

Biehl examines the contradictions of ecofeminism and argues that social ecology, and alternate framework, offers a more liberating program for men and women, as well as for our beleagured biosphere.

Rethinking Ecofeminist Politics

Women's Studies

South End Press

Biehl examines the contradictions of ecofeminism and argues that social ecology, and alternate framework, offers a more liberating program for men and women, as well as for our beleagured biosphere.

Rethinking Ecofeminist Politic

Social Sciences

Finding Our Way is a well-written, clear introduction to a range of ecofeminist thought. In four essays, Biehl explores ecofeminism’s intellectual affinities with social ecology and other schools of thought; critiques the increasing role of Goddess mythology within today’s movement; spiritedly defends reason and naturalism against what she sees as a “counter-Enlightenment” mentality within feminist and academic circles; and mines the Western democratic tradition for its relevant political insights for feminists today.

Finding Our Way: Rethinking Ecofeminist Politics

Biehl, Janel

Economics

Black Rose Books

"A well-written, clear introduction to a range of ecofeminist thought."--"Environmental Politics" "Provides a sorely needed perspective on the relationship between feminism and ecology. A must read for anyone wishing to explore the philosophical connections. "--"New Politics"

Politics Of Social Ecology

The culmination of a lifetime of thinking about how society might best be transformed.

The culmination of a lifetime of thinking about how society might best be transformed.

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

This collection offers an overview of the thought of Murray Bookchin, today's foremost social theorist and political philosopher of the libertarian left. Best known for introducing ecology as a concept relevant to radical political thought in the early 1960s, Bookchin was the first to propose, in the body of ideas that he has called "social ecology", that a liberatory society would also have to be an ecological one. His writings span five decades and a wide range of subject matter. Bookchin's writings on revolutionary philosophy, politics and history are less known than the specific controversies that have surrounded him, but deserve possibly greater attention. Despite his critical engagement with both Marxism and anarchism, his political philosophy, known as libertarian municipalism, draws on the best of both for the emancipatory tools to build a democratic libertarian alternative. Consistent throughout his work is a search for ways in which to replace today's capitalist society with a more rational and humane alternative.

Murray Bookchin Reader

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Biehl, Janet. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Biehl, Janet

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Biehl, Janet. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Ecology or Catastrophe: The Life of Murray Bookchin

The Murray Bookchin Reader

The Murray Bookchin Reader

Rethinking Ecofeminist Politics

Rethinking Ecofeminist Politic

Finding Our Way: Rethinking Ecofeminist Politics

Finding Our Way: Rethinking Ecofeminist Politics

Politics Of Social Ecology

Politics Of Social Ecology

Murray Bookchin Reader