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Practicing Social Ecology: From Bookchin to Rojava and Beyond
How can we harness society's potential to change the trajectory of the climate crisis? So many of us feel helpless in the face of corporate environmental destruction, however, in Practicing Social Ecology Eleanor Finley shows that there is an amazing well of untapped power in our communities, we just need to know how to use it.
Drawing from her experience of working in democratic ecology movements from the revolution in Rojava to Barcelona's municipalist movement and beyond, she shows how to develop assemblies, confederations, study groups, and permaculture projects.
Looking to history, she maps out how social ecologists, such as Murray Bookchin, have led inspirational struggles around climate and energy, agriculture and biotechnology, globalisation and economic inequality. This guide is perfect for anyone curious about how to challenge unending capitalist growth through the democratic power of social ecology.
Drawing from her experience of working in democratic ecology movements from the revolution in Rojava to Barcelona's municipalist movement and beyond, she shows how to develop assemblies, confederations, study groups, and permaculture projects.
Looking to history, she maps out how social ecologists, such as Murray Bookchin, have led inspirational struggles around climate and energy, agriculture and biotechnology, globalisation and economic inequality. This guide is perfect for anyone curious about how to challenge unending capitalist growth through the democratic power of social ecology.
- GenresPolitics
216 pages, Paperback
Published February 20, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 19, 2025
A neat, informative introduction to an intriguing, visionary and overlooked strand of the radical left which seeks to re-orient politics around face-to-face assemblies at the most local level. This book explains the key ideas of Murray Bookchin and Abdullah Öcalan, including concepts such as social ecology and democratic confederalism.
Later chapters have case studies where these ideas have been tried, including in Barcelona, Mexico, Mississippi State and especially Rojava, the Kurdish-majority corner of Syria. The author brings her own experience to the table, having visited the Kurdish heartlands and participated in the assemblies of Occupy Wall Street. This book doesn't get into the nitty-gritty of organising assemblies, however.
My only complaint (beyond editing: "There is no is no...") is that I'd like to have read more, really. The author admits that Rojava's assemblies are rather ad hoc, but I'd have liked more about how this intriguing experiment works. And for all its successes, why didn't Barcelona en Comú fully return to the heights of its 2015 breakthrough? But other than that, highly recommended.
Later chapters have case studies where these ideas have been tried, including in Barcelona, Mexico, Mississippi State and especially Rojava, the Kurdish-majority corner of Syria. The author brings her own experience to the table, having visited the Kurdish heartlands and participated in the assemblies of Occupy Wall Street. This book doesn't get into the nitty-gritty of organising assemblies, however.
My only complaint (beyond editing: "There is no is no...") is that I'd like to have read more, really. The author admits that Rojava's assemblies are rather ad hoc, but I'd have liked more about how this intriguing experiment works. And for all its successes, why didn't Barcelona en Comú fully return to the heights of its 2015 breakthrough? But other than that, highly recommended.
September 28, 2025
A call to get organized with humility, purpose, self critique, and study
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews