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Anarchism, Marxism and the Future of the Left: Interviews and Essays, 1993-1998
Murray Bookchin has been a dynamic revolutionary propagandist since the 1930s when, as a teenager, he orated before socialist crowds in New York City and engaged in support work for those fighting Franco in the Spanish Civil War.
Now, for the first time in book form, this volume presents a series of exciting and engaged interviews with, and essays from, the founder of social ecology.
This expansive collection ranges over, amongst others, Bookchin's account of his teenage years as a young Communist during the Great Depression, his experiences of the 1960s and reflections on that decade's lessons, his vision of a libertarian communist society, libertarian politics, the future of anarchism, and the unity of theory and practice. He goes on to assess the crisis of radicalism today and defends the need for a revolutionary Left. Finally, he states what is to be valued in both anarchism and Marxism in building such a Left and offers guidelines for forming a new revolutionary social movement.
Now, for the first time in book form, this volume presents a series of exciting and engaged interviews with, and essays from, the founder of social ecology.
This expansive collection ranges over, amongst others, Bookchin's account of his teenage years as a young Communist during the Great Depression, his experiences of the 1960s and reflections on that decade's lessons, his vision of a libertarian communist society, libertarian politics, the future of anarchism, and the unity of theory and practice. He goes on to assess the crisis of radicalism today and defends the need for a revolutionary Left. Finally, he states what is to be valued in both anarchism and Marxism in building such a Left and offers guidelines for forming a new revolutionary social movement.
352 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1999
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318 people want to read
About the author
Murray Bookchin
120 books637 followersMurray Bookchin was an American libertarian socialist author, orator, and philosopher. A pioneer in the ecology movement, Bookchin was the founder of the social ecology movement within anarchist, libertarian socialist and ecological thought. He was the author of two dozen books on politics, philosophy, history, and urban affairs as well as ecology. In the late 1990s he became disenchanted with the strategy of political Anarchism and founded his own libertarian socialist ideology called Communalism.
Bookchin was an anti-capitalist and vocal advocate of the decentralisation of society along ecological and democratic lines. His writings on libertarian municipalism, a theory of face-to-face, assembly democracy, had an influence on the Green movement and anti-capitalist direct action groups such as Reclaim the Streets.
Bookchin was an anti-capitalist and vocal advocate of the decentralisation of society along ecological and democratic lines. His writings on libertarian municipalism, a theory of face-to-face, assembly democracy, had an influence on the Green movement and anti-capitalist direct action groups such as Reclaim the Streets.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 8, 2014
Like all of Bookchin's writings, I usually don't agree with him. However, he's always very challenging. He always poses a very nuanced, unique understanding of social history, from a Marxist and anarchist tradition, while updating it with recent experience, history, and scientific knowledge.
Fundamentally, the book suffers from some flaws. These are a few of them:
1) Bookchin believes there is a chasm between social anarchism and all of Marxism that I do not believe is there. In fact, I would say that some social anarchists historically have been more collectively disciplined than some Leninist groups. For example, Solidarity was essentially an anti-Leninist, Marxist-Leninist party, and they seemed far less disciplined than the FAI ever was. This is a common error, spun in one direction or another, by Marxists and social anarchists, when telling their own history.
2) Bookchin takes a lot of shots at identity politics, specifically in how they've divided the revolutionary Left into debates that often avoid more fundamental social contradictions. Bookchin doesn't articulate this problem much further, other than a couple times. I would like to have seen this problem discussed further.
3) Bookchin is inconsistent (or unclear) in the last chapter about whether or not he feels Libertarian Municipalism should involve an entry into local level politics in the public sector, when building a revolutionary organization.
4) Libertarian Municipalism requires an incredibly high level of social consciousness for people to even begin engaging in it strategically, let alone believe in its ability to challenge the state.
Bookchin is strong on the following:
1) His experiences and description of the failures of the Communist Party.
2) His criticisms of lifestyle anarchism.
3) His criticisms of the disintegration of the New Left.
4) His reliance on history.
Fundamentally, the book suffers from some flaws. These are a few of them:
1) Bookchin believes there is a chasm between social anarchism and all of Marxism that I do not believe is there. In fact, I would say that some social anarchists historically have been more collectively disciplined than some Leninist groups. For example, Solidarity was essentially an anti-Leninist, Marxist-Leninist party, and they seemed far less disciplined than the FAI ever was. This is a common error, spun in one direction or another, by Marxists and social anarchists, when telling their own history.
2) Bookchin takes a lot of shots at identity politics, specifically in how they've divided the revolutionary Left into debates that often avoid more fundamental social contradictions. Bookchin doesn't articulate this problem much further, other than a couple times. I would like to have seen this problem discussed further.
3) Bookchin is inconsistent (or unclear) in the last chapter about whether or not he feels Libertarian Municipalism should involve an entry into local level politics in the public sector, when building a revolutionary organization.
4) Libertarian Municipalism requires an incredibly high level of social consciousness for people to even begin engaging in it strategically, let alone believe in its ability to challenge the state.
Bookchin is strong on the following:
1) His experiences and description of the failures of the Communist Party.
2) His criticisms of lifestyle anarchism.
3) His criticisms of the disintegration of the New Left.
4) His reliance on history.
January 11, 2020
An interesting work, if a frustrating one. Bookchin is at his best initially, when narrating his experiences of the left when growing up in the 30s, and later as he began to grapple with the issues arising post-WWII. Things start to go off the rails when he reaches the 60s, and one has the sense of someone who began to be outpaced by movements that he might have once been in the vanguard of.
Bookchin's critique of postmodernism boils down to "it's irrational," and never progresses much further. He criticizes Situationism, and then, a few pages later, seems to be paraphrasing Society of the Spectacle. He decries identity politics, but offers nothing new to the argument. And by the time we get the central portion of the text, one has the feeling of walking in on a conversation that has already been in progress for hours. The fight between the valiant forces of social anarchism and the scurrilous forces of lifestyle anarchism is a nasty and personal one, and Bookchin is long on invective and short on reasoned rhetoric. Which is unfortunate, because a more nuanced critique of anarcho-primitivism, eco-anarchism, and related tendencies would be a nice thing.
Unfortunately, Bookchin doesn't offer anything nuanced, simply dividing anarchism into two groups, one good, and one bad. That sort of lazy binary thinking makes this book far less successful than it could have been. And that's unfortunate, because there are worthwhile ideas in here, but they simply get lost in the polemic.
Bookchin's critique of postmodernism boils down to "it's irrational," and never progresses much further. He criticizes Situationism, and then, a few pages later, seems to be paraphrasing Society of the Spectacle. He decries identity politics, but offers nothing new to the argument. And by the time we get the central portion of the text, one has the feeling of walking in on a conversation that has already been in progress for hours. The fight between the valiant forces of social anarchism and the scurrilous forces of lifestyle anarchism is a nasty and personal one, and Bookchin is long on invective and short on reasoned rhetoric. Which is unfortunate, because a more nuanced critique of anarcho-primitivism, eco-anarchism, and related tendencies would be a nice thing.
Unfortunately, Bookchin doesn't offer anything nuanced, simply dividing anarchism into two groups, one good, and one bad. That sort of lazy binary thinking makes this book far less successful than it could have been. And that's unfortunate, because there are worthwhile ideas in here, but they simply get lost in the polemic.
February 13, 2018
This is probably one of Murray Bookchin's least good published books. Mostly because all these ideas are scattered all around in his work in forms that are better structured and more comprehensively developed. It might just be that I suffer from knowledge bias, this being one of the last works of Bookchins to get my hands on.
It is structured in three parts:
The first part being more of a personal history of Murray's time in "The Old Left". Most of the things here can be also found in the more comprehensive biography "Ecology or Catastrophe" written by Janet Biehl.
The second part is about settling scores with contemporary critics. Murray is for the most part on the good side of history, especially seeing as how history has redeemed him given that municipalism is the rising face of the left, and of course the revolution in Rojava which is loosely organized as he theorized a revolutionary movement will be.
The third part is a lamentation of the very real, and still observable decat of the international left. Keynesianism being probably one of the most radical forms of political discourse, and you definitely cannot call that "left". This, of course, would deeply trouble anyone who is aware of the great tumult of historic tradition of the left and its unrelenting opposition to capitalism. Murray Bookchin's critiques are again wrong on these accounts for reasons I will not go into in this review.
"Marxism, anarchism, and the Future of the Left" is definitely the most polemical book of all published. The prime target not being capitalism, the state, or central civilization itself, but rather specific people and tendencies withing the left. Therefore it offers little in terms of going forward, but it is immensly important in understanding the context during Murray Bookchin's last decade and a half of life.
It is structured in three parts:
The first part being more of a personal history of Murray's time in "The Old Left". Most of the things here can be also found in the more comprehensive biography "Ecology or Catastrophe" written by Janet Biehl.
The second part is about settling scores with contemporary critics. Murray is for the most part on the good side of history, especially seeing as how history has redeemed him given that municipalism is the rising face of the left, and of course the revolution in Rojava which is loosely organized as he theorized a revolutionary movement will be.
The third part is a lamentation of the very real, and still observable decat of the international left. Keynesianism being probably one of the most radical forms of political discourse, and you definitely cannot call that "left". This, of course, would deeply trouble anyone who is aware of the great tumult of historic tradition of the left and its unrelenting opposition to capitalism. Murray Bookchin's critiques are again wrong on these accounts for reasons I will not go into in this review.
"Marxism, anarchism, and the Future of the Left" is definitely the most polemical book of all published. The prime target not being capitalism, the state, or central civilization itself, but rather specific people and tendencies withing the left. Therefore it offers little in terms of going forward, but it is immensly important in understanding the context during Murray Bookchin's last decade and a half of life.
January 13, 2021
A good book that could have been great.
The first third of the book is a trip down memory lane for Bookchin as he recalls his upbringing as a communist youth in New York City. Eventually he becomes disillusioned with Marxism and transitions to social anarchism. He discusses the revolutionary movements of the 1960's which I found quite interesting and relevant to our times. I especially liked the discussion of how exclusion based on identity eroded the revolutionary potential of various groups as the focus was taken off class consciousness and changed to identity or cultural concerns. He also focuses a lot on how mysticism and liberal individuality harmed the revolutionary movements of the 1960's. His criticism of lifestyle anarchism is very relevant.
The second third of the book is a real let down. Bookchin spends the entire middle of the book roasting two anarcho-primitivists. Some of his criticisms were welcome as someone who has misguidedly been sympathetic to primitivist views in the past, but overall I don't feel this section added much to the book.
The third part of the book is also quite good. I enjoyed the author's discussion of libertarian municipalism, but I would need to read much more before agreeing with it. Much is left in the open. For instance, an interviewer asks Bookchin about the type of ethics that should guide a social ecological society and he doesn't say much besides that the ethics should be "rational". This is basically another punch at what he has criticized as the mysticism overtaking anarchism without offering a concrete alternative. Another point of criticism is that it seems that long before the, "commune of communes" could challenge state power it would be completely crushed.
Overall, quite good and I look forward to reading more Bookchin in the future.
The first third of the book is a trip down memory lane for Bookchin as he recalls his upbringing as a communist youth in New York City. Eventually he becomes disillusioned with Marxism and transitions to social anarchism. He discusses the revolutionary movements of the 1960's which I found quite interesting and relevant to our times. I especially liked the discussion of how exclusion based on identity eroded the revolutionary potential of various groups as the focus was taken off class consciousness and changed to identity or cultural concerns. He also focuses a lot on how mysticism and liberal individuality harmed the revolutionary movements of the 1960's. His criticism of lifestyle anarchism is very relevant.
The second third of the book is a real let down. Bookchin spends the entire middle of the book roasting two anarcho-primitivists. Some of his criticisms were welcome as someone who has misguidedly been sympathetic to primitivist views in the past, but overall I don't feel this section added much to the book.
The third part of the book is also quite good. I enjoyed the author's discussion of libertarian municipalism, but I would need to read much more before agreeing with it. Much is left in the open. For instance, an interviewer asks Bookchin about the type of ethics that should guide a social ecological society and he doesn't say much besides that the ethics should be "rational". This is basically another punch at what he has criticized as the mysticism overtaking anarchism without offering a concrete alternative. Another point of criticism is that it seems that long before the, "commune of communes" could challenge state power it would be completely crushed.
Overall, quite good and I look forward to reading more Bookchin in the future.
October 2, 2023
I really enjoyed the autobiography portion of the book but as he gets more towards newer movements it's kind of clear he relies only on outside knowledge of them and not actually being apart of them. Still good book though, made me think a lot about my views.
September 28, 2017
Wide-ranging in subjects, excellent for those interested in Left politics.
September 11, 2019
It wasn't my favourite book of Murray B. but while I was reading it years ago I really learned much about the Left and contemporary Anarchism.
March 19, 2015
It's a good book almost like an autobiography as he led an interesting life from his childhood as a rable rouser to becoming focused on social ecology. The downside to this book is the chapter arguing with primitivism in which he is right but it went on and on and could have been said in fewer words.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews