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This book contains the papers presented at the Fifth International Conference on Waste Management and the Environment that was held in Tallinn, Estonia, in July 2010. This conference is the latest in a successful series that began in 2002. The conference provides a platform for the professionals involved in the waste management sector, industrial sector, governmental and non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders to exchange knowledge on the current best practices that are developed and applied in different countries.Governments all over the world have become aware that past solutions to waste management, which mainly rely on landfill disposal, are not sustainable. It is not just the volume of the waste produced, but also the composition and nature of waste that is the problem, since it often contains compounds that would not decay for centuries or that are highly toxic and thus require new ways of dealing with waste. The approach that emerged as the most sustainable strategy was originally termed 3Rs (reduce/reuse /recycle). Recently Rethink has been added as the fourth action (4Rs); for example, recover energy from waste that cannot be reduced, reused or recycled.The book provides papers dealing with a wide range of experiences and applications representing the practices. It also identifies areas for research and improvement. ... Read more

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This completely revised third edition of the Dictionary of Ecology and the Environment includes some 8,000 main headwords.

Problems concerning the environment and conservation are becoming ever more important, no longer the concern only of activists but now a major concern of governments around the world. The Dictionary covers all aspects of ecology and the environment, including pollution, climatology, endangered species, waste disposal, and environmental protection.

Individual headword entries include phonetic pronunciation guides, quotations, and examples, and the Dictionary also includes tables of endangered species and disasters. ... Read more

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Two experts assess the planet's environmental health. ... Read more

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Although much has been written on the subject of environmental impact, little attention has been given to the psychology behind decisions that affect the environment. "Environment, Ethics, and Behavior" demonstrates how understanding the psychological determinants of environmental behavior may be the key to saving the earth for future generations. In this unique collection of essays, many of the leading social, cognitive, and decision psychologists offer revealing insights from their own research on environmental behavior. Their scholarly perspectives shed light on the interaction between psychological theory and contemporary environmental and ethical issues and stimulate discussion on future research topics. ... Read more

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Env Ethics and behaiour
I love to look at others differently in terms of their ethical standards. Environmental impacts is something that people do not normally think about and it is wonderful to read this book. ... Read more

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This book contains papers presented at the Second International Conference on Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature, held in The Algarve, Portugal. The multi-disciplinary nature of Eco-Architecture is reflected in the contents, which includes topics on: Historical and philosophical aspects; Ecological and cultural sensitivity; Energy and building
technologies; Alternative and renewable sources of energy; Design with nature; Design with climate, siting and orientation; Materials selection and their life cycle assessment of materials; Design by passive systems; Conservation and re-use of water; Building operation and management;
Rehabilitation and adaptive re-use; Case studies. ... Read more

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The Ecology of Seashores explores the complex shore environment. It covers the ways in which representative species have adapted to life in a constantly changing environment in terms of their interactions, the control of community structure, and how energy and materials are cycled in different ecosystems.Written by an eminent marine biologist, this work emphasizes ecological processes and the use of systems analysis in understanding such processes. He gives complete coverage of the ecology of all seashore types: rocky shores, soft shores, sandy beaches, and estuaries at an advanced level. When appropriate, the author uses the energy circuit language of symbols and diagrams developed by H.T. Odum as a basis of understanding.The first comprehensive review and synthesis of the research on shore ecosystems, the book lends order to some of the most complex ecosystem types and presents a wide range of geographical examples. If you are involved in researching or managing coastal zones, The Ecology of Seashores provides exhaustive coverage of the essential background information you need. ... Read more

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Groundwater has long been an object of intense scrutiny. Only recently have methods become available that permit ecologists, hydrologists, and environmental scientists to assess the biotic and abiotic status of these all-important aquifers.

Key Features
* Focuses attention on the following issues:
* The dynamics of water movement through complex subterranean ecosystems
* The biological organization and the factors that constrain these ecosystems
* Alluvial and karst ecosystem functions
* Contamination, management, and remediation ... Read more

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Updated and Expanded Edition

Winner of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order 1992, Named New Options Best Political Book


Economist Herman Daly and theologian John Cobb, Jr., demonstrate how conventional economics and a growth-oriented industrial economy have led us to the brink of environmental disaster, and show the possibility of a different future. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Another fine book by Herman E. Daly.
This is a seminal work in the field of Ecological Economics, a real primer.

Neatly organized in parallel chapters dealing, one point-of-view at a time, with some of the main consequences from the fallacy of misplaced concreteness.

I just have restrictions to his views at the chapter on Population, where he advocates for abortion and euthanasia. See, on the former I'd rather advocate sending unwanted children for adoption. As for the latter, ortothanasia (no desperate measures) is ethically right, but euthanasia is quite selfish stuff, not to be advocated for by people bent on reconstructing community. That is why I didn't grade it as 5-star.

Except for that, just another fine book by one of the finest thinkers in our time.

Let's hear it for the common good!
I have been a fan of Professor Daly's for some time. This book has some excellent analysis and some truly great commentary. The writing is a bit dry; if you're new to Professor Daly's work, you might want to try one of his other books first, like "Beyond Growth.""For the Common Good" does have some wonderfully thought-provoking lines.Just to give you a taste:"Economics cannot do without simplifying assumptions, but the trick is to use the right assumptions at the right time."Or, with regards to relying on technological fixes for environmental problems: "It is one thing to say that knowledge will grow (no one rejects that), but it is something else to presuppose that the content of new knowledge will abolish old limits faster than it discovers new ones."Another on the same subject:"If it ain't broke, don't fix it; if you must tinker, save all the pieces; and if you don't know where you're going, slow down."On population control:"Nature's way is not always best, but in this instance it seems more responsible than our current practice of allowing new human beings to be unintended by-products of the sexual fumblings of teenagers whose natural urges have been stimulated by drugs, alcohol, TV, and ill-constructed welfare incentives." Daly's Index of Sustainable Economic Welfare deserves to be far better known than it is.The analysis of misplaced concreteness, especially as it relates to the nature of debt, is very good.
The authors sometimes come across as a little naive in this book.For example, they propose making the government the employer of last resort.I think they do not realize just how hard it is to make such programs work; they inevitably decline into a morass of dependency and corruption.The Washington DC municipal government has taken precisely this approach in the past few decades, with predictable results.
I think the authors would also do well to do some research on the failures of utopian communities; since I was raised a Mormon, I know a lot about some of these.The chapter on religion strikes me as a bit silly. They want to bring God into the building of a more humane society; this is not necessarily bad, but I tend to think that science will take us farther than God will.In my opinion, Christianity's idea that the Second Coming of Christ is not far off is a very serious barrier to giving humanity's long-term future the attention it deserves.Talking about ethics, the authors say "But to believe that God does exist makes the ethical life more authentic."Well, that's only true if God really does exist, which I doubt.
Overall, the book has some excellent points to make.If you're interested in economics and public policy, don't miss it.

Ethical, Humanitarian, Communitarian, Sustainable
Edit of 21 Dec 07 to add links

Dr. Herman E. Daly may well be a future Nobel Prize winner ...he is especially well-regarded in Norway and Sweden, where he has received prizes one step short of the Nobel.He is the author, co-author, or primary contributing editor of many books that fully integrate the disciplines of economics and ecology.I bought the three most recent for the purpose of selecting one to give out at my annual Global Information Forum.I ended up choosing this book to give away to hundreds, in part because it is available in paperback and is not a more expensive "trade" publication; and in part because it is strong in laying out specific ecological policy areas in the context of a strong theological or ethical perspective.

Of the three books I reviewed, (the newest Ecological Economics: Principles And Applications, the oldest, updated, Valuing the Earth: Economics, Ecology, Ethics) the first, the text-book, is assuredly the most up-to-date and the most detailed.If you are buying only one book for yourself, that is the one that I recommend, because these are important issues and a detailed understanding is required with the level of detail that this book provided.It should, ideally, be read with "Valuing the Earth" first (see my separate review of that book, from the 1970's updated with 1990's material and new contributions), then this book ("For the Common Good"), and finally the text book as a capstone.But if you buy only one, buy the text book.

This is a second-edition work, updated from the 1984 first edition.I like it very much in part because it comes across as less academic and more common-sense in nature.Part One does a lovely job of tearing apart the fallacy of misplaced concreteness with respect to economics, the market, measuring economic success, the reduction of the human to a "good" that can be traded without regard to humanity and ethics and community, and land.Part Two gently introduces the reader to the many distinguished thought-leaders and practitioners who have gradually matured the discipline of economics to embrace humanity, community, and sustainability as non-negotiable realities that cannot be ignored.

Part Three, a major factor in my choosing this book over the others for broad pro-bono distribution, addresses the specifics of policies one element at a time: free trade versus community; population; land use; agriculture; industry; labor; income policies and taxes; from world domination to national security as an objective.Finally, Part Four, without being corny or preachy, describes the religious or ethical vision (I still think the Golden Rule works as a one-sentence definition of common interest).

An afterword on debt in relation to money and wealth is particularly timely as the American public foolishly allows the White House carpetbaggers to run up a $7 trillion deficit that our great-grandchilden will never be able to pay off if we continue is these evil and irresponsible directions, all in sharp opposition to the sensible and ethical constructs in this book.

Of the three books, none of which really duplicate one another in any negative way, albeit with overlaps, this is the second that I recommend for purchase, after the textbook.

See also, with reviews, published since then:
The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism: How the Financial System Underminded Social Ideals, Damaged Trust in the Markets, Robbed Investors of Trillions - and What to Do About It
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things

Great ideas, will they work?
The opening criticisms of how economics is taught in today's university structure along with the inappropriate credence given this largely theoretical topic's conclusions are well-presented and well-received.Similarly, the general theme of the recommendations is presented very nicely.Basically, we must focus on more local goods, more self-sufficiency in communities.The authors take the time and care to address such technicalities as what exactly they mean by communities.In general their care is a strength of the book, though perhaps more of the details could have been put in appendices or footnotes rather than disturbing the flow of the text.My main complaint is that no EXAMPLES are given--real-life attempts, either successful or failed, at some of their recommendations.Without examples, all their suggestions seem unsubstantiated.A lengthy but decent read, with a nice underlying philosophy.

Humane and incisive
Because of the large number of issues and sometimes conflicting solutions proposed, this is a difficult book to classify. Key, however, is theauthors' profound refusal to subordinate the common good of the communityto the god of the free market. This does not mean the elimination ofmarkets where they have proven effective and non-destructive. It does meankeeping their operation within strict limits, so that people can regain asense of community and a sustainable environment. Much of the book is takenup with showing the limits of market theory and practice, and in that senseshould be studied by all with an interest in America's secular religion.Proposed solutions are decidedly non-ideological and largely eclectic. Boththe left and the right should find points of agreement. All in all, this isan invaluable guide to many of the planet's most pressing problems andshould be required reading for college undergraduates. ... Read more

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This comprehensive reference work brings together the terminology and background concepts used in environmental biology, environmental chemistry, environmental geology, environmental physics, and many other related fields. Includes over 8,000 fully cross-referenced entries, as well as illustrations, charts, and diagrams. Foreword by Dr. F. Herbert Bormann, Professor Emeritus, Forest Ecology, Yale University. ... Read more

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Clear, concise, and useful
This is a serviceable reference, and any environmentalist will find that it is a useful book to keep handy when encountering an unfamiliar word orphrase. The book seems to be comprehensive, with every term you could imagine. The entries are also very clear, with succinct explanations that favor being clear over being wordy.

The editor did make a couple of odd format choices, however. The font size is much larger than I'm used to seeing in a dictionary or glossary, and there are very few pictures or illustrations of any kind. I think that more pictures would have made thumbing through the guide a much more enjoyable experience, and the large font size contributes to the book's somewhat cumbersome size. I don't mind my dictionary being big; I just think it should be that size in the service of giving me as many entries as possible.

Criticisms aside, this is a very useful guide, and I do recommend this or something like this for anyone with an interest in ecology.
... Read more

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Global warming, acid rain, the depletion of forests, the polluting of our atmosphere and oceans--the threats to our environment are numerous, raising justifiable concern among most of us and genuine alarm in some. But as scientist Daniel Botkin argues in this provocative book, our ability to solve these problems is limited--not by our scientific knowledge--but by the age-old myths and metaphors that shape our perception of the natural world.Indeed, our beliefs about nature have fallen well behind our knowledge.

Daniel Botkin is a seasoned scientist. He has spent three decades in the field studying the changes and interactions of forests and animal species. In the 1970s he pioneered the use of computers to predict ecological trends. Now, in Discordant Harmonies, he combines his considerable expertise with the well-honed eye of the nature writer and a philosopher's sense of how ideas shape our perceptions of reality to take us on a marvelous guided tour of the natural world. His method is to introduce a problem in our beliefs about nature by giving us a fascinating case study: of predator-prey relationships, of forests evolving over centuries, of species nearing extinction, of the ways our "protection" of nature has had surprising--and often disappointing--results. Botkin's revealing case studies also highlight controversial present-day issues--like controlled burning in national forests, fishing and hunting quotas, and policy-making for management of natural resources. He looks at each of these cases in the light of past thinking and current research, revealing how old myths often blind us to the new technology and to the ways of thinking we need to solve our environmental problems. Above all, Botkin is concerned with redefining the relationship between human beings and nature, so that our needs can be met and the intricate systems of nature can persist.

Whether discussing moose herds on Isle Royale or Yosemite's famous Mariposa Grove of Sequoias, Botkin writes vividly and insightfully about nature, challenging us to rethink some of our most cherished notions. Anyone who is concerned about the environment will find much here to ponder as well as the pleasure of meeting a stimulating and thoughtful mind at work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

undelined everywhere
I have not yet started to read the book, which I really want to do as it was highly recommended to me. The problem is that the last reader underlined so much of the text that it is very distracting to try to come to any original reflection of what the author is saying--!All I see is the last readers yellow lines which indicate what they thought was important. Pretty much defaced the book.

Ecactly the kind of Ecological thinking we DO NOT need
Utilitarian to boot - this book is exactly the kind of ecological thinking that will do nothing but further the culture of control and domination that is destroying what's left of the world's wilderness.

The essential message of the book is that humanity needs to control and dominate nature more, not less, in order to save it. This is progressive humanistic delusion at its worst.

Botkin's "new ecology" discounts what he calls the "old" theories of interconnection, balance, and cooperation and argues in favor of an ecology that describes a disconnected, unbalanced, opportunistic and fundamentally disordered and chaotic natural world.

Thomas Hobbes would be proud!

But wait, there's more:

Discordant Harmonies was awarded the Mitchell International Prize for Sustainable Development in 1991. The Mitchell prize was established by George P. Mitchell, a Houston Texas based billionaire who made his fortune in Petroleum and Natural Gas development.

A quick study of the Mitchell Center for Sustainable Development reveals that it is funded by some of the world's most ecologically destructive corporate entities including: Enron, Ford, Shell Oil, Texaco and the World Bank.

As if that's not enough to reveal the agenda behind the Mitchell Center, one of the projects of the Center was to help the World Bank "relocate" the indigenous people whose land it flooded by financing an enormous dam project in the Brazilian state of Ceará.

With supporters like these, it should be obvious that Botkin is much more concerned with the "development" of wilderness than he is with its preservation.

Unfortuantely, this book has been highly influential for many environmental historians and has inspired many
anti-environmental and anti-indigenous books and papers.

One example is the book "The Destruction of the Bison." In this book the author, Andrew Isenberg, argues (contrary to massive ammounts of primary historical sources) that it was the actions of The Plains Tribes (not the White colonists) that caused the Buffalo to nearly go extinct; a disgusting example of blaming the victim for the actions of the oppressor.

Botkin's book is dangerous - a tool of the dominant culture.

Read this book?Yes - but read it with extreem skepticism.

An important and valuable alternative
I wish this book had been written about 15 years earlier & I wish it was currently read by a wider audience. This is a well written book in which Botkin does an excellent job at articulating some of the troubling aspects of ecological theory as they move out into the world of policy, conservation, and belief. Like many of us Botkin was obviously raised in the academic environment of "equilibrium models" or "Balance of Nature" ideologies, and like some of us he found that what he actually saw in the field didn't really match up with what the theoreticians on the one hand and the hard-core "environmentalists" on the other were saying we had to believe. Botkin recognizes and revels in the complexities of the natural world and asks some difficult questions about the role that theory plays in shaping our overall perceptions. Anybody interested in conservation, land-use, or applied ecology would do well to spend some time with this book. The only reason that I don't give it 5 stars is that I wish that Botkin had gone a little farther -one gets the sense throughout that he has seen a promised land of a "New Ecology" but he keeps drawing back, he knows that there are fatal flaws in much ecological rhetoric, but he can't quite bring himself to say "away with this nonsense".Other than that, if there was one semi-popular ecology book that I would want folks to read, this would probably be a top candidate.

Environmentalism and Pragmatism
I liked this book. It was a bit difficult to get through at first. I started the book and put it down for a few months, in chapter 3. But I picked it up again and read it all the way through. Botkin (the author) writes repeatedly about a new way of thinking that incorporates both environmental awareness and the need not to go too far in our concern about the environment. He discusses how the movement of environmentalism is basically operating on false principles, just as our mainstream industrial ways of thinking are perpretrating untold destruction of the natural world.
Botkin talks about the need for compromise, and specifically the need to think of nature in a new way. This new way that he iterates is the recognition of nature as a chaotic system. It is not constant, it is not irreversible (in some ways), and populations fluctuate under certain circumstances.
He describes how we need a new kind of ecologist. How we need people to study the animals and the ecosystems they inhabit with the idea of chaos in mind. But not complete chaos, there is structure to nature, but it is not formalized, nor is it constant. It is changing patterns that never repeat themselves, I guess Botkin might say, more eloquently than I no doubt.
He has a lengthy discussion about the role of religion in this book, which I found interesting. He even talks about the GAIA theory. Botkin re-iterates his points on numerous occasions, to the point that you almost get sick to hear them again. But he drives the point home, and his points are valid, and his view of nature, based on his own experiments is enlightening, scientific, and refreshing.

Crowing into the Winds
First, let me say that this is a very good book, and that my comments are only meant as a cautionary note. Second, Botkin does know his "stuff" when it come to understanding ecological applications, theories, and the use of metaphors.This book was a useful, popular, corrective to the vast number of misunderstood ecological concepts at the time of its publication. That said, however, Botkin is also like a rooster: he crows too loudly, every morning.By page 38, I was already tired of his "this requires a new view and understanding of nature" which had been stated at least a dozen times before said page.Perhaps some readers will need this prose "boot to the head" reminder.Many readers will find this irritating.He is very much preaching to the choir as well.Changes in Ecology and parallel fields (Conservation Biology, Physical Geography, etc...) had already understood the past mistakes of such concepts as "equilibrium" (static) and "climax community."Botkin was about ten to fifteen years too late in writing Discordant Ecologies. Keep that in mind as you read it.If you start saying "Aha!" a lot just remember that others have already said this for decades, and that the corrective suggestions that Botkin produces have already been incorporated in the vast variety of ecological fields he discusses. This is a great book to use in a history of science, history of ecology, or biogeography class.It will also be useful to a lay audience, unfamiliar with the last 50 years or so of ecological literature.It is also rather easy to read in one sitting. ... Read more

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Assembly rules refer to the ecological principles that guide the 'assembly' of ecosystems. They offer guidance on planning which species should be restored first, and then which should be added in which order. This work explores the concepts and theories relating to assembly rules. ... Read more

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This third International Conference on Harmonisation between Architecture and Nature (Eco-Architecture 2010) follows the two successful meetings which were held in the New Forest, UK (2006) and in the Algarve, Portugal (2008). Eco-Architecture ought to be in harmony with nature, including its immediate environs. Decisions have to be taken on ecological grounds concerning locations, siting and orientation, as well as the well-informed choice of materials. It can provide imaginative and expressive solutions and is driven by a generation of highly creative designs. It has important cultural as well as architectural impacts. Eco-Architecture makes every effort to minimise the use of energy at each stage of the building's life cycle, including that embodied in the extraction and transportation of materials, their fabrication, their assembly into the building and ultimately the ease and value of their recycling when the building's life is over. The design may also take into consideration the use of energy in building maintenance and changes in its use, not to mention its lighting, heating and cooling, particularly where the energy consumed involves the emission of greenhouse gases. Substantial savings can be achieved by the choice of materials appropriate for passive energy systems, especially natural ventilation, summer shading and winter solar heat gain. Solar and wind energy can provide heating and electric power. The development of Eco-Architecture is driven by the depletion of natural resources and the need to preserve the balance of nature. The extensive use of steel and glass and the built-in problems of discomfort from solar overheating and winter heat loss, has led to the widespread use of mechanical systems which, by careful design, could have been avoided in almost any climate. Eco-Architecture is by definition inter-disciplinary; it requires the collaboration of engineers, planners, physicists, psychologists, sociologists, economists, and other specialists, in addition to architects. The aim of the conference is to provide a forum for discussing the many relevant aspects of Eco-Architecture including, but by no means restricted to, those in the list of topics shown. ... Read more

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This volume considers how buildings, places, and environments might sustain a more powerful sense of human wholeness, identity, and life. Contributors include philosophers, geographers, architects, and psychologists, who use a phenomenological approach to explore such themes as environmental experience, sense of place, architecture as at-homeness, and environmental design as place making. Chapters in the first section discuss the theoretical horizons of a phenomenology of environment. Following sections consider how the bodily, cultural, and symbolic aspects of architecture, landscape, and place contribute to the human experience of dwelling. The discussion provides innovative approaches to the person-environment relationship not often found in conventional environmental and design professions, as well as to scholars and laypersons who seek a new way to understand and improve people's relationships with natural and built environments. ... Read more

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Generations of plant scientists have been fascinated by alpine plant life - with the exposure of organisms to dramatic climatic gradients over a very short distance. This comprehensive text treats a wide range of topics: alpine climate and soils, plant distribution and the treeline phenomenon, physiological ecology of water-, nutritional- and carbon relations of alpine plants, plant stress and plant development, biomass production, aspects of reproductive biology, and human impacts on alpine vegetation. Geographically the book covers all parts of the world including the tropics.This new edition of Alpine Plant Life has been fully updated. It now includes over a hundred new references, new diagrams, revised and extended chapters, and a geographic index. ... Read more

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A wonderful book
The "Alpine Plant Life" in the most wonderful and complete book about high mountain plant and ecosystems that I have ever read. There you can find every "secret" about the environment and the marvellous plants that grow in the altitude. I congratulate the author who has succeded in turning a scientific book into an easy to read novel. I recommend this book to anyone that wont to enjoy and learn about that impressive world. Marcela Ferreyra, Biologist who works in the High Andean Ecosystem in Patagonia Argentina, author of the book "High Mountain Flowers of the Patagonian Andes". ... Read more

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The best introduction to social ecology and communalism
As a dialectical thinker, Murray Bookchin (like such a distinguished social theorist as Karl Marx before him) developed his thoughts and ideas in accordance with the realities of his time. This book can be said to stand as Bookchin's final philosophical and political statement of views only in recognition of his death in 2006. Taken as a whole, Social Ecology and Communalism is an excellent introduction to both of the invariably woven topics. The brevity of the articles, along with Bookchin's concise yet rich writing style, make this a wonderful book for a study group/book club. Bookchin, here, continues to emphasize the persistent lessons serious radicals must learn from the past failing of socialist thought and action. In addition to the two previously published and now revised articles 'What is Social Ecology?' and 'The Communalist Project', two new articles appear with fresh insights and thoughts on radical politics heading into the 21st century. An excellent read.

Essays in Communalism
This collection, the last to be written during Murray Bookchin's life, is a basic introduction and overview to Bookchin's views and comments on anarchism, Marxism, ecology, and his own ideology of Communalism. It consists of four short essays: one on social ecology and its meaning, one which establishes Bookchin's idea of the separation of the concepts of the state and the public sphere, one on the state of the radical left in recent decades (this seems obligatory for any left-wing collection), and one on Communalism proper.

This booklet is, in my view, a mixed bag. On the one hand, Bookchin points out many interesting ideas, and makes many useful criticisms: he has correctly nothing but scorn for the spiritualism and 'lifestyle' approach of much of the modern environmentalist movements, he emphasizes the uselessness of trying to evade capitalist co-optation through withdrawals or communal living, radical lifestyles, etc., he argues against a one-sided approach to technology as some unmitigated evil, or against humans as if they were a parasitical species. As he says: "Capitalism has nothing to fear from an ecological, feminist, anarchist or socialist hash of hazy ideas (...) that leaves its social premises untouched."

On the other hand, a lot of Bookchin's ideas are themselves a hash of hazy ideas. His proposal of Communalism is based on idealistic and naive conceptions of citizenship and public virtue; he conceives of cities as possible 'poleis' in the Greek city-state style, where independent citizens come together to discuss and decide through direct democracy the issues of the day. This is a Kantian-Arendtian idea of the public sphere, which betrays not only an exaggeratedly positive and naive view of how the Athenian democracy actually worked (Bookchin admits its limitations in terms of voting rights and slavery, but does not see that the institutions themselves were hardly very democratic or effective either), but also indicates a hopeless idealism as regards current society. Bookchin argues: "In a Communalist way of life, conventional economics, with its focus on prices and scarce resources, would be replaced by ethics, with its concern for human needs and the good life. Human solidarity (...) would replace material gain and egotism." But not a word is said on how this is supposed to be achieved, except apparently by rejecting all existing left-wing movements and by "transcending its categories". We are left then to conclude that we should proceed through the method of moral appeals, a complete fallback to the level of utopian socialism; quite correctly refuted by Marx and Engels back in the day. (Speaking of which, Bookchin's criticisms of Marxism are equally weak.)

That is not to say that there is nothing useful in Bookchin's own choices of emphasis and new ideas, though. Bookchin may well have an interesting research idea when he points out that cities are more than just the locus of trade and bourgeois society, but that they also form a particular kind of community with a public sphere that is not found elsewhere, and where radicalism has its own history. His focus on the civil society and citizenship remind one of Hegel, and are in a sense more a foreshadowing of Marxism than a refutation. He also has a point when he says that the call for rule of law and constitutionalism, common in many historical radical movements, has been swept under the carpet by Marxists and anarchists alike, and deserves more examination.

As a critic Bookchin rhetorically strong and interesting. As a proponent of an alternative vision, not so much.

Another profound book from the pioneer of social ecology and libertarian municipalism!!!
For many decades, the late Murray Bookchin articulated a left libertarian vision of a rational ecological society and how we could achieve it. Arguing that ecological problems are rooted in social problems such as capitalism and the nation-state, Murray Bookchin's theory of social ecology is a radical departure from the misanthropy of deep ecology and the economic determinism of Marxism and classical anarchism. While Bookchin certainly has much to say about class exploitation, he manages nonetheless to transcend the workerist emphasis of much libertarian socialist theory by insisting that hierarchy in general, rather than just class, is the source of human misery and environmental destruction. Not only is this new anthology of essays an accessible introduction to social ecology, it is also a moving tribute to an important social thinker who revolutionized both ecology and political philosophy. Though late in life he chose communalism over anarchism per se, there's no denying the enormous impact his prolific writings have had on the anarchist movement. While all the essays in this book are thought-provoking and challenging, I most enjoyed the final essay, "The Communalist Project", which incidentally was the final essay he ever wrote. In this essay, Bookchin reflects upon the recent anti-corporate globalization protests and imparts his wisdom to the next generation of activists. Thank you Murray Bookchin for your life-long committment to social justice and the environment, and thank you AK Press for providing the world with such important literature! ... Read more