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Anarchism & Environmental Survival
In this wide-ranging book, Graham Purchase, one of the anarchist movement's leading theoreticians, graphically demonstrates relation of classical libertarian thought to the most pressing issues on the Green bioregionalism, overpopulation, sustainable agriculture, animal rights, wilderness preservation, technology, social ecology, and eco-defense. This book is not, however, a collective of dry, academic essays. Purchase's uncompromising approach and acerbic comments ensure that "Anarchism & Environmental Survival" will remain a controversial book on the environment.
- GenresEcology
Paperback
First published July 1, 1994
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About the author
Graham Purchase
13 books4 followersGraham Purchase is a leading figure in the Australian anarchist movement, known for his prolific writings. In works like Anarchist Society & its Practical Realisation, he explores the future of anarchism and practical ways to apply its ideas today.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
June 7, 2012
This collection of essays is from 1994 and therefore, a lot of people in the anarchist movement might be already familiar with its ideas, in general terms.
Nevertheless it's an interesting look at anarchism and its relation to the natural world, though the title itself its somewhat misleading in that the scope of the book is broader than the title implies; there are essays on anarchism's relationship with feminism and a critique of Murray Bookchin, which rehearses a few of the factionalist controversies of the time; between left and post-left, lifestyle anarchism, traditional anarcho-syndicalism, which, together with the arcane differences between sociobiology and social ecology, have always failed to hold my interest.
Briefly, I can say that I come down more on the side of the seemingly more pragmatic Bookchin.
The essays here presented are more engaging when they deal with more practical subjects; I found the essays on feminism, on animal rights, and on self-defense, say, more apt to command my attention than the essay on "Anarchism, Chaos Theory, and the Metaphysics of Nature" but, to be fair, I recognise the point being made, about self-organisation in nature, to be a valid one.
One can see here, though, in places, a slight romanticism about "the wilderness" of the type critiqued by other writers.
Nevertheless it's an interesting look at anarchism and its relation to the natural world, though the title itself its somewhat misleading in that the scope of the book is broader than the title implies; there are essays on anarchism's relationship with feminism and a critique of Murray Bookchin, which rehearses a few of the factionalist controversies of the time; between left and post-left, lifestyle anarchism, traditional anarcho-syndicalism, which, together with the arcane differences between sociobiology and social ecology, have always failed to hold my interest.
Briefly, I can say that I come down more on the side of the seemingly more pragmatic Bookchin.
The essays here presented are more engaging when they deal with more practical subjects; I found the essays on feminism, on animal rights, and on self-defense, say, more apt to command my attention than the essay on "Anarchism, Chaos Theory, and the Metaphysics of Nature" but, to be fair, I recognise the point being made, about self-organisation in nature, to be a valid one.
One can see here, though, in places, a slight romanticism about "the wilderness" of the type critiqued by other writers.
Displaying 1 of 1 review