Common futures : social transformation and political ecology / Alexandros Schismenos, Yavor Tarinski.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schismenos, Alexandros, 1978- author.

Tarinski, I︠A︡vor, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Protest movements--History--21st century.

Protest movements.

Social movements--History--21st century.

Social movements.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (220 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal : Black Rose Books, [2020]

Summary:

"What does the future hold? Is the desertification of the planet, driven by state and corporate authority, the final horizon of history? Is the dystopian future implied by the systemic degradation of nature and society inescapable? From marginal activist groups to governments and interstate organizations, all appear to be concerned with what the future of our shared world will look like. Yet even amid the ongoing global crisis caused by capitalism, the potential of a different, radically rooted future has also appeared. Common Futures explores the global emergence of twenty-first-century social movements, opposed to capitalism and state authority. These movements, Yavor Tarinski and Alexandros Schismenos show, transcend traditional political forms of organization and try to form autonomous networks premised on direct democracy and solidarity. The authors identify the importance of grassroots movements, which can bring radical change and create a more democratic and ecological future. Common Futures examines the social and political roots of the environmental crisis and the relationship between ecology and direct democracy. But Tarinski and Schismenos go beyond the analysis of crises, contemporary struggles, and social movements: Common Futures also clarifies the conditions for the re-creation of free public time and space and point to practical steps that we can take to alleviate the problems of our future."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION

Futureless Present

Reclaiming the Future

Political Ecology and Democratic Theory

Social Movements

I. Political Ecology and Social Change

Introduction

Roots of the Contemporary Crisis

The Fallacy of Economic Growth

The Overpopulation Myth

Ecology Beyond Narrow Technoscience

Interconnectedness of Ecology and Democracy

Democratic Traits of the Early Cities

Toward Democratic and Ecological Cities

Political Ecology in Practice

II. Theoretical Outlines of Direct Democracy

Democracy as a Regime of Self-Limitation

Political Parties: Obstacle to Democracy

Nation-State, Nationalism and the Need for Roots

Time and Ideology

III. The temporality of social movements

What is to be Done? Lenin's Question

The Question Before Us

Lessons from the past: The legacy of May '68

Lessons from Experience: The Brief Summer of the Anti-globalization Movement

The 2006-2007 Greek student movement

Rural Movements toward Social Ecology

The Rebellious Event of December 2008

The Occupy Movement in Greece

The Rise of the Xenophobic Right

The Yellow Vests Against Capitalist Temporality

Modern technology and digital movements

IV. Conceptual Challenges

The Paradoxes of Nationalistic Discourse

Representative oligarchy and democracy

The Temporality of Autonomy

BIBLIOGRAPHY.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781551647777

155164777X

OCLC:

1256252406