Scan barcode
daytonm's review
5.0
Fascinating dialogue in response to a debate between radical ecologists of the late 1980s. Basically, Murray Bookchin accused Dave Foreman and co. of being misanthropic, Foreman and co. accused Bookchin of being anthropocentric, then the FBI arrested Foreman and they realized infighting was dumb.
A quick read--I read it in one sitting over about 3-4 hours--but if you're into this type of thing it's a good intro to both "deep ecology" (Foreman) and "social ecology" (Bookchin) ideas. Bookchin is clearly the more politically sophisticated thinker, and insofar as there's a debate he wins (though they mainly just agree on stuff), but I do wonder whether deep ecology brings something to the table that social ecology might not by itself. But Bookchin's thinking is really well developed and specifically addresses many important issues that deep ecologists often gloss over (in particular the place of humans in ecological thought), and I want to read more of his stuff.
On a less substantive note, this was a spoken dialogue before it was a book. I understand they did some editing, but I am left to conclude that both participants are *shockingly* articulate.
A quick read--I read it in one sitting over about 3-4 hours--but if you're into this type of thing it's a good intro to both "deep ecology" (Foreman) and "social ecology" (Bookchin) ideas. Bookchin is clearly the more politically sophisticated thinker, and insofar as there's a debate he wins (though they mainly just agree on stuff), but I do wonder whether deep ecology brings something to the table that social ecology might not by itself. But Bookchin's thinking is really well developed and specifically addresses many important issues that deep ecologists often gloss over (in particular the place of humans in ecological thought), and I want to read more of his stuff.
On a less substantive note, this was a spoken dialogue before it was a book. I understand they did some editing, but I am left to conclude that both participants are *shockingly* articulate.
More...