TRISE 2021 Conference: Call for Papers

The Transnational Institute of Social Ecology (TRISE) is glad to announce its next conference on the 30th and 31th of October 2021!

2021 marks the 100 years anniversary of the birth of Murray Bookchin (1921 – 2006), founding theorist of social ecology and one of the most profound thinkers of the 20th century. His thought, always political and directed towards radical social change, has influenced both urban and rural social movements around the world, including one of the most significant emancipatory experiences of our time – the social revolution in Rojava.

Through the 20 books and numerous pamphlets he wrote, Bookchin formulated the thesis that domination of nature is a consequence of the exploitation of humans by humans. He exposed how the destruction of the natural world, far from being a historical necessity, is a byproduct of social modes of organization based on hierarchies and domination within human societies.

Based on such diagnosis, Bookchin developed a revolutionary agenda aiming to provide an alternative to a self-destructive capitalism. He dedicated most of his life promoting a radical transformation of society, towards a “communal society oriented towards human needs, responding to ecological imperatives, and developing a new ethics based on sharing and cooperation”.

In this historic moment, marked by a deepening of the crisis of capitalism and raising hopes and demands for a better future, the ideas of social ecology have much to offer to the citizens looking for an utopian vision and a radical path towards an ecological and democratic society.

On this occasion, TRISE organizes an International Online Conference that will include a series of discussions/presentations in commemoration of and in dialogue with Bookchin’s legacy. The aim of this conference is to pay a tribute to the founder of social ecology and to further develop this body of work.

We are thus welcoming any intervention that aims at addressing one of the following themes and categories:

  • 1. Political Practice & Activism

In this session, we welcome contributions about Bookchins relations to social movements, lifestyle activism, traditional ideologies, and concrete practices related to social ecology.
  • 2. Libertarian Municipalism 

In this session, we welcome contributions about Bookchins political proposals and ideas on direct democracy, popular assemblies, municipalism & confederalism. 
  • 3. Nature & Ecology

In this session, we welcome contributions about Bookchins view on the ecological crises, the relation to deep ecology and enviromentalism, and reflections on dialectical naturalism and ecological humanism. 
  • 4. Future Research 

In this session we welcome contributions on the possible future lines of inquire that social ecologists should explore and develop, how a social ecology research methodology should look like, etc.

Please send your abstract (300 words max) and a short bio (100 words max) to info@trise.org

 

Accepted speakers will be invited to produce a full paper (4000 word max) that will be circulated among the other presenters prior of the conference. Only presenters with a submitted paper will be allowed to present during the conference.

 

After the conference, the papers presented will be evaluated towards the publication of an edited volume.

 

Calendar

Deadline for abstracts: 8th August 2021
Communication of abstract accepted: 15th August 2021
Submission of full paper: 24th October 2021
TRISE Conference: 30th and 31th October 2021

Let’s make this year an opportunity to spread even further Bookchin’s ideas and social ecology in our local communities worldwide!

For any information, please contact info@trise.org

#100yearsMurrayBookchin #socialecology

June 15, 2021

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  • I am interested in offering an abstract and paper focused on the form of municipalism I’ve been engaged in over the past 17 years, as community organizer, national director of organizing, and national organizer with the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund (CELDF) We draft local laws — community bills of rights — and assist with organizing and education. At the heart of these community bills of rights is the right of community local self-government. In essence, these campaigns challenge state and federal preemption of local legislation that actually governs corporate actions within the jurisdiction – not merely enforcing state administrative regulatory laws that put a ceiling on how much protection of rights local laws can provide. I spearheaded the Rights of Nature movement by drafting and organizing for passage the first RoN law enacting on Earth, in 2006. And so, I wonder if a paper on these efforts would be of interest for the 100 yrs Murray Bookchin event. I’ve been reading Bookchin’s work since the 1990’s and published related materials in GROUNDSWELL, a monthly newsletter for which I served as contributing editor. I am the author of the book “How Wealth Rules the World: Saving Our Communities and Freedoms from the Dictatorship of Property” (Berrett-Koehler Publishers, May 2019), which was awarded a silver medal by the Independent Publishers Book Awards, for 2020.

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