Ecopolitical philosophy, education and grassroots democracy: The "return" of Murray Bookchin (and John Dewey?)

Abstract

This article traces the “return” of Murray Bookchin whose work has been championed by Abdullah Öcalan, one of the founding members and leaders of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê, PKK). Bookchin’s “Democratic Confederalism” serves as a vehicle for taking seriously the notion of the local assembly within a broad non-state framework with an emphasis on inclusiveness and especially women’s rights. Öcalan and the PKK have adopted Bookchin’s social ecology as the basis for the new society. This article examines Bookchin’s “return” in the light of these developments and examines grassroots or participatory democracy as the basis of ecopolitical philosophy and comments on some strong parallels with John Dewey’s “creative democracy.”