With the inauspicious opening [14] of the Glasgow climate conference, activists around the world are increasingly looking to local action as an alternative to the moribund United Nations process [15] on addressing what has been called a "Code Red for humanity [16]." In Episode 95 [17] of the CounterVortex podcast [18], Bill Weinberg explores the ideas of Social Ecology [19] and radical municipalism [20], developed by the late Vermont anarchist thinker Murray Bookchin [21], and how they provide a theoretical framework [22] for localities struggling to lead from below on the climate question. Examples discussed include the Zapatistas [23] in Chiapas, the Rojava Kurds [24] in Syria, and the community gardens [25] and ongoing struggles [26] for reclaimed urban space [27] on New York’s Lower East Side. Listen on SoundCloud [17] or via Patreon [28].
Erratum: The activists who chained themselves to a tree [31] to demand protection [32] of East River Park did not do so in ERP itself, but at City Hall Park.
Production by Chris Rywalt [33]
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