maan, a recent refugee to the United States, participated in the Institute For Social Ecology’s Ecology and Community program in the summer of 1999.  Amaan is of Oromo decent.   Like most Oromos, he lived in oppressive circumstances under the rule of the “Ethiopian Empire State.”  As a people the Oromo make up a significant portion of the population within the Horn of Africa, and constitute about 30 million of the 55 million inhabitants of the Ethiopian Empire.  Even though the Oromo nation is …

This article originally appeared in the October 2001 issue of Direct Democracy, a publication of Demokratisk Alternativ.
For many people involved in the worldwide struggle against capitalism, the past two years had seemed, for once, to offer some promise of progress toward a freer society. History appeared to be taking a rare turn in our favor, with the ranks of the global movement expanding and its politics becoming sharpened and defined. But the massive crimes against humanity perpetrated on September 11 have stifled these …

Welcome to the first edition of our second volume of Harbinger, A Journal of Social Ecology. Harbinger is the latest in a long line of publications offered by the Institute for Social Ecology (ISE). With the second edition of Harbinger, we are resurrecting a journal that we published in the 80s. It is our hope that the current incarnation of Harbinger will continue in the tradition of its predecessors in bringing you, the reader, analysis relevant to the growing social ecology movement and …

s we were unwillingly ushering in a new presidential administration on January 20th of this year, thousands of people gathered in Washington DC to voice their opposition to the corruption, racism and corporate influence that play such a role in our national government. They held banners, chanted slogans and through the tear gas and pepper spray, attempted to create a space for themselves in the city of the political elite. They raised their voices and their fists for a day of protest, seeking …

To explain the endurance and commitment to anarchism by many American radicals throughout the twentieth century, most contemporary historians, scholars, and even radicals have repeatedly emphasized the social, political, economic, or cultural factors. When combined, these factors have sustained the credibility of anarchism as a social theory, philosophy, and practice in the United States. Anarchism had nearly become an anachronism in the more advanced industrial nations of Western Europe, particularly following the defeat of the anarchists in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). What …

he amorphous movement that has appeared on the scene of late—in North America, after Seattle, and around the world several years prior—exhibits an astonishing diversity of tactics, goals, and political beliefs. At the same time, this resurgence of radical politics is united in an equally varied critique of one phenomenon: globalization. Whether understood economically, politically, ideologically, or culturally; as a form of communication or set of new technologies; as an overlapping configuration of these or other factors, globalization provides the umbrella under …

The Institute For Social Ecology publishes Harbinger, A Journal of Social Ecology. We would like to thank the following contributors that made this issue of Harbinger possible:
Harbinger Committee:

Claudia Bagiackas
Michael Caplan
Daniel Chodorkoff
Michael J. Cuba

Contributors:

Amaan – The Oromo and the Ethiopian Empire State
Murray Bookchin – Interview with Murray Bookchin
Michael Caplan – The Oromo and the Ethiopian Empire State
Kai Malloy – Towards a Historical Perspective of Libertarian and Anarchist Education
Cindy Milstein – What’s in a Name?
Andrea del Moral – Seeds in the City
Erin …

This article originally appeared in Z Magazine, June 2001.
Later this month, thousands of people will converge on San Diego, California for what may be the largest protest against the biotechnology industry in the United States. Coinciding once again with the annual convention of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), …

This article orignially appeared in Synthesis/Regeneration 25, Summer 2001.
With the worldwide rejection of genetically engineered foods, the biotechnology industry is scrambling to develop a new generation of products that can might someday be seen as advantageous for consumers and beneficial to humanity. This is the primary motivation, of course, behind the massive PR campaign …

This article is the introduction to the book Redesigning Life? The Worldwide Challenge to Genetic Engineering (Zed Books), edited by Brian Tokar.
Perhaps once in a decade, a compelling new social or environmental concern will come to the forefront of public debate in the West, raising profound consequences for all life on earth, while thoroughly challenging our views of what kind of future is possible. The ensuing controversies provoke challenging questions about the very nature of our society and its …