TRISE - Transnational Institute of Social Ecology

07/09/2026

"For Bookchin, the emergence of the polis is one of the turning points in historical evolution since the individual found in it space where he could form political relations with others, breaking with ancestral connections based on blood ties (race and village). “The city increasingly replaced the biological fact of lineage, and the accident of birth into a particular kin group, by the social fact of residence and economic interests” he notes in Remaking Society...

The experiences of freedom created by grassroots citizen movements across the globe interact with space and its inequalities. Space is not neutral—it reflects the dominant social relationships and power distribution. It is, at the same time, open by its nature—constantly changing, on the move and its transformation into an ecological and democratic city depends on the attitude of the citizens. From the city, in the city, with the city."

Written by Giorgos Papahristodoulou In many of Murray Bookchin’s works, the founder of Social Ecology, we find the term “polis.” which derives from the ancient Greek language and translates to “city.” This is not due to a thinker’s unexplained obsession with antiquity, an occurrence typi...

05/09/2026

An update by the Internationalist Commune of Rojava:

"It is understandable that there are many doubts and much confusion. A great deal of misinformation and misinterpretation is circulating online in order to declare the Rojava Revolution finished. Criticism of the decisions being made is understandable. The Kurdish Movement itself is also dissatisfied with many of the decisions that are being taken. However, following the war, the political negotiating power of the democratic forces in Syria has been weakened. Therefore, concessions are currently being made in order to protect society from a continuation of the massacres..

However, this does not mean that the revolution or the goal of a democratic-socialist Rojava and Syria has been abandoned. Especially at this stage, it is more important than ever to stand alongside the people of Rojava and defend the achievements of the revolution together. The revolution in Rojava has been internationalist from the very beginning and will continue to exist only if it remains connected to democratic and socialist struggles across the world."

On the Situation in Rojava and SyriaBy InternationalistCommune / September 4, 2026 Since an agreement was signed on 29 January 2026 between the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the jihadist Syrian transitional government, Syria and Rojava have been undergoing far-reaching politi...

03/09/2026

For our friends in Greece, we are pleased to announce that on the 20th of September we will be having Eleanor Finley activist scholar and author, presenting her latest book "Practicing Social Ecology: From Bookchin to Rojava and Beyond" (Pluto Press, 2025) at TRISE social space in Athens.

More info here: https://facebook.com/events/s/practicing-social-ecology-%CE%BC%CE%B9%CE%B1-/28438939489070987/

01/09/2026

"The universal values to which various nation-states supposedly abide to are in fact projection of the particular interests of their ruling classes. Thus, their universalism is a tool for domination, rather than a vision of equality. This is why past and present large states have often concealed their imperialist ambitions beneath a veil of “higher purpose” or of the supposed goal of “civilizing” an other...

The alternative to this reality stems from the grassroots struggles around the world. While each and every one of these has its own unique set of characteristics that derive from the intersections of specific social, temporal, and spatial contexts, they often exhibit one thing that is common – the popular desire for citizen self-management, or in other words – direct democracy. They tend to assert universalism not as a dry and rigid set of “natural laws”, as some of the minds of the Enlightenment age tried to do, but as the universal potential of human beings to take active, unmediated part in shaping their own destiny and that of the communities they are part of."

Today we know that the essential condition for a revolutionary reconstitution of society is the self- movement and creative political activity of the mass of the world population.1 ~Kimathi Mohamme…

24/08/2026

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=j42RbUjofm0&pp=iggCQAE%3D

Misanthropic, borderline ecofash narratives about humanity's relati...

17/08/2026

Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the passing of Murray Bookchin, the founding theorist of social ecology. Bookchin's wide ranging contributions to utopian and social theory, popular movements, municipal politics and environmental design popularized a vision for a free and ecological society around the globe. He co-founded the ISE in 1974 alongside Dan Chodorkoff in Plainfield, Vermont, where we'll gather this August to honor Bookchin's legacy.

The gathering will be held over the weekend of August 28-30 on the the former campus of Goddard College in Plainfield, and we look forward to a dynamic weekend of learning, discussion and enjoying the height of late Vermont summer.
More here: https://givebutter.com/annual-ise-summer-gathering?gbtid=c659af0f-fad2-43c5-b838-3531c826ff43

11/08/2026

"A real energy transition plan would address the question of scale. Humanity’s problem currently is not just that we are using the wrong energy sources, but also that we are using energy at unsustainable rates. Regardless of the energy sources we choose, we will not be able to continue using as much energy as we do now for more than a few more years, possibly decades. When we begin to look centuries ahead, it becomes clear that all energy sources impose environmental and human costs that increase as the scale of energy usage rises. A hypothetical solar or nuclear future, at current energy usage rates, would require more minerals or uranium than can realistically be extracted. Recycling would help, but there are also limits to recycling. In the end, the main solution to our energy and climate problems must be to find a way to use less, but to do so in a way that enables humanity to gradually adjust."

In this interview with 15/1515 magazine, Richard Heinberg argues that current transition strategies ignore a central reality: replacing fossil fuels is not enough without reducing overall energy use.

10/08/2026

by Alexandros Schismenos Are we justified in judging Nolan’s “Odyssey” in terms of the fidelity of its adaptation, as if it were a literary analysis, or in terms of historical accuracy, as if it were a documentary rather than a work of fiction? That would be like judging *Interstellar* in term...

05/08/2026

"There is a trait in radical thought and practice throughout history that focuses on space as crucial for the question of social organization. From Pierre-Joseph Proudhon and William Morris, through Pyotr Kropotkin and Elise Reclus, to Henri Lefebvre and Murray Bookchin, there is this libertarian tradition that suggests that political participation cannot be excercized in a void or on an abstract level. There must be a space that is being collectively experienced and cared for by those that inhabit it. For Bookchin, like many of his predecessors, this place was the municipality as a shared political environment that binds people via collectively-forged social contract...

Bookchin insisted that citizenship cannot be separated from a spatial dimension that allows people to act as citizens – i.e. to directly participate in collective decision-making. Without such a space, one can be citizen only in name but not in content. Referendums and various digital tools, while surely helpful, can never be the basis of a direct democracy as they do not provide democratic spatialtiy but only a belonging to an abstract whole. For this reason Bookchin advanced the institutions of the face-to-face assembly and the council of revocable delegates as proper spaces on which a genuine direct democracy can be built upon."

Speech delivered by Yavor Tarinski at the International Tribute to Murray Bookchin, 30 July 2026, organised by the Netzwerk für Kommunalismus. It is a great pleasure to have been invited to take part in this international commemorative tribute, dedicated to the 20th anniversary of the death of Murr...

01/08/2026

"We should continually discover, engage with, and transform this body of knowledge, keeping it dynamic and avoiding the danger of ossified theorisation against which Murray Bookchin repeatedly warned. Knowledge must remain relevant, useful, and, above all, accessible to social movements committed to social transformation.

Our continuing responsibility within social ecology is therefore to research, teach, and organise for just and ecologically sustainable futures. This is how we can honour Bookchin: not by preserving his work unchanged, but by keeping its revolutionary possibilities alive."

Speech delivered by Federico Venturini at the International Tribute to Murray Bookchin, 30 July 2026, organised by the Netzwerk für Kommunalismus. I am very pleased and honoured to take part in this international tribute to Murray Bookchin on the twentieth anniversary of his death. I never had the ...