Next Revolution

by Murray Bookchin (2002)

8/10

So Bookchin apparently gets a fair amount of derision from leftists, which I’m only just waking up to. I’ve seen him called a “Trot” plenty of times, but more often just sort of dismissed as a crank. It’s still puzzling to me because I don’t see that much to object to here. I’m kind of assuming it’s because he criticizes both Marxism and Bakunism/anarchism, which leaves him basically homeless in a dogmatic ideosphere.

With regards to him being a Trotskyite, he does appear to endorse some of Trotsky’s analysis. But he also criticizes him just as much as he does Lenin or Marx, so by the same logic he’s also a Marxist-Leninist. I think what really seals the deal for most socialists and anarchists against Bookchin is that he proposes non-violent revolution as the most likely path forward.

Regarding this book, Bookchin lays out his argument for “communalism” a.k.a. “libertarian municipalism.” He develops ideas he worked on for decades, and corrects his most zealous transgressions from earlier works like Post-Scarcity Anarchism, namely his excessive faith in technology/ecomodernism.

Overall the book is good, if repetitive. What I like about Bookchin is his inventiveness. I know that’s frowned upon in the leftist circles that value your comradely-ness based mostly on how much Lenin you can regurgitate, but I don’t know maybe I’m just a closet Trot (without knowing what “Trot” even really means).

Moreover, I greatly appreciate Bookchin’s inclination to look for a pathway that doesn’t involve the exceedingly unlikely event of a violent revolution. . . because, y’know, revolution is practically impossible. His prescription is for a relatively gradual, predominantly electoral takeover of towns/cities, followed by the creation of a confederal network of co-equal city-partners.

My one major gripe is that he is still frustratingly vague on the exact “how” of this process; I really think he could have pushed his thought further to guess at the specifics of decommodification (e.g. Ramping up land trusts? Citywide food programs?). He also, as in Post-Scarcity, neglects to account for capitalist resistance to these projects at the local level. The realtor’s association and Chamber of Commerce aren’t just going to stand by and watch us cut them out of the economic pie.

There’s also, of course, the urgency of climate catastrophe (not as present to Bookchin at the time of writing in the 90s), knowledge of which tosses cold water on such a gradual solution.

Even with these complaints, however, it is refreshing to read a leftist who at least attempts to grapple with modern circumstances. His criticisms of Marxism and anarchism are helpful even if you count yourself in those camps. And his writing style, though repetitive and thus given to skimming, is still more accessible than not. And notwithstanding the lack of time to transform a system this gradually, his ideas at least provide a framework for what a just, sustainable society should ultimately resemble.

I would highly recommend this to everyone, even despite the “Google Murray Bookchin” meme (which I also don’t understand, damn I’m getting old).