Communalism, we are seeking to reinvigorate and build on this earlier vision. Inspired by radical social theorist Murray Bookchin, we argue that to create an ecological society, we need a new social ecological politics. We need to break up the megalopolis into small-scale communities, decentralizing our cities both physically and politically. We need to tailor urban life to its natural surroundings and apply ecological solutions locally and regionally. We need to establish local political processes where communities and individuals can make decisions on the matters concerning their lives and society’s relationship to nature. Ecological cities, as Janet Biehl argues, would be humanly scaled networks of self-managing communities that share and cooperate on economic, political, and cultural matters.

Contrary to common belief, a decentralized society would not be one in which we all move to the countryside, milk goats in the morning, and do handicrafts in the evening. On the contrary, as Jonathan Korsár shows in “Rebuilding Our Cities,” a decentralized economy and energy system would be one in which people would still travel by rail, still work on their computers, and still enjoy all the cultural pleasures civilization has to offer.

As we embark on this endeavor, we are in need of theory, and it is the aim of Communalism to provide it. To push society in a progressive direction, we will provide analyses of the present crisis and offer a utopian vision of a better future. And so that the new decentralist movement can to learn from the failures and successes of past movements, we will offer an understanding of their history.

It is our firm belief that the decentralist cause has new significance in the era of global capitalism. It is our aim to put it at the forefront of ecological struggles.

–  Eirik Eiglad

Eirik is also author of The Anti-Jewish Riots in Oslo: The Anti-Jewish Riots in Oslo Communalism - A Social Ecology Journal Current Issue Building ecological cities It will be impossible to mitigate climate change without transforming our cities, writes Jonathan Korsár . He advances a program for self-reliance, decentralization of energy, regionalization of the economy, new communications and direct democracy. Decentralized energy A decentralized energy system is effective and more sustainable, says David Morris of the Institute for Local Self Reliance. 9 arguments for democracy To solve the climate crisis we need more democracy, not less, thinks Sveinung Legard. Neighborhood politics Matt Little discusses Milton Kotler's vision of neighborhood power in the 1960s. Towards apocalypse or utopia? Capitalism presents only false solutions to global warming, writes Brian Tokar, but what will be our response? He warns of the apocalyptic notions spreading in the ecology movement, and upholds the utopian dimension of social ecology. Is art dead? Adam Krause deconstructs the postmodernist/modernist dichotomy, and think that ecology explains art better. Deep ecology and misanthropy Bookchin was right in his critique of the misantrophy of deep ecology, writes Andy Price, and documents the inception of what he calls a “Bookchin caricature.” Planting seeds On Vashon Island in Washingtion, USA, a group of people have gathered to advance social ecology through art, community activism and land regeneration. The current issue of Communalism also includes commentaries and book reviews.