Ebook: Post-Scarcity Anarchism

In a series of related essays, Murray Bookchin balances his ecological and anarchist
vision with the promising opportunities of a “post-scarcity” era. Surpassing the
constraints of Marxist political economy—which was rooted in an era of material
scarcity and could not foresee the sweeping changes ahead—Bookchin argues that the
tools necessary for the self-administration of a complex, industrial society have already
been developed and have greatly altered our revolutionary landscape. Technological
advances were made during the twentieth century which expanded production greatly,
but in the pursuit of corporate profit and at the expense of human need, workers’
control and ecological sustainability. Through direct control of industry, and by incorporating
an ecological and utopian vision for society, the working class can now dispel
the myth that the state, hierarchical social relations, and political parties (vanguards)
are necessary to their struggle for freedom. Bookchin’s analysis, rooted in the realities
of contemporary society, remains refreshingly pragmatic. Perhaps his most influential
collection of essays (including the legendary “Listen Marxist!” and “Ecology and
Revolutionary Thought”), this third edition contains a new preface from the author.