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Adam here, with my first blog post since joining the Transition Town Jericho Steering Committee in January! Last Monday, October 27th, 2025, TTJ hosted Brian Tokar from the Institute of Social Ecology (ISE) at the Deborah Rawson Memorial Library for a talk titled “Social Ecology: A Vision of Positive Change in our Towns.” The link to the recording from MMCTV can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-5rQpqKq20 Brian has been living in central Vermont since the 1980s, about 10 years after the Institute’s founding, and has been involved with the organization since. Brian has written broadly about environmental justice and social ecology, and taught for 15 years in the University of Vermont’s Environmental Program (my alma mater). Brian presented attendees with an overview of social ecology, movements the philosophy has inspired, and how it can be applied in our towns, with time for questions. Brian arranged his overview of social ecology through the following slide:  Brian began by talking about his mentor and teacher, Murray Bookchin, from whom much of the theory of social ecology evolved. Bookchin began by 1) critiquing politics as usual, having grown up in the Great Depression and labor movement of the 1930s, and having witnessed the limitations of the old Left. The focus of his critique emerged through the understanding that the environmental problems we face are fundamentally social and political in nature. Bookchin was critical of a technological fix, since he believed that our social system, with its history of social domination and hierarchy, was more to blame. From there, Bookchin began exploring 2) the anthropological and historical roots in Western society of the notion that humans were (and are) separate from nature and must dominate the natural world, but in fact, discovered that that’s a myth. Humans can’t actually dominate nature. Our belief in this myth evolved from a tendency towards hierarchical social relationships at different times throughout history. Bookchin also discovered that earlier human societies (and contemporary indigenous cultures) had a focus on interdependence and reciprocity with each other and the natural world, and believed in the unity of diversity, which is a core ecological and social cornerstone. Economically, these early societies believed that ensuring everyone's needs was paramount. Bookchin did this deep dive into history and anthropology not out of nostalgia, but as he concluded in his book, Ecology of Freedom, so we could learn from those cultures and elevate human freedom. With this background, Bookchin moved toward 3) philosophy in His book, Philosophy of Social Ecology, looking at the birth of consciousness through evolution, social evolution, and the differentiation of first nature, meaning the natural world, and second nature, human societies. Murray saw Social Ecology as having the potential to lead to a free nature, one that transcends those divisions, and saw natural evolution as moving towards abundance and increasing complexity. These deep reflections led to 4) a political strategy that came to be known as communalism, which was inspired by the Paris Commune of the French Revolution, that sought to reclaim decisions that affect our lives through decentralization, direct democracy, and confederalism, of free cities and towns working together. Brian concluded his overview with 5) a Long Range Vision, which is about restoring human harmony with the natural world and involves practical utopianism through experiments in permaculture, greening of buildings and cities, and renewable energy. Some of these took place at the original home of ISE at Cate Farm in Plainfield, VT.  After this overview, Brian moved into discussing movements that have been inspired by social ecology. The first such movement, emerging in the 1960s, was the anti-nuclear movement, which embraced the politics of direct democracy to oppose the development of nuclear energy.  The 1990s saw attempts from left-wing environmental groups to shut down Wall Street, followed by protests in Seattle against the World Trade Organization, and then protests against the International Monetary Fund, or IMF.  The turn of the century, in the early 2000s, saw the development of the anti-GMO movement. In Vermont, 85 towns passed resolutions against GMOs, and in 2010, the Legislature passed a GMO labeling law.  The 2010s saw the Occupy Wall Street movement, which demonstrated popular assembly.  At the end of the presentation, some attendees had questions. The first question was about communities out there that have successfully utilized the principles of social ecology. Brian pointed to the book Practicing Social Ecology by Eleanor Finley, which explores Kurdish regions of southern Turkey, Barcelona, and the permaculture movement of Western Massachusetts. Then, even here in Vermont, there are many groups working towards a Better future.
In the second question, I asked about the current thinking around opposition to nuclear energy. The opposition, Brian said, has to do with energy sovereignty and community choice over energy sources, cost, safety, and claims from the nuclear industry that have yet to be realized. Another question was about how social ecology would respond to this era of mistrust in science. Brian pointed to the anti-intellectualism pervasive in American society and understanding who is spreading misinformation and why. A final question explored economic alternatives, like Cooperation Jackson and Cooperation Vermont. Comments are closed.
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