Cadre model
This week, we are joined with Mason Herson-Horvath from the Institute for Social Ecology, an independent institution of higher education dedicated to the study of social ecology, an interdisciplinary field drawing on philosophy, political and social theory, anthropology, history, economics, the natural sciences, and feminism. The ISE has offered intensive summer programs, a year-round B.A. degree program, workshops on issues such as biotechnology and global justice, fall and winter lecture series, internship opportunities, an expanding catalog of online courses, and a speakers bureau. In addition, the ISE is involved in research as well as publishing and activist projects.
As an educational and activist organization, the ISE is committed to the social and ecological transformation of society. Established in 1974 by Murray Bookchin and Dan Chodorkoff, it is the ISE’s core belief that the human potential to play a creative role in natural and social evolution can be realized, thereby allowing us to foster communities free from hierarchy, social inequity, and ecological degradation. The ISE views the global penetration of systems of domination into daily life, the centralization of political and economic power, the homogenization of culture, and the strengthening of hierarchy and social control as impediments to human freedom and the root causes of the current ecological crisis. The ISE has been a pioneer in the exploration of alternative technologies and ecological means of food production, like organic gardening and permaculture. Studies at the ISE have combined theoretical and experiential learning in community organizing, political action, ecological economics, and sustainable building and land use. Over its history, the ISE has strived to be an agent of social transformation, demonstrating the skills, ideas, and relationships that can nurture vibrant, self-governed, ecological communities.
Mason Herson-Horvath is the program director of the Institute for Social Ecology. He is an organizer, writer, communal gardener, and neighborhood democracy militant. His other work (previously under the name Mason Herson-Hord) has been published in ROAR Magazine, the Next System Project, In These Times, The Ecologist, Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, Socialist Forum, and Harbinger: A Journal of Social Ecology. He is currently finishing a book on Marxism and direct democracy, and building a commune in Bellingham, WA.
Time Stamps:
(0:00) Intro
(3:30) What is the Institute for Social Ecology?
(10:42) Neoliberalism and Academia Challenges
(14:44) ISE’s Growth Amid Global Movements
(18:38) Building Community: Summer Intensive program, Mentorship programs, community organizing training, and more.
(24:08) Being at the intersection between actual movement activity and reflection upon that activity
(27:40) The Cadre Model: A collective study of where we are and live, and moving together with theoretical and tactical unity
(33:12) Writing as a practice to clarify your own thinking and ideas in motion.
(36:47) The future of learning spaces
(45:13) The centrality of philosophical questions to the work at the ISE: What kind of society ought we to have? What ought the relationship be between human beings and the rest of the living world?
(47:18) Outro
Show Notes and Credits:
In this episode, we reference the following thinkers, organizations, and resources:
Summer Intensive Program at the ISE
The Neighbor Union Organizing Cohort
Murray Bookchin
CEDESI, aligned with the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico - a self-sustaining university for all manner of concrete, practical skills
Ferrer movement: anarchist pedagogy
Uruguayan Anarchist Federation
Anarchist Popular Power: Dissident Labor and Armed Struggle in Uruguay, 1956-76 by Troy Andreas Araiza Kokinis
Support the Institute for Social Ecology:
Learn more and support the ISE here: https://social-ecology.org/wp/
Music:
Huge thank you to Devon Church for making music available from his album All That’s Solid Melts Into Air. Check out more of his music here.
