Social ecology: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article

All Topics

Social ecology

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

	Social ecology
	Home Discussion
	Topics Social ecology Topic Home Social ecology developed by Elisee ReclusÉlisée Reclus lise Reclus was a French geographer and anarchist.... and revived by Murray BookchinMurray Bookchin Murray Bookchin was an American libertarian socialist speaker and writer, and founder of the "Social Ecology" school of libe... in the 1960s. It holds that present ecological problems are rooted in deep-seated social problems, particularly in dominatory hierarchical political and social systems. These have resulted in an uncritical acceptance of an overly competitive grow-or-die philosophy. It suggests that this cannot be resisted by individual action such as ethical consumerismEthical consumerism Ethical consumerism is buying things that are made ethically.... but must be addressed by more nuanced ethical thinking and collective activity grounded in radical democratic ideals. The complexity of relationships between people and with nature is emphasised, along with the importance of establishing social structures that take account of this. Background What literally defines social ecology as "social" is its recognition of the often overlooked fact that nearly all our present ecological problems arise from deep-seated social problems. Conversely, present ecological problems cannot be clearly understood, much less resolved, without resolutely dealing with problems within society. To make this point more concrete: economic, ethnic, cultural, and gender conflicts, among many others, lie at the core of the most serious ecological dislocations we face today—apart, to be sure, from those that are produced by natural catastrophes. Undoubtedly social ecology is one of the most influential currents in the eco-anarchistEco-anarchism Summary Eco-anarchism argues that small eco-villages are a scale of human living preferable to civilization, and that infrastructure... thread within anarchismAnarchism Anarchism is the name of a political philosophy or a group of doctrines and attitudes that are centered on rejection of gove... . Social ecology is associated with the ideas and works of Murray BookchinMurray Bookchin Murray Bookchin was an American libertarian socialist speaker and writer, and founder of the "Social Ecology" school of libe... , who had written on such matters from the 1950s until his death, and, from the 1960s, had combined these issues with revolutionary social anarchismSocial anarchism Social anarchism is a term used to differentiate two broad categories of anarchism, with the other being individualist anarc... . His works include Post-Scarcity Anarchism, Toward an Ecological Society, The Ecology of Freedom, and a host of others. Social ecology locates the roots of the ecological crisisEcological crisis An ecological crisis occurs when the environment of a species or a population changes in a way that destabilizes its continu... firmly in relations of dominationDomination Domination may refer to various things:... between people. The domination of natureNature Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, 'physical universe, 'material world or ... is seen as a product of domination within societySociety A society is a grouping of individuals, which is characterised by common interest and may have distinctive culture and inst... , but this domination only reaches crisis proportions under capitalismCapitalism Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are owned mostly privately, and capital is invested in t... . In the words of Murray BookchinMurray Bookchin Murray Bookchin was an American libertarian socialist speaker and writer, and founder of the "Social Ecology" school of libe... : "The notion that man must dominate nature emerges directly from the domination of man by man… But it was not until organic communityCommunity A community usually refers to a group of people who interact and share certain things as a group, but it can refer to variou... relations… dissolved into marketMarket Overview A market is, as defined in economics, a social arrangement that allows buyers and sellers to discover information and carry ... relationships that the planet itself was reduced to a resource for exploitationExploitation The term "exploitation" may carry two distinct meanings:... . This centuries-long tendency finds its most exacerbating development in modern capitalism. Owing to its inherently competitive nature, bourgeois society not only pits humans against each other, it also pits the mass of humanity against the natural world. Just as men are converted into commodities, so every aspect of nature is converted into a commodity, a resource to be manufactured and merchandised wantonly." (Post Scarcity Anarchism, p. 85) "The plundering of the human spirit by the market place is paralleled by the plundering of the earth by capital." (Ibid., p. 86) Beginning in 1995, Murray Bookchin became increasingly critical of anarchism, and in 1999 he took a decisive stand against anarchist ideology. Instead Bookchin came to recognize social ecology as a genuinely new form of libertarian socialismLibertarian socialism Libertarian socialism includes a group of political philosophies that aims to create a society without political, economic o... and positioned its politics firmly in the framework of communalismCommunalism In most of the world, communalism is a modern term that describes a broad range of social movements and social theories whic... . Contrasting views Deep EcologyDeep ecology Deep ecology is a recent branch of ecological philosophy that considers mankind as an integral part of his environment.... Eco-socialismEco-socialism Eco-socialism or Green socialism is an ideology fusing Green movement values with socialism.... Inclusive DemocracyInclusive Democracy Inclusive Democracy is a political project developed by Takis Fotopoulos.... Green syndicalismGreen syndicalism Green syndicalism has been used as a name for the philosophy of the green guild or sustainable trades movement.... EcofeminismEcofeminism Summary Ecofeminism is a social and political movement which unites environmentalism and feminism, with some currents linking deep e... Gaia philosophyGaia philosophy Gaia philosophy is a broadly inclusive term for related concepts that living organisms on a planet will affect the nature o... GreensGreen movement Overview The Green movement encompasses the Green parties of various countries, and relies on the ideals of the larger ecology moveme... Anarcho-primitivismAnarcho-primitivism Anarcho-primitivism is an anarchist critique of the origins and progress of civilization.... Further reading Bookchin, Murray: The Ecology of Freedom: The Emergence and Dissolution of Hierarchy (Oakland, CA: AK Press, 2005). Bookchin, Murray: Post Scarcity Anarchism (Montreal and New York: Black Rose Books, 1986) by Janet Biehl See also Institute for Social EcologyInstitute for Social Ecology The Institute for Social Ecology is an educational institution in the United States offering courses related to social ecolo... Janet BiehlJanet Biehl Janet Biehl is one of the premier authors on social ecology.... Peter KropotkinPeter Kropotkin Prince Peter Alexeyevich Kropotkin was one of Russia's foremost anarchists and one of the first advocates of what he call... External links English study/action group exploring the philosophy of social ecology.