Everything about Social Ecology totally explained
Social ecology developed by
Elisee Reclus and revived by
Murray Bookchin in the 1960's.
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 can't be resisted by individual action such as
ethical consumerism 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.
Social ecology is, in the words of its leading exponents, "a coherent profound critique of current social, political, and anti-ecological trends" as well as "a reconstructive, ecological, communitarian, and ethical approach to society".
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 can't 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-anarchist thread within
anarchism. Social ecology is associated with the ideas and works of
Murray Bookchin, who had written on such matters from the
1950s until his death, and, from the
1960s, had combined these issues with revolutionary
social anarchism. 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 crisis firmly in relations of
domination between people. The domination of
nature is seen as a product of domination within
society, but this domination only reaches crisis proportions under
capitalism. In the words of
Murray Bookchin:
» "The notion that man must dominate nature emerges directly from the domination of man by man… But it wasn't until organic
community relations… dissolved into
market relationships that the planet itself was reduced to a resource for
exploitation. 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 socialism and positioned its politics firmly in the framework of
communalism.
Contrasting views
Further Information
Get more info on 'Social Ecology'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://social_ecology.totallyexplained.com">Social ecology Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
