France, Alternative Libertaire AL #233 - The anti capitalist Dico: What "social ecology"? (fr, pt)

Social ecology is a libertarian current political ecology developed mainly by American 
Murray Bookchin (1921-2006) from 1960, but numbers of ideas are inspired or shared by 
authors such as Reclus, Kropotkin, or closest to us, Andr? Gorz. ---- Currents as decay or 
ecosocialism (more Marxist origin) also share a good part of the analysis but are less 
libertarian in their solutions. The central idea in the social ecology is that ecological 
problems have a social origin, and that it will only be addressing the origin we find 
solutions. Modes of production and decision-making are thus instrumental in the impact 
that human activities have on nature. Capitalism carries in its genes effect the 
destruction of nature, it is based on infinite growth and short-term logic, while natural 
resources are finite and ecological long-term challenges. This approach allows to 
differentiate the responsibilities facing the ecological crisis managers are the 
capitalists and their friends are politicians, while Workers are not involved in the 
choice of destructive production environment. But productivist system, as could also be 
the Soviet Union, is the same anti-ecological.

Social ecology conceives solution to the ecological crisis in a libertarian revolution. 
First with a profound change in our value systems, to move from a logic of competition and 
exploitation (men, nature) to a logic of cooperation and complementarity. In terms of 
modes of production and decision-making, it means the socialization of the means of 
production and the political and economic decentralization to municipalities and 
self-managed productive entities that federate freely. The goal of production and trade 
becomes the satisfaction of social needs and the protection of ecological balance, not 
profit. To reduce the environmental impact, the products must be designed to be durable, 
repairable and easily recyclable. The technical choices must be taken collectively by 
criteria guaranteeing securities and previous proposals. The reduction and reorganization 
of production reduce working time and focus on sports artistic, cultural, political, 
scientific ...

Jocelyn