(en) France, Alternative Libertaire 12th Congress AL
(Castillon-du-Gard, 2015) - Political and strategic foundations for a
libertarian communist approach to ecology (fr, it, pt) [machine
translation]
"Ecological problems have a social origin and can only be solved by addressing this
origin: the capitalist mode of production and high productivity in general. Private
ownership of the means of production, commercialization of social life, educational
choices, exclusively scientific view of medicine, exploitation and domination mechanisms,
artificial creation of needs... " ---- Summary ---- Develop our environmental positions
---- Analysis of other environmental movements ---- Strategy Alternative Libertaire ----
Develop our environmental positions ---- Recognizing the ecological crisis being ---- We
must, in our vocabulary and our analyzes, considering that we are already back in a major
ecological crisis. We must talk about climate change in the present, because the average
temperature has already warmed 0.8° C since 1880, and that the temperature records keep on
coming. Similarly, water pollution, soil destruction by chemical agriculture and
urbanization, deforestation, depletion of multiple resources (metals, hydrocarbons...),
strong reduction in biodiversity (extinction of many species vegetable and animal), etc.,
already have significant consequences. We are therefore not on the brink of an ecological
crisis, but in an ecological crisis.
Despite this bleak panorama, it seems premature to talk of collapse as is already done in
some reference to other civilizations that disappeared abruptly. First, the social and
political order is not yet overwhelmed by the ecological crisis, and a majority of people,
at least in Western countries, can still live without suffering the effects of this
crisis. Moreover, capitalism has already demonstrated its great power of adaptation, it
could very well survive the upheaval looming see écofascisant mutate into authoritarian rule.
It is nevertheless clear that the Western way of life will have to change profoundly.
Because our societies are based on the resources most of which are being phased, or the
cost (financial and environmental) extraction and use is such that it is better to do
without. Without these resources, it's goodbye to the general electronics, the car, the
over-equipped kitchens, traveling round the world for a weekend, etc.
That the capitalist system lasts or not, deep social transformations are to be expected in
the course of this century.
Do not put hope in technology solutions (the recurring "they find something good"). All
current proposed solutions (including renewables like wind and photovoltaic large) are
intensive energy and scarce resources, and does not represent a long term solution. We
must expect a decrease, whether desired or suffered, joyful and violent: produce fewer
goods and property cleared of planned obsolescence, abandoning many economic sectors,
reducing travel and car use, use less energy and resources, reduce waste and reuse or
recycle, relocate production and consumption, favoring local resources, etc.
Some positions for Alternative Libertaire
Many authors have reconciled libertarian and ecological thinking for a long time. HD
Thoreau (civil disobedience, voluntary simplicity), Reclus and Kropotkin (first consistent
links between anarchism and ecology), Ellul, Charbonneau, Illich, Gorz, Bookchin... And
more recently, Jean-Pierre Tertrais, the FA activist and pioneer of the decrease in the
anarchist movement. Without agreeing with everything that was said by these authors, we
can make our own some ideas to propose an approach to ecology that matches the rest of our
political thinking, social, economic, cultural.
Ecological problems have a social origin and can only be solved by addressing this origin:
the capitalist mode of production and high productivity in general. Private ownership of
the means of production, commercialization of social life, educational choices,
exclusively scientific view of medicine, exploitation and domination mechanisms,
artificial creation of needs...
As Marx showed, the reproduction of capital can only be an extended reproduction; which
means that in capitalism, social production and consumption are bound to recur on a scale
ever increasing (see the ordinary fetish "growth"), and combines unbridled consumerism and
productivism pest, the first reducing nature at a deemed endless reservoir of raw
materials and energy, the second treating it as a deemed bottomless dump, without any
consideration of its physical limits in both cases.
In addition, due to the private ownership of the social means of production and means of
consumption of personal, social production and consumption are reduced to a myriad of
activities separated from each other, uncoordinated them a priori and only regulated
retrospectively by the market, including the overall result is blind and involuntary, in
unpredictable and uncontrollable in its final ecological effects as well as proper
socio-economic; thus depriving the company of any control of its interaction with nature.
The libertarian approach to ecology is comprehensive and analyzes all these social
mechanisms that create the conditions of domination and destruction of nature and its
people by a minority of people.
This global analysis avoids many pitfalls (environmentalism, sustainable development,
etc.) and in particular to differentiate responsibilities. Workers, indigenous peoples,
and (neo-) colonized were not much of the responsibility for the ecological crisis that
capitalists and their politician-friend-es-s not who control the means of production and
social choices. The ecological crisis is due to human activities, but is not the fact of
humanity.
Many researchers and activists believe that since the Industrial Revolution of the late
eighteenth century, we have entered a new geological epoch, the Anthropocene,
characterized by the predominant influence of mankind on the Earth system. However, again,
consider the human species as a whole impossible to discern the true responsibilities.
For a new relationship between people and with nature and animals
To live in harmony with nature and animals and our fellowmen, a change of value system is
needed. Reclus and Kropotkin insisted much on this point, in a context of rising strength
of social Darwinism. We must move from a logic of competition and exploitation (men,
nature, animals) to a logic of complementarity and cooperation, in which man thinks more
as separate from nature, but as an integral part thereof.
Many thinkers, anthropologists, linguists refer to the first people to recognize the
possibility of such a change of logic (without falling in the mystic delusions
environmentalists who invent a new religious spirituality). For many communities and
peoples exist or have existed, with egalitarian values, horizontal, cooperative and
integrated with nature, in thought patterns that have nothing to do with ours
(relationship to time and nature in particular). While being able to learn from their
example in these reports, the libertarian communist society we are trying to give birth by
our struggles would not, however, intended to imitate these companies including many other
features (patriarchy, clannishness and tribalism, magical thinking -religieuse, etc.) need
to be abolished.
The production and trade should be in a logic of social utility, not profit. It is
essential to make a collective reflection on the needs, taking into account environmental
constraints. This is socialization a priori collectively defines, in advance, what you
want to happen. It produces only what is good for everyone, generating productions
inequality is eliminated (especially luxury goods), excessive pollution, etc.
On the contrary, capitalism is characterized by socialization post production: the
capitalists decide only goods and services that will be produced and they do socialize
(become social use values) that becoming commodity by the exchange on the market. The
production is then used mainly to enrich the capitalists.
Moving from a socialization retrospectively to prior socialization of production allows to
initiate antiproductiviste and decreasing dynamic, pondering before producing the needs
and consequences of productions.
Technical progress is not bad in itself, everything depends on the social logic (of social
relations) that materializes and which serves as a support. Today, technological progress
feeds the productivism (and vice versa) and the hierarchical organization of society. Gorz
has dug much about it, to show the interactions between "tools" and power, that is to say,
the technical choices determine how social structures and legitimize certain forms of
power and, conversely, how these choices result from these structures and shapes. The most
obvious example is nuclear power, which by its characteristics requires a centralized
political structure, technocratic and militarized.
But the technical progress could also be oriented towards the satisfaction of social needs
of everyone, towards the reduction of working time and relief from the arduous task. It
does not return to any artisan handmade, but to collectively reflect on the types of
tools, machines, industries we want and can create and maintain with the resources available.
We can identify some tracks for the establishment of a "convivial" technique (Illich),
which is increasingly now called "low tech" (low or soft technology) as opposed to "high
tech": collective ownership of technical (end of Patents) for local control and ease of
ownership by users, enhancing local autonomy, with the use of resources and the production
of products adapted to the natural and social conditions; reflection comprehensive
life-cycle of a product before manufacturing: saving design resources and energy, durable
and easy to repair, simple enough to then be recycled; promote collective uses of products
(appliances, tools, electronic equipment, transportation, housing...), collective and
democratic decision making for research and development, with a focus going towards
resource conservation and regeneration of ecosystems.
Out of wage labor and develop a new relationship to production activities.
The work is often a constraint for wage earners (no control schedules, the organization of
work, the goal of production, etc.), unfortunately needed to live. Fighting for the
abolition of wage labor through social ownership of means of production, the subordination
of production to social needs through its cooperative organization and self-management of
production units by worker-se- s, it is to give back to everyone the opportunity to access
a fulfilling activities or socially useful, and controlled by those who practice them.
The socially necessary labor time could be drastically reduced (15 to 20 hours weekly
according to J. Baschet in Farewell to Capitalism, according to 7am Bizi Association in
its brochure work one hour a day) by adapting production techniques and to a logic
decreasing and libertarian communist. The clear skies allow everyone to engage in the
political, social, cultural, and devote himself to self-production (food, clothing,
furniture, housing, etc., according to the tastes and skills).
Analysis of other environmental movements
There are many currents and movements in political ecology. It is impossible here to
analyze all. The focus is therefore on two movements share some ideas and methods with
Alternative Libertaire, ecosocialism and decay, to clarify what differentiates us from
them, and on the extreme right, who is trying more and more be placed on the field of ecology.
Ecosocialism
Ecosocialism is initially an attempt to redraw Marx in the light of the ecological
constraint. The latter creates a new contradiction within capitalism between productive
forces and production conditions (resources and ecosystems). It is also a process of
re-exploration of aspects of Marx's thought, nuancing the image commonly held an
unconditional defender of productivism and the domination of man over nature.
At the crossroads of political ecology and socialism, ecosocialism is a current of thought
that has the merit of breaking with the Promethean tendency of old currents of the
progressive left. However, since the concept has spread within the left, the NPA at PG and
even more broadly, gathered under the banner of ecosocialism multiple approaches and even
antagonistic.
Some approaches reflect a form of sustainable development largely inconsequential (PG).
Others feel that an outflow of capitalism would be sufficient and mechanically result in
an output of productivism (Together NPA). Finally, some develop a fairly accurate analysis
including anti-capitalism, antiproductivisme and self-limiting (the most advanced currents
of the NPA and Ensemble). However, the limit of these currents is also at the level of
conception of "socialism" a point of view of both economic and political.
The debate between environmentalists and libertarian ecosocialists far beyond the question
of ecology, we shall confine ourselves here to the axis of self-management, more
importantly for us the more specific question of ecology. For the PG, PCF, and the Party
of the European Left, The State Republican is presented as an emancipatory framework and
an unsurpassable absolute. Self-management, when considered (NPA Ensemble), does not
constitute the basis of a transition mode of the social movement through the construction
of an autonomous society-cons to replace the state.
If the logic of relocation seems to suggest a self-managed federalism, the larger-scale
coordination requirements lead to the state centralism. This poses at least two problems.
In the distant perspective of a hand, it follows from the centralist planning logic. On
the other hand, the planning logic, which is to be "more democratic" is often part of an
expert logic, involving the implicit maintenance of technical hierarchies, bureaucratic,
political, and socio-economic consequence.
This logic is not surprising that ecosocialism appears to be the new face of the heirs of
social democracy and Trotskyism. Ecosocialism part watchwords serving a recomposition of
the electoral left red and green, new popular fronts and new state socialism. Hardly some
minority activists of these organizations who demonstrate a willingness to push through
the issues of ecology and decline in their respective organizations. However, they fail to
make their parties settle a priori between the reformist and revolutionary approaches.
Decay and growth objection
Such as ecology, degrowth is not a complete ideological corpus, but nebula appears as a
unified around the critique of a specific dimension of contemporary societies. It starts
first with a goal in mind, certainly the most advanced and the most consistent at the
level of unsustainability and destruction caused by the model of techno-industrial
production, its ties with the dynamics of unlimited material growth ( intensive and
extensive). Through this criticism, it develops a second criticism, socio-cultural nature
radically questioning a model of civilization.
The two main organizations claiming to decline, as are the "Party For Decay" and "Movement
of growth objectors", make the connection between critique of industrial society and
economic growth, then positioning of a point anticapitalist or anti-liberal views. For
them, the decay is not synonymous with economic recession, but rather involves the release
of the social model governed by economic and social rehabilitation of reporting. In
addition, both organizations seem to come out of the sufficiency of "voluntary simplicity"
highlighting a collective dimension and a social project.
The OMC is an organization that demonstrates a dynamic interesting theoretical
assimilation, based on theories of the radical left, self-managed, libertarian and
neo-Zapatista. However, both organizations seem to oppose concrete alternatives to social
struggles and favor a strategy factories desertion and the abandonment of the class
struggle that can lead to it. The union struggles based wage are denigrated as encouraging
forms of productivism.
These movements do not reject provided egalitarian aspirations and struggle of class 3,
but they develop a conception can lead to some form of citizenism. Finally, the official
strategy of growth objectors for elections is not without cause some contradictions.
If the JI seem advance in a consistent direction with the U positions regarding the social
question and that of self-management, it seems that the themes of appropriation attempts
to self-management and libertarian left testify to the failure the only decline as a
political project. The future of the decrease in politics seems to be one hand in a
certain hegemony, and on the other hand, in a burst and a recomposition around or within,
social movements and political organizations capable of incorporate into their projects.
Most of the findings is shared effect by movements to political conceptions, and therefore
the solutions, very diverse: libertarians, some autonomous, deep ecologists, survivalists,
primitivists, some post-Marxists, social democrats ouantilibéraux, of current extreme
right, apolitical alternativistes (the latter can move at first sight toward social
democracy, the right or the far right). The issue of degrowth thus consists in the
creation of a libertarian communist pole. The decreasing share with anarchism in fact made
the individualistic version is that his most publicized its class struggle and communist
version because the first is not revolutionary and is therefore less dangerous to the
established order.
Extreme right
Regarding the ecological question and decay, the far right is a nebula. There are many
supporters of radical ecology (eg, the "Social Action Movement") and a decreasing current,
particularly worn by Alain De Benoist and fundamentalist religious movements. But the
decline did not unanimous within the extreme right. It is also steeped in Holocaust
deniers and other climate skeptics whose first Jean-Marie Le Pen, and supporters of
sustainable development. The FN 2012 draft and content of collective "New Ecology", for
example, fall into this second sense, which does not challenge capitalism and productivism.
Marine Le Pen's strategy is to capture the largest electorate possible, the FN logically
tends to stall more about the ecological moderate positions than those of EELV, more
radical, the PPLD and OMC. It can not ignore the environmental issue, as this subject has
become unavoidable. Ultimately, it is necessary to remember that the main objective of the
far right remains the conquest of power, the establishment of a strong state, a
reactionary order (moral and "natural"), development nationalism, cultural and ethnic
identity. For this, it uses a pseudo-Gramscian cultural hegemony strategy that allows him
to earn his fundamental ideas of people with very diverse opinions elsewhere.
U must help develop an anti-fascist political consciousness in the struggles and militant
ecologists networks because it is low enough so that some brown or identity red groups
noyautent more struggles like focus against shale gas or local groups 'Alternatiba.
Furthermore vigilance and anti-fascist mobilization are all the more necessary that the
extreme right are used as auxiliaries to the government in its crackdown dirty work; this
is particularly the case in Sivens (Tarn) and Roybons (Isère).
Strategy Alternative Libertaire
If the positions of the various currents of ecology and our demands for a sustainable
world are detailed here is to allow to consider a long-term strategy in the
reconfiguration of political ecology, while advancing slopes that are at the height of the
emergency.
At the policy level organizations: structuring of a front or a network of radical ecology
therefore
It appears that the environmentalists proposals, if they are already part of the
manifestos of the main political parties, will generate more debate or opportunities to
seduce the electorate (see FN which seeks to move the lines on the basis of
pseudo-environmentalists claims). Since part of the extreme left advocates a seamless
ecology, since we want to help ensure that the environmental sensitivity diffuse in
society (re) becomes a sensitivity class, and since there are countless initiatives
"citizen" and alternative (AMAP, cooperatives, groups for the transition, etc.) some of
which have no political compass, we believe it is a challenge to strengthen the pole - or
nebula - of radical political ecology that exists and is currently looking, and to know
and express themselves.
We have already grasped this work with Social Climate, and willingness to confront the
radical currents (Ecosocialist, decreasing autonomous), to act together in diversity, has
been very well received by various circles. Some collectives are in fact looking for
political opportunities that are not an electoral comedy but a real protest movement of
pro-capitalist and authoritarian powers, on the basis of ecology. But there are many
organized political partners who argue that consistency between struggles, the link
between good social and project - or company - ecologist.
We will work with other current defending the following basis: break with capitalism, its
productivism, its market regulation and the lifestyles they imply, fight against state
authoritarianism and for the development of self-managing democracy.
The idea is similar to what drives the strategy of anticapitalist fronts, in a context of
fragmentation of movements and struggles. The main common is the desire to build, together
with other components, a movement able to exist the claims of radical ecology without
instrumentalize them or betray them, as do institutional extreme left or the extreme right.
As for the libertarian, an effort should be made to approach the groups claiming to
radical ecology and having worked on these issues at the federal level or in their local
groups: No Pasaran, decreasing the FA, CGA, OCL. This reconciliation must also be done
with libertarian organizations internationally, because the transversal struggles, and the
possibility of international convergences remain an essential dimension of the
environmentalist movement, despite the collapse of the global justice movement.
For this, it is important to strengthen the articulation of the SI ecology with one hand
CALs who campaign on environmental issues, and also with the international commission.
Since the outbreak of anti-globalization, the landscape of struggles has accustomed us-es
the existence of autonomous movements with high environmental component: No Tav groups,
anti-nuclear group, zadistes from all backgrounds. He is not here to unravel the diversity
and complexity of these movements, but just to point out their most interesting aspects:
denunciation of the authoritarian power (when it is not sacrificially) attempted
organization of a against-policy model for the long term (some groups are given the means
for a real media and economic autonomy), and finally effective modes of action especially
by the occupation.
The participation of political organizations as such to these movements remains a cleavage
point and not really open a debate between these autonomous and organized libertarians.
But some circles show an encouraging self-critical attitude towards the religion of
non-organization. This leads us to consider, always locally, some autonomous groups as
forces with which to work because they take initiatives where we do not. If necessary we
will do without divest our policy requirements, modes of action and relevant organization.
By cons we know already that it will not immediately work compatible with building
political fronts that we have described above.
Our political expression and our mobilization against the Treaty Transatlantic European
Union and North America (TAFTA) are not living up to what they should be. Similarly, a
movement like Blockupy which aims to unite the challenge brought against the austerity
policies in Europe interlinks only very weakly with his fight, nonetheless vital question.
While we are in the final phase of negotiations and that the States Parties addictive of
this project are determined to adopt various free trade treaties concerned, AL who spoke
publicly against these texts must be the fight against these agreements a priority.
The world of work and organizations
The productive system (and surproductif) today does not allow the necessary environmental
disruption. This is the world of work that should rethink this perspective, and this is
where it is most difficult because we do not have the balance of power nor control the
means of production.
An important work to do - and this is something we can wear with ecosocialists much more
critical than diminishing - would carry the environmentalist discourse on the workplace
and in the unions. With a two-pronged strategy: popularize environmental concerns through
mass organizations, and insist on radical proposals where organizations have already taken
this course: the peasant confederation Solidaires and some federations.
It is essential to address now the joints between environmental problems and employment
issues (since the right already accused the anti Grands Projects struggles undermine
employment, and that is a major source of " softness "of the extreme left), and it must be
done in the political field as a union. To this we must develop an intervention strategy,
in connection with the SI Enterprises.
For example, the suggestion was made to create an equivalent of "Visa" for ecology, but
this possibility has not yet been excavated. Work must be initiated between ecology and
the SI business sector, first to learn about the current state of awareness and promotion
of ecological thinking among fellow trade unionists. Training could then be proposed on
the relationship between ecology and employment, to the Enterprise branch and all the
militants involved in the world of work. Through this process, we will be able to
collectively define strategic areas of intervention more refined in ecology for the
different sectors.
In conclusion, we can summarize the strategic lines of action proposed for U:
act in a unitary manner with close movements of our class bases, anti-capitalist,
self-management, within ecological mobilizations;
strengthen our links and practical coordination with the libertarian organizations
developing lucid environmentalists positions;
intervene jointly with the autonomous groups whose modes of action are compatible with ours;
contribute to the development and strengthening of trade union activity on ecological issues.
The implementation of this strategy is important, both for the movement itself and for our
organization. Many CALs are involved in radical ecological mobilizations; others, by their
union presence, are able to put these issues on the agenda in their respective unions.
These two combined approaches could bring us new members, which would allow G to
strengthen its appeal and its ability to weigh in ecological struggles.
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