International Journal of Research in Economics and Social Sciences(IJRESS) Available online at: http://euroasiapub.org Vol. 9 Issue 2, February - 2019 ISSN(o): 2249-7382 | Impact Factor: 6.939 |

GREEN POLITICAL THEORY AND ENVIRONMENT : ITS FEATURES

– Komal Singh Chauhan PhD Scholar Department of Political Science Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra

Green Political theory or is one the most recent theories of International Relations. However, more than a theory, it is more like a perspective on the environment. It is a political ideology that aims to create an ecologically sustainable society rooted in , , social justice and , and also focuses on wide range of issues such as the relationship between the human and non human worlds, the concept of good life, and some contemporary issues such as the economic and political impact of climate change, resource depletion, overconsumption, resource competition and conflicts. It believes that nature is an interconnected whole which embraces humans and non-humans as well as the inanimate world. There are variety of terms which are used for Green political theory, ranging from „environmentalism‟ to „ecologism‟, from „green politics‟ to „environmental political theory.‟ Andrew Dobson distinguishes ecologism from „environmentalism‟, and states that “the latter is easily assimilable by other ideologies, for example, socialist environmentalism, whereas the former is not” (Dobson, 2009, p. 329). He also differentiates between Green politics and environmentalism as he believes that “environmentalists accept the framework of the existing economic, political, social and normative structures of world politics,” and “seek to ameliorate environmental problems within those structures, while Green supporters regard those structures as the main origin of the environmental crisis” and therefore these structures should be challenged (Paterson, 2005, p. 236). Sherilyn MacGregor divides green political theory into three types – “mainstream non-feminist green political theory, mainstream non-green feminist political thought;” and their “hybrid, called ecological feminist theory, which emerged in the 1980s in response to the shortcomings of each” (MacGregor, 2009, p. 329).

In addition to democracy and ecological issues, green politics is concerned with “civil liberties, social justice, nonviolence and sometimes, variants of ”, and the term Green was used

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politically for the first time in relation to “die Grünen,” a formed in the late 1970s, which is a German word for "the " (Wall, 2010, p. 12).

The origin of goes a long way which includes the incidents including the rise of negative reactions against the Industrial Revolution, especially by the working class and peasant hostility to capitalism, factory production system and the mechanisation, etc. the rising concern for the „ecological crisis‟ in the 1960s, organizing of various UN conferences and conventions on environment, establishment of Green parties in many countries around the globe and the emergence of issues like global warming which led to the rise of the concept of “global environmental problems” in the 1980s and 1990s, and rise of climate change and oil crisis in the early part of this century.

Features of Green political theory

There are number of features of Green political theory :

1. – Ecocentrism forms an important feature of green political theory. Ecocentrism as an approach prefers nature over humans. It considers humans as part of nature and is nature centric. According to Robyn Eckersley, “ecocentrism, an anti anthropocentric approach which prefers ecosystems and all living beings over humans is the main feature of green political theory.” (Eckersley, 1992, p. 33). The interplay between two key ideas of ecocentrism and anthropocentrism, is another central concept in green political theory. A central tenet of Green thought is the rejection of anthropocentrism in favour of ecocentrism. For Eckersley, ecocentrism has number of features. Mainly, it views the world as “ontologically composed of inter-relations rather than individual entities” (Eckersley, 1992, p. 49). He lays down four features of ecocentrism which differentiate it from other approaches. First feature is the importance which it gives to the interests of the non-human community. Secondly, it recognises “human interests in the non-human world, as opposed simply to narrow economic interests in resource use” (Eckersley, p. 46). Thirdly, it recognises the interests of future generations of humans and non-humans. Finally it adopts a “holistic rather than atomistic approach whereby it values ecosystems,

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populations, species, and the ecosphere as a whole, as well as organisms individually” (Eckersley, 1992, p. 46). 2. Anti development – Green political theory, being an ecocentric approach believes that development is a cause of deterioration of environment, so they reject the concept of development altogether. Dobson adds the „limits to growth‟ argument about the nature of the environmental crisis. The world has reached the limits of growth and further increase or growth in development would only worsen nature and humankind ( Ari, 2019, p. 167). Greens believe that the main cause of the current environmental crisis is the exponential economic growth experienced during the last two centuries. 3. Decentralisation – Matthew Paterson adds another feature to green political theory, i.e. “decentralisation” (Paterson, 2005, 237). Timothy O‟Riordan puts forward the argument that the nation-state is unable to deal with the issue of sustainability as it is either too big or too small, so decentralisation is needed (O‟ Riordan, 1981, p. 304). Green theorists like Spretnak , Capra and Bookchin also support decentralization and oppose the concept of state, consider it the “part of the modern society which is responsible for causing the present environmental crisis” ( as quoted in Carter, 1993, p. 35). Murray Bookchin calls the state as an “ultimate hierarchical institution” which consolidates “other hierarchical institutions” (Bookchin, 1980, p. 80). 4. Anti capitalism - Green political theory opposes capitalism, as it puts no limit on development. Its emphasis on unrestrained economic growth has only damaged the environment. Green supporters consider such growth as "uneconomic growth" because in their opinion, it is like a material increase that lowers overall quality of life. 5. Grassroots democracy - Green theory supports grassroots democracy, which involves direct participation of the citizens and is based upon consensus decision making and the principle of "thinking globally, acting locally". It also supports action at the individual level, like saving electricity and buying eco friendly goods. Many green parties like Green League from Finland and German Greens emphasize that government should not levy taxes on local production and trade. Greens in the

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US support an end to the War on Drugs and decriminalization of victimless crimes, for “developing a firm approach to law enforcement which directly addresses violent crimes including drug trafficking” (Criminal Justice : Green Party of the United States platform, 2004). In Europe, Green parties support the creation of a democratic federal Europe. In keeping with their commitment to the preservation of diversity, greens are often committed to the maintenance and protection of indigenous communities, languages, and traditions. An example of this is the commitment of the Irish Green Party of Ireland to the preservation of the Irish Language (Green Party Irish Language Policy, 2014). They also support free and transparent press so that the big business groups are not able to influence them. They believe that environment belongs to all, irrespective of caste, color and creed and “no one should be subjected to hazardous toxic chemicals or bear pollution from industrial, commercial or governmental sources.” (Social Justice : Green Party of the United States platform, 2004). Instead, they support initiatives like the „green tax‟ or the „ecotax‟ which is a tax levied on the activities or products which are considered to be harmful towards the environment and intends to promote eco friendly activities.

Criticism

Green Political theory has faced lots of criticism. Critics are of the opinion that many aspects of green economics are anti-globalist. Due to its support for grassroots democracy and slogans like “think global, act local”, many consider it as a threat to globalisation. According to many left- wing greens, globalisation results in the replacement of natural organic environments and the local cultures with a single trade economy, termed as the “global economic monoculture” which is a threat to well being of people. However, it can be stated that this is not a universal policy, as many green thinkers are supporters of a regulated free market economy to promote sustainable development.

Many academicians like Robert Goodin (1992) and Marius De Geus have criticized the Green commitment to decentralization as they feel that the small-scale anarchic communities

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would be “too narrow and self-interested to provide conducive environment to cross-community cooperation,” and not only would it be “oppressive for those within the community, but it also suggests that they would be unconcerned with effects across their borders” (Goodin, 1992, p. 4). Second argument is that decentralized small-scale communities will have little chance of developing an effective mechanism for solving global environmental problems. Robert Goodin argues that it is necessary to have global cooperation to respond to these problems as many “environmental problems are transnational or even global in scope” (Goodin, 1992, p. 191).

Andrew Dobson criticises the „limits to growth‟ feature of the green political theory and puts forward some arguments. Firstly, he states that “technological solutions may postpone the crisis but cannot prevent it occurring at some point,” so such solutions will not work. Secondly, the exponential nature of growth means there can be a catastrophic effect of the dangers that have been stored up over a long period of time (Dobson, 1990). Then he explains that the “problems associated with growth are all inter-related” and dealing issue by issue with them will mean that there may be some “knock-on effects” from issue to issue as solving one pollution problem may not decrease the pollution itself but “only change the medium through which pollution is carried ” (Dobson , 1990).

Conclusion

Green Political theory aims to create an ecologically sustainable society. Green political thought which is considered to be a separate perspective on environment, also dwells lights on how the environment can be made more secure. It believes nature to be comprising of both humans and non humans and aims to establish a decentralized society as a solution to environmental problems and blames capitalism for the destruction of environment. If people are organized onto small communities, they will be able to nurture the environment more in comparison to the centralized societies. Overall, their approach is quite similar to Marxist perspective on environmental problems. Also, Green political thought appears eco centric as it gives preference to nature over humans.

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References

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