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The Case for Ecosocialism 29 John Molyneux The case for ecosocialism 29 John Molyneux Ecosocialism is an idea whose time has come —Joao Camargo he names and labels adopted by revolutionary so- inists on the grounds that feminism has now generally cialists change over time and vary depending on become synonymous with standing for women’s rights circumstances. In the mid 1840s Karl Marx called and equality. The evolution of the terms adopted at var- himself a communist because, he said, that was ious stages in the struggle by Black people in the United theT term used by the workers in the movement where- States (Negro, coloured, Black, African American, etc.) as ‘socialist’ was more favoured by the middle classes. would make an interesting study in itself. The evolution But by the 1880s Marx and Engels were happy to refer from homosexual through gay, lesbian, LGBT, LGBTQ, to themselves as socialists, as in Engels’ classic text So- LGBT+, Queer, and so on is another case in point. cialism: Utopian and Scientific, and by the time we get Against this shifting background I wish to argue that to the first decade of the twentieth century virtually all the time is right for revolutionaries and Marxists to de- Marxists (Lenin, Trotsky, Luxemburg, etc.) call them- scribe themselves as ecosocialists. I do not mean by this selves social democrats as in the Russian Social Dem- that we should replace the term socialist with ecosocial- ocratic Labour Party. This changed in 1914 with the ist across the board or immediately change the names of Second International’s support for the First World War, our organisations (from Socialist Workers Network to which led Lenin to argue for abandoning the label ‘so- Ecosocialist Workers Network, from International So- cial democrat’ in favour of a return to the original name cialist Tendency to International Ecosocialist Tendency, of communist, the name later used by the vast majority etc.), but that we should be happy to use the word and of Marxist parties across the world—though it is worth refer to ourselves in that way, as in having an ‘ecosocial- noting that it took three years and a revolution for the ism’ section on Rebel, holding workshops on ecosocial- RSDLP (Bolsheviks) to actually change their name. ism, and affiliating with the Global Ecosocialist Network The tainting of ‘communism’ by Stalinism resulted (as People Before Profit has done). The reasons for this in many (though not all) Trotskyist and anti-Stalinist are both objective—by which I mean the nature of the Marxist organisations reverting to calling themselves crisis facing humanity and the response it demands— socialist as in Socialist Workers Party, Socialist Alli- and ideological—by which I mean the role the term ance, Socialist Alternative , Socialist Workers Network, ecosocialism can play in the environmental movement and so on. and on the left. Then there are the terms and labels that are generally accepted or used on various occasions, even if not neces- The Objective Case sarily as a party name: Workers, Labour (party, league, The objective case for using the term ecosocialism is etc.), international and internationalist, revolutionary, very strong. Large numbers of scientists have accepted and left are all examples. Feminist is an interesting case the proposition that the world has entered a new geolog- in point. The likes of Clara Zetkin, Rosa Luxemburg, and ical epoch—the Anthropocene1—in which human activ- Alexandra Kollontai would not generally have called ity has a substantial impact on the geology and ecosys- themselves feminists, seeing feminism as largely bour- tems of the earth. Moreover, this impact has a negative geois, and the term was heavily contested in the 1970s and species-threatening character, rather than having and 1980s, but now I think most revolutionary socialists a positive life-enhancing character, because of human would accept it, referring to themselves as socialist fem- alienation from nature caused by alienated labour and IRISH MARXIST REVIEW 30 the metabolic rift between society and nature brought public transport. Switching the carrying of freight from about by capitalism. Within that it is clear that in 2020 the environmentally destructive lorry to the more eco- capitalism has entered a new phase with the triple cri- logically sustainable train will not happen without the sis of the Covid pandemic, the economic recession, and planned expansion of the rail network.4 Reducing the climate change, with these crises being interconnected massive carbon emissions from private houses involves aspects of a decaying capitalist system in which the con- large-scale retrofitting of homes, but that is beyond the tradiction between the forces and relations of produc- incomes of most working class people; it cannot be done tion has reached extreme proportions. without a major programme of state investment. It is If we assume that, with the arrival and dissemina- the same with the vast programme of afforestation that tion of a vaccine, the Covid crisis passes (even if it is is necessary on a global scale. It will not happen on the destined to return in the form of a new virus, as experts basis of private enterprise or market mechanisms in a like Rob Wallace and Mike Davis expect2), recovery world where the ‘value’ of trees is only realised when from the recession will only feed into and exacerbate they are cut down. climate change which, in the long run, will prove the But even if we put all these examples together it most dangerous and intractable crisis of all. It is already still doesn’t get to the heart of the matter, which is that producing large-scale fires and floods from California to capitalism is not only ideologically committed to end- Siberia and Bangladesh to Southern Africa, and this can less (capitalist) economic growth but also inherently only get worse. Other issues and campaigns come and economically driven to it by the competitive pressure go, but climate change, along with many other forms to accumulate capital. Only system change, that is the of environmental degradation such as the acidification replacement of production for profit with planned pro- and plastification of the ocean, is not going away. It is duction for human needs, i.e. socialism, can break this clearly set to be epoch defining. relentless logic of destruction. Then there is the fact that the solutions to climate Then there is the matter of dealing with the effects change, both for preventing it taking off catastroph- of climate change and the many other forms of environ- ically and for dealing with its effects (which are al- mental degradation. If ‘the worst’ is yet to come—and ready built in and inevitable), are necessarily socialist can still be averted—these effects, above all in the shape solutions. Efforts to deal with climate change through of increasingly frequent extreme weather events, are market mechanisms such as carbon trading and carbon very much with us and are already catastrophic in many taxing are manifestly failing and inadequate.3 Even the parts of the world. It is stark-staringly obvious that re- simplest real steps in the right direction involve a) gov- sponding to raging forest and bush fires, devastating ernment/state action and planning and b) challenging storms and floods, prolonged droughts and unliveable the so-called rights of private property and the priority heat waves cannot be left to private enterprise, the mar- of profit. ket, or individual initiative. Even the most died-in-the It is evident that the absolutely urgent task of halt- wool neoliberal politician can hardly say to the people ing the destruction of the Amazon forest requires, as a of South Eastern Australia or California, ‘Show some bare minimum, government action to stop predatory initiative! Get out there and fight the fires yourselves!’ capitalists felling and burning trees to free up land for But if a state-led response is self-evidently essential, cattle and to prevent mining companies driving roads the nature of the state/government will make a huge through the forest to open up indigenous territory for difference. Just look at the different governmental re- mineral extraction. Similarly, taking the essential mea- sponses to the Covid pandemic, with Trump, Bolsona- sure of stopping further exploration for oil and gas de- ro, Modi, and Johnson leading the charge to disaster. posits, i.e. ‘Keeping it in the ground!’, involves standing In fact, we know from much experience that the re- up to the lobbying and other pressures of the immense- sponse of capitalist states to ‘natural’ disasters is invari- ly rich and powerful fossil-fuel companies. Tackling ably slow, callous, inadequate, corrupt, and repressive. the growing problem of the ever-increasing use of the Hurricane Katrina and the fate of New Orleans is the private car necessitates a planned expansion of free classic example but the pattern is repeated again and 31 again; Hurricane Maria, which struck Puerto Rico and relate to such radicalising elements, as revolutionary Dominica in 2017, was another dramatic case in point, socialists must if they are not to adopt a position of os- and anger at the appalling handling of this disaster was trich like sectarianism,5 describing ourselves as ecoso- a major driving force in the massive popular revolt in cialists is a very useful point of departure. For a start it Puerto Rico in 2019. Of course, when the disaster first signals that we are serious about the environment and strikes and pictures of suffering children and destroyed not just ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ (which is what will communities hit the headlines, politicians and govern- be claimed by many of the ‘liberal’ and anti-politics el- ments weep crocodile tears and make all sorts of pledg- ements in the movement).
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