The answers capitalist and socialist to crisis ecological

Abstract

Capitalist accumulation clashes frontally with ecological priorities. “Green capitalist” advocates and practitioners seek to advance environmentalist goals within a market-defined framework. Certain improvements are possible by such means, but only within severe limits. This applies not only to corporate measures but also to government policies, insofar as these entail the attribution of commodity value to natural processes. Some leftist writers have seen such an approach as the only politically viable response to
the current crisis. The present article criticizes this view and then addresses three major dimensions of an ecological agenda that are beyond the reach of market-based strategies: 1) challenging perpetual growth and innovation and the proliferation of trash; 2) ending militarism and imperialism; and 3) redefining “the good life”. Finally, it offers some examples of positive ecological achievements within socialist settings.