The tar barons have held the nation to ransom. This thuggish petro-state is today the only obstacle to a deal in Copenhagen
Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
The Limits of Eco-localism
Scale, strategy, socialism
A paper by Greg Albo.
The shadow cast by neoliberalism over the prospects of the Left in the current period has been unrelenting. A few rays of hope have broken through with signs of a resurgence of the Latin American Left, the defeat of the Nepalese monarchy, and a number of specific campaigns, both local and global, in opposition to the privatization of basic services.
But scepticism about universal projects and collective struggles for societal transformation – a scepticism reinforced by theoretical antagonisms toward integrative paradigms – remains entrenched even on a broadly defined Left, where the embrace of more socially limited and spatially local projects has replaced revolutionary ambitions.
Read Greg's paper here
A paper by Greg Albo.
The shadow cast by neoliberalism over the prospects of the Left in the current period has been unrelenting. A few rays of hope have broken through with signs of a resurgence of the Latin American Left, the defeat of the Nepalese monarchy, and a number of specific campaigns, both local and global, in opposition to the privatization of basic services.
But scepticism about universal projects and collective struggles for societal transformation – a scepticism reinforced by theoretical antagonisms toward integrative paradigms – remains entrenched even on a broadly defined Left, where the embrace of more socially limited and spatially local projects has replaced revolutionary ambitions.
Read Greg's paper here
Québec: For Ecosocialist Independence
By Marc Bonhomme.
To avert an ecological crisis, the United Nations says, a country like Canada must, by 2020, reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from their 1990 level, and by 90%by 2050. Quebec’s emissions in 2007 (the latest statistics) were 5% above the 1990 level, and Canada’s 20%.
■ A turnabout like this must go far beyond changes in individuals’ behaviour, which in any case are quite limited by the social structures. (How can one do without a car when one lives in a suburban bungalow – the only way a family can be adequately housed at a price that is affordable even if the bank has us by the throat and the public transit system is more than deficient?)
■ Fundamental changes in the way we live, eat, commute and work require the active collaboration of the proletariat, which can only be achieved if the necessary ecological revolution is not carried out on the backs of the workers as it is under “green capitalism”. And this involves mobilizing the working class through participative democracy.
The ecological revolution, if it is to succeed, must be combined with a revolution in social justice and democracy which in any event is a goal in itself. This combination is called ECOSOCIALISM.
To avert an ecological crisis, the United Nations says, a country like Canada must, by 2020, reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 40% from their 1990 level, and by 90%by 2050. Quebec’s emissions in 2007 (the latest statistics) were 5% above the 1990 level, and Canada’s 20%.
■ A turnabout like this must go far beyond changes in individuals’ behaviour, which in any case are quite limited by the social structures. (How can one do without a car when one lives in a suburban bungalow – the only way a family can be adequately housed at a price that is affordable even if the bank has us by the throat and the public transit system is more than deficient?)
■ Fundamental changes in the way we live, eat, commute and work require the active collaboration of the proletariat, which can only be achieved if the necessary ecological revolution is not carried out on the backs of the workers as it is under “green capitalism”. And this involves mobilizing the working class through participative democracy.
The ecological revolution, if it is to succeed, must be combined with a revolution in social justice and democracy which in any event is a goal in itself. This combination is called ECOSOCIALISM.
Ecosocialism for the 21st Century Conference Videos
Visit the link below for videos of Joel Kovel, Hugo Blanco and Lindsay Bloomberry at Simon Fraser University.
Ecosocialism videos