Murray Bookchin’s social ecology: communalism as evolutions path to self-consciousness, freedom and ethics
huhtikuu 30, 2010 Tekijä svantemalmstrom
Another article written by Jyri Jaakkola translated to english. Jyri was killed in Oaxaca, Mexico 26.4.2010.
Murray Bookchin’s social ecology: communalism as evolutions path to self-consciousness, freedom and ethics
In Elonkehä’s number 10/03 Olli Tammilehto pointed to John Clarks and
David Watsons attempts to combine deep ecology and social ecology. The
basics of deep ecology are most likely familiar to Elonkehä’s readers,
but what is social ecology?
Social ecology is typically connected to Murray Bookchin, an
American, and I will discuss his ideas in this article. According to
Bookchin nearly all ecological problems are social problems. Ecological
crisis is caused by the capitalist society, but it has deeper roots in
social hierarchies. Social ecology proposes replacing state and
capitalism with an ecological society, that is based on relations
without hierarchy, geographically decentralized communities,
ecotechnology, organic agriculture and human scale production
facilities.
Social ecology denies a clear division or a inevitable opposition
between nature and humanity or society. Movement from nature to society
is gradual and basic problems that pit society against nature are
growing within social evolution – not between nature and society.
This way typical features to humanity and human communities such as
reason, technology and science cannot be declared destructive without
taking in to account the social factors that have an effect on them.
Ecological problems are also not simply or primarily caused by
religious, spiritual or political ideologies. To understand modern
ecological problems we have to find their social causes and solve them
using social methods.
Diversity, engagement and spontaneity
In his writings about ecosystems and evolution Bookchin emphasises
the principle “unity in diversity”. Lifeforms and organic interactions
diversity gives evolution new pathways to travel and is the basis for
ecosystems fertility and stability. Because this diversity is created
spontaneously in nature and our knowledge of complex internal relations
within ecosystems are limited, humanity should try to protect natures
diversity and leave as much room as possible for its natural spontaneity
instead of trying to control it.
To Bookchin most significant factors in evolution were symbiosis and
reciprocity, where different lifeforms complement each other by creating
biotical ecocommunities between different organisms living within the
same sphere. These biotical ecocommunities are by their nature
participatory, so all of their very different members participate in
evolution and creation of life.
Similar principles of diversity, participation, spontaneity and non
hierarchical relations within ecosystems exist in anarchist social
theories. According to Bookchin applying these ecological principles to
social organization would remove the division between nature and society
and replace it with a continuum that would combine biotical and social
ecocommunities.
Hierarchy and domination as an ecological threat
Possibly the most central part of social ecology is formed by the
critique of hierarchies and various forms of domination. According to
Bookchin our attempts to control nature are caused by forms of
domination among humans. Men didn’t think of dominating nature before
they had started dominating young people, women and each other.
Hierarchies and domination are in addition to political and economic
institution rooted in our their cultural forms so deeply in our families
and between age groups, genders and ethnical groups that they effect
even how we experience reality which also includes nature and
other lifeforms. To counteract this social ecology emphasizes diversity
without placing differences in to hierarchical order.
According to Bookchin we cannot remove the aim of controlling nature
and create an ecological society before we remove from society all
hierarchical structures. He also emphasizes that social hierarchies are
an institutional phenomena, not biological. They are results of
organized and carefully built power relations and we cannot find
justification for them from nature.
Urbanization and state as detriments to democracy
One of the most central hierarchical structures is the state.
According to Bookchin state takes both spiritual and material power away
from communities and limits their developmental potential by taking
their power and right to form their own fate. The state – and in our
time the nation-state – representatives and institutions have
eviscerated also the individual as a public creature, a citizen, that
has an participatory role in social functioning. This development has
been helped by urbanization, that transforms cities from clear, human
scaled and democratically governable entities to enormous marketplaces
and centers for mass production and consumption.
The ethical content of city life as a space where you can learn civic
skills, responsibility and acting on ideals of democracy are wiped out.
Modern city is ran like a business, that is guided by profit, expenses,
growth and employment. This kind of corporate spirited city depends on
and helps simplifying an active citizen to a receiver and customer of
public services. “A Good Citizen” obeys the law, pays taxes and votes
ritualistically among preselected representatives and “minds his own
business”. Democracy becomes purely formal instead of being
participatory. Power is bureaucratized and centralized to the state and
half monopolistic economic actors.
Modern gigantic place an enormous burden on nature, waters and air in
the areas that they have conquered. Urbanization has spread among the
countryside as well disturbing it’s ecological balance. The culture of
the countryside and it’s rich traditions have been displaced by city
life and mass culture unifying and urbanizing the lifestyles of the
countryside. Industry and city based economic forms and techniques have
conquered agriculture. Cities seem to have taken full control of the
countryside.
Capitalism and weakening communality
Central to decline of vitality and communality of local communities
is also the development of modern capitalism. In addition to weakening
traditional economic forms like small scale agriculture, craftsmen and
simple barter capitalism also threatens to destroy all features of
organization of communities, appreciation of cooperation, autonomous
structures and local cohesion, that were typical to societies before
capitalism. It has spread competition to all levels of society, not only
between capitalists in their competition to control the market.
An economic system that is based on competition and the selfishness
that it emphasizes invades also the family and neighbourhood and
threatens to destroy even the smallest feelings of communality,
ecological balance and diversity of social life. Citizens become mere
buyers and sellers and simplifying social life and surrounding nature
leads in the end even to the simplification of the human mind.
Capitalism erodes peoples self confidence maintaining economic basis and
community that would help participation in social life.
According to Bookchin basics for an safe and enjoyable life could be
created for all. Despite this capitalism has created a stronger sense of
scarcity then any social order before it. Needs are created
artificially and capitalist exploitation and manipulation makes ordinary
life social empty and boring. When society has been transformed to a
factory and marketplace the basic reason for living has been simplified
to production for the sake of production and consumption for the sake of
consumption.
Grow or Die!
Capitalist society that is based on competition and growth for the
sake of growth must eventually destroy nature just like an untreated
cancer destroys it’s host. Personal beliefs, good or evil, do not matter
in an economy based on the “grow or die” -principle. Accumulating
capital to weaken, buy, merge and destroy your competition is a
requirement for existing within capitalist economy, which makes it a
system of endlessly growing and centralizing wealth. Capitalism
inevitably turns against and turns environment to “unnatural”;
inorganic, synthetic or simplified.
Ecological society as the fulfillment of nature become self-conscious
Despite the current state of our societies Bookchin believes in
humanity’s possibility to develop as moral and ecological actor.
Self-consciousness and capability to systematically generalize their
consciousness by philosophy, science, ethics and aesthetics and also to
change their selves and their environment with the aid of these things
place humanity in a special place in evolution. These capabilities are
creations of evolution itself and place humanity to be responsible for
the progress of also the organic evolution.
Humanity could be rational manifestation of natures creativity and
fertility and its involvement in events in the rest of nature could
be equally creative as the rest of the nature. Ecological society could
fulfill one of evolutions grand lines, the trend towards self-consciousness
and would extend freedom, reason and ethics as a dimension in nature.
This natures potentiality to realize itself as consciously creative is
still unfulfilled: this is proven by hierarchies, class divisions, state
and other social phenomena like this.
Communalism as an political alternative
Political and activity level Bookchins social ecological philosophy
is concentrated on power and institutions that use it. According to
Bookchin growing corporate and political system is removing almost all
of control over their lives from ordinary people. That is why economic
needs can force people to work against their best intentions, even
against deeply felt values about nature in a way destructive of nature.
Solving ecological and social problems created by created by centralized
corporations, ownership relations and productions growing power is
absolutely a question of power – who has power and who it’s denied from.
To Bookchin democracy and peoples freedom to control their own life are
basic prerequisites for an ecological society.
The nowadays mostly extinct “socialist” world doesn’t give a better
model for failed liberalism. Totalitarian countries are equally
responsible for pillaging the earth and a classless society is not
necessarily free of hierarchies. As an ecological alternative Bookchin
offers communalism, where social power belongs to democratical
general assemblies. According to him true democracy can only happen if
people take part in open, face-to-face assemblies to create social
policy. Not a single act is democratically justified if it is not
directly proposed, discussed and decided by the people – and not
representatives. Administration of these acts can be left to
committees and other workgroups that would fulfill assemblies decisions
under close public scrutiny.
Politics or statecraft?
As a central method in creating communalism Bookchin thinks is
starting local assemblies, empowering them and formalizing their power
and radically democratizing local municipal institutions. To him
politics like it is understood nowadays is an unfit arena for ecological
movements. Modern politics mostly means a series of struggles for
power, where parties try to occupy the key positions needed to control
state functions. Political parties are formed to get power, to rule and
control. They mainly built hierarchies and work top-to-bottom like
miniature states.
According to Bookchin the concept of politics popular today is mostly
statecraft. Influencing politicians, lobbying, voting and other
parliamentary of party centric activity is statecraft, as is all
functioning of state institutions. Those who take part in this – both
politicians and lobbyists – is unified in a belief that change can only
or primarily be done by the use of state power. Appealing to state power
legitimates and strengthens the existence of the state inevitable and
the more power the state has the less the people have directly. This way
Bookchins views differ for example from Leena Vilkka’s interpretation
that when considering the Green Party accepts as hallmarks of social
ecology as reformism and acceptance of the parliamentary way.
As a replacement for statecraft Bookchin tries to rejuvenate politics in it’s classical meaning as a domain of self-governance.
According to him politics cannot exist without municipal cooperation
caused by peoples grassroots organization. The genuine unit of politics
is municipality either as a whole if it is human scale or divided in to
units like neighbourhoods. According to Bookchin practicing politics in
arenas has a crucial meaning also for individual freedom: municipal
freedom is the prerequisite of political freedom and political freedom
is an prerequisite of individual freedom.
Decentralizing cities
That if traditional ideals of civic democracy will be fulfilled and
if municipalities and cities can be governed by all their population in
assemblies depends largely on the size of municipalities and
cities. Although assemblies can also work as networks on block,
neighbourhood and city level the cities have to be decentralized
in the end. Decentralizing power and large cities is also a spiritual
and cultural value because it combines community empowerment to
individual empowerment.
Bookchin does admit that physical decentralization of large
urban entities such as New York to genuine municipalities and local
communities takes a long time. But according to him there is no reason
why they couldn’t be decentralized institutionally before that.
Smaller cities are not only prerequisites for fulfilling ideals of
freedom, but we also need them to live in balance with the rest of
nature. Decentralizing our cities and economic production would make
possible to use local materials and sources of energy fully, would
shorten transportation distances, would help preventing pollution and
recycling waste, would improving knowing earths ecology for example in
agriculture and would remove bureaucracy that wastes resources to
managing work.
Human scale and self-sufficiency
Decentralizing and changing to human scale technology and production
would help people to understand their functions better and govern them
directly without “experts” and leaders. Decentralizing production and
creating more self-sufficient local communities would shift economic
power’s center of gravity to local level and would create economic
essentials for local communities self-government and sovereignty. The
diverse and equal participation that human scale makes possible would
create a basis for a new feeling of humanity – a feeling of
individuality and community.
Reasonably self-sufficient communities whose dependence on their
environment would be clearly visible, would create a new form of
reverence to the organic world that sustains them. Even if small
industrial complexes would have duplicates in multiple communities each
groups knowledge of their environment would cause a more intelligent and
loving use of it. Single community should however not strive for
complete self-sufficiency because mutual dependence among communities
and regions is both a cultural and political advantage.
Confederalism
Decentralizing cities and human scale of communities do not
necessarily guarantee fulfillment of democracy or ecological society.
Decentralized society is not necessarily free of domination, hierarchies
or parochialism. Social organization must be based on larger principles
the localism. Bookchin proposes confederation as a democratic
and libertarian form of municipal alliance. It is a network of
administrative councils, whose members are chosen from face-to-face
assemblies. Delegates can be recalled and exchanged when ever and they
are responsible to the assemblies that chose them. Assemblies also
define carefully the authority of their delegates and provide guidelines
for their action. Confederalism includes a clear division between
deciding about policy matters and coordinating and executing those
policies. Power to decide and create policy would be solely the function
of assemblies and administration and coordination would be the
responsibility of confederal councils.
Municipalizing economy
To govern production and distribution Bookchin proposes that economy would be municipalized
and decisions for economic actions policy would be made among all
citizens of a municipality in assemblies. This would mean bringing
economy to the sphere of political decision making as a whole, so that
individual factories or farms would no longer be competing units. This
would create a basis for a moral economy, where people would
work more for the benefit of the community instead of their own benefit
and where everyone would give according to their capabilities and take
according to their needs.
The principle of confederalism would reach its fulfillment when
communities would combine their resources in local confederal networks.
Confederal ecological society would share resources and not be based on
selfish and calculating trade of capitalistically working local
communities. Combining handcraft and small scale industry and farming in
to cooperation of multiple municipalities confederation would increase
individuals possibilities of action and the stimuli that they are
exposed to.
Also rotating political civic responsibilities and productive work
duties would diversify the experiences that people have both in
intellectual and physical work that would stimulate their senses and
help find new dimensions in self development. Communal life would be
created in to a sort of school of civic skills, paideia, like
Greeks of the ancient era called it. Giving birth to new citizenship and
participation in common matters should become a form of creative art,
that would also in an aesthetic sense be appealing to deeply human need
for self expression. Possibility for meaningful participation in
political and communal life and plentiful stimuli can increase richness
of skills and character also in individuals. This way the largest
possible freedom of personal development would be combined to skills and
possibility to work communally and ecologically to bring humanity in
harmony with the rest of nature.
Sources
• Bookchin, Murray: Toward an Ecological Society, Black Rose Books, Montréal-Buffalo, 1980.
• Bookchin, Murray: Post-Scarcity Anarchism, Black Rose Books, 1986.
• Bookchin, Murray: The Modern Crisis, New Society Publishers, Philadelphia, 1986.
• Bookchin, Murray: Remaking Society. Pathways to a Green Future, South End Press, Boston, 1990.
• Bookchin, Murray: From Urbanization to Cities. Toward a New Politics of Citizenship, Cassell, London, 1995.
• Bookchin, Murray: The Murray Bookchin Reader, Cassell, London, 1997.
• Vilkka, Leena: Mustavihreä filosofia, Elämänsuojelija-lehti, Tampere 1999.
Edited version of the article has been published in two parts with
the name “Ecological society” in numbers 1-5-16/2003 and 1/2004 of
Elonkehä -magazine.
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