Determinism, idealism and the politics of environmentalism—a view point
Title:
Determinism, idealism and the politics of environmentalism—a view point
Author:
Pepper, David
Appeared in:
International journal of environmental studies
Paging:
Volume 26 (1985) nr. 1-2 pages 11-19
Year:
1985-10
Contents:
Over the past 15 years there have been ideological shifts in the ecologically-based environmentalist movement. The earlier emphasis was on reactionary ideologies of neo-Malthusianism and the lifeboat ethic, romantic anti-urbanism and rural escapism. These were strongly underpinned by the notion of naturally-imposed limits on human endeavour which sprang from a philosophy of environmental determinism. Now there is more emphasis upon human free will and less which is escapist, defensive and socially regressive. The green movement is increasingly compatible with socialism, but there is still a large ideological gap between “Green” and “Red” wings of the movement. Green Greens are idealistic, and mistakenly believe that they have discovered a new politics which are “above” the politics of class conflict. They call for a common unity and for spiritually-inspired value changes, and erroneously think that their ecotopian vision is becoming a widespread reality. Green socialists, however, are more realistic because their analysis is materialist. They do not divorce social and environmental reform from the need to change the social-economic mode of production, and therefore hold out a solution which is more genuinely revolutionary and has more relevance to the mass of people.
Journal description