Product Description

Presents a provocatively anthropocentric analysis of the way forward for green politics and environmental movements, exposing the deficiencies and contradictions of green approaches to post-modern politics and deep ecology.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #701384 in Books
• Published on: 1993-07-22
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From the Back Cover
The 1992 Earth Summit clearly demonstrated the reluctance of Western capitalism to change the ideology and practices which perpetuate environmental degradation and social injustice. The green movement itself has largely lost direction whilst Marxism no longer appears a tenable solution to global inequality.
Beginning from the shared objective of Marxism, Anarchism and deep ecology, that people must control their own lives and their relationship with their environment, Eco-Socialism presents a broad and incisive analysis of how these differing approaches can be synthesized into a new radical green politics.

Customer Reviews

A BIG disappointment
I have recently finished reading this book, and I must say that it was most disappointing. The author used much of the book as a critique of
Ecocentrics and Green Anarchism and tried to discredit Anarchism for infusing much of today's green politics.
This is yet another attempt by the old style politics of jumping on the green bandwagon.
He argues for an anthropocentric approach to green politics and lays the blame squarely on Capitalism and class divisions.
While I agree with a part of this,he doesn't recognise that it is 'Industrialism' that is also a great contributor to many of the problems facing the environment either from Socialism or Capitalism.
He doesn't even mention the Green Party until the penultimate page of the book, but often mentions the Socialist Party of Great Britain ( SPGB ).
Now, while green politics does have elements of Socialism and has been influenced by Anarchism, traditional Socialism has no Green elements, however much the author argues.
He also doesn't agree with the Green argument that there are 'Limits to Growth'.
Lastly, where the book fails so greatly is in the absence of anything about why green politics has failed to gain in popularity and about how entrenched the capitalist / materialist / consumerist society is in the modern world. While most people all recognise the environmental problems facing the planet, most people are not prepared to voluntarily change their lifestyles.
The Green political parties of the world are not anarchists but are working within the bounds of parliamentary politics.
They all face an uphill struggle in persuading people that a radical change needs to take place with the way we all live and treat the Earth.
By the way, I agree with a lot of socialist policies concerning public services, but 'Green Politics' is a political theory that is trying to cross traditional class boundaries for the greater good of all people and living species on the planet.
Remember, we humans share the planet with all living things. It is not ours.