Political Ecology: Beyond Environmentalism

Simon Dalby is an assistant professor of geography at Carleton
University in Ottawa.

This short book is a manifesto for a radical grassroots form of
environmental politics. Its basic message is that until now
environmentalist action has been relatively ineffective due either to
naiveté about the political and economic structures that support
environmental destruction, or to ineffective tactics that have failed
because they tackled only problems in isolation rather that as part of a
larger political strategy.

The book’s first chapter reviews the history of environmentalism,
tracing its origins from rising concerns in the 19th century about the
consequences of industrialism (both in terms of pollution and the
destruction of wilderness and forests), through to the more elaborate
institutional forms of government and international organizations in the
late 20th century. The focus here is on government activities and
institutions, which are criticized for being, at best, palliative
measures in the face of global problems.

Chapter 2 briefly surveys the nongovernmental environmental movements
of the past few decades, outlining the various approaches taken by
conservationists, environmentalists, deep ecologists, bioregionalists,
and ecofeminists. All these are found lacking, because, like the
government versions of environmentalism, they fail to come to grips with
the political economy of industrialism and the related state
organization of society that perpetuates the production of pollution and
the destruction of the environment.

Chapter 3 reviews more radical environmental organizations, in
particular recent French “green” political movements. Drawing on
these political experiences, where many “green” activists have
learned lessons from the libertarian left traditions of self-management,
and from Murray Bookchin’s writings about social ecology and
particularly “confederal municipalism,” Roussopoulos urges
environmentalists to become involved in local politics, where people can
hope to have control over practical aspects of their lives. Ultimately,
he advocates a system of “local democracy” as the planet’s best
weapon against global environmental degradation.