| Social Ecology |
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| CATEGORIES ABOUT SOCIAL ECOLOGY | |
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Social ecology is, in the words of its leading exponents, "a coherent radical critique of current social, political, and anti-ecological trends" as well as "a reconstructive, ecological, communitarian, and ethical approach to society". Social Ecology is a radical view of Ecology and of social/political systems. Social Ecologists believe that the current Ecological Crisis is the product of Capitalism . They believe it is not the number of people, but the way people relate to one another that has fueled the current economic crisis. Over-consumption , Productivism and Consumerism are thus symptoms, not causes, of a deeper issue with Ethical Relationship s. SOCIAL ECOLOGY AND ANARCHISM Undoubtedly Social Ecology is one of the most influential currents in the Eco-anarchist thread within Anarchism . Social Ecology is associated with the ideas and works of Murray Bookchin , who has been writing on ecological matters since the 1950s and, from the 1960s , has combined these issues with revolutionary Social Anarchism . His works include ''Post-Scarcity Anarchism'', ''Toward an Ecological Society'', ''The Ecology of Freedom'' and a host of others. Social Ecology locates the roots of the Ecological Crisis firmly in relations of Domination between people. The domination of Nature is seen as a product of domination within Society , but this domination only reaches crisis proportions under Capitalism . In the words of Murray Bookchin : :"The notion that man must dominate nature emerges directly from the domination of man by man… But it was not until organic Community relations… dissolved into Market relationships that the planet itself was reduced to a resource for Exploitation . This centuries-long tendency finds its most exacerbating development in modern capitalism. Owing to its inherently competitive nature, bourgeois society not only pits humans against each other, it also pits the mass of humanity against the nature world. Just as men are converted into commodities, so every aspect of nature is converted into a commodity, a resource to be manufactured and merchandised wantonly." (''Op. Cit.'', p. 63) :"The plundering of the human spirit by the market place is paralleled by the plundering of the earth by capital." (''Ibid.'', p. 65) In the words of Murray Bookchin: :"Deep Ecology's problems stem from an authoritarian streak in a crude Biologism that uses ' Natural Law ' to conceal an ever-diminishing sense of humanity and papers over a profound ignorance of social reality by ignoring the fact it is capitalism we are talking about, not an abstraction called ' Humanity ' and ' Society .'" (''The Philosophy of Social Ecology'', p. 160) Social ecology has grown since these early days and now social ecologists consider it essential to work collaboratively within the systems themselves, and by doing so transform them towards a more ethical, considered, personal, social and ecologically balanced world. The first and, for me, most important point of this step is the explicit inclusion of the personal, emphasising our relational self (Shem & Surrey 1998) as an essential component of change (Hill, 1999). Or in the words of Mahatma Gandhi 'Be the change you wish to see in the world". Professor Stuart Hill, Foundation Chair of Social Ecology at the University of Western Sydney explains " principles which we broadly embrace, include unity in diversity and complexity, spontaneity, complementary and mutualistic rather than hierarchical relationships, active participatory democracy and bioregionalism. Although Bookchin has written a lot about a lot of things, he is most known for his dislikes -- notably hierarchical systems, mysticism, primitivism, postmodernism and deep ecology (Bookchin 1995). We tend to be much less judgemental in these areas"(Hill, 1999 http://www.zulenet.com/see/asfuturewhite.html) SEE ALSO CONTRASTING VIEWS EXTERNAL LINKS
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