Introduction

The term ‘ecology’ was coined by the German zoologist Ernst Haeckel in 1866. Derived from the Greek
‘oikos’, meaning household or habitat, he used it to refer to ‘the investigations of the total relations of the
animal both to its organic and its inorganic environment.

As a political ideology, ecologism is based on the belief that nature is an interconnected whole,
embracing humans and non-humans, as well as the inanimate world. This has encouraged ecological
thinkers to question (but not necessarily reject) the anthropocentric, or human-centred, assumptions of
conventional political ideologies, allowing them to come up with new ideas about, among other things,
economics, morality and social organization.

Historical Overview

Although modern environmental politics did not emerge until the 1960s and 1970s, ecological ideas can
be traced back to much earlier times. Many have suggested that the principles of contemporary ecologism
owe much to ancient pagan religions, which stressed the concept of an Earth Mother, and to eastern
religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism and Daoism. The growth of ecologism since the 1960s has been
provoked by the further and more intense advance of industrialization and urbanization, linked to the
emergence of postmaterial sensibilities among young people in particular. Environmental concern has
become more acute because of the fear that economic growth is endangering both the survival of the
human race and the very planet it lives on.

A new generation of activist pressure groups has also developed – ranging from Greenpeace and
Friends of the Earth to the non-violent civil disobedience group Extinction Rebellion, animal
liberation activists and so-called ‘eco-warrior’ groups – campaigning on issues such as air, river and sea
pollution, deforestation, animal experimentation and climate change and its associated challenges.

Golden Age of Carbon Economy

Since the turn of the twenty-frst century greater urgency has been injected into the quest for
environmental protection by the recognition that, in certain respects, the ecological crisis is getting more,
not less, severe. Tis is particularly the case in relation to climate change. Although the United Nations
formally acknowledged the seriousness of the issue in 1994, and attempts have been made to promote a
coordinated international response to it, notably by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol and the 2015 Paris climate
accord, the initial opportunity to tackle climate change has been blown by decades of denial. Indeed, as
emerging economies such as China and India have dramatically increased their greenhouse gas emission,
without a willingness on the part of developed states, especially the USA, to curtail theirs, the period
since the mid-1990s became, in efect, the Golden Age of the carbon economy. As a result, there seemed
to be little likelihood that the increase in the global average temperature during the twenty-frst century
could be kept below the UN’s target of 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Tis, it is claimed, is the level at
which climate change will have widespread and devastating consequences.

Core Themes of Ecologism

 Green theorists believe that conventional ideologies commit the sad, even comic, mistake of
believing that humans are the centrepiece of existence. David Ehrenfeld (1978) called this the
‘arrogance of humanism
 It difers from both the ‘politics of material distribution’, as practised by notably liberalism,
conservatism and socialism) and ‘identity politics’ as practised by most of the so-called ‘new’
ideologies
 ecologism sets out to do nothing less than transform human consciousness and, in the process,
radically reconfgure our moral responsibilities to re-orientate people’s relationship with and
appreciation of ‘the non-human’

The Concept of Ecology

Scientifc ecology radically challenged the conventional understanding of the natural world and of the
place of human beings within it. Ecology conficts with the notion of humankind as ‘the master’ of nature,
and instead suggests that a delicate network of interrelationships that had hitherto been ignored sustains
each human community, indeed the entire human species. Green thinkers argue that humankind currently
faces the prospect of environmental disaster precisely because, in its passionate but blinkered pursuit of
material wealth, it has upset the ‘balance of nature’ and endangered the very ecosystems that make human
life possible. Ecologism thus favours ecocentrism and either rejects anthropocentrism altogether.

The ‘Deep Ecology’ perspective, however, advances a form of ‘strong’ ecologism that dismisses any
lingering belief that the human species is in some way superior to, or more important than, any other
species, or indeed nature itself. It is based on the more challenging idea that the purpose of human life is
to help sustain nature, and not the other way around

Sustainability:

Green thinkers argue that the ingrained assumption of conventional political creeds, articulated by
virtually all mainstream political parties (so-called ‘grey’ parties), is that human life has unlimited
possibilities for material growth and prosperity. Indeed, green thinkers commonly lump capitalism and
socialism together, and portray them both as examples of ‘industrialism’. A particularly infuential
metaphor for the environmental movement has been the idea of ‘spaceship Earth’, because this
emphasizes the notion of limited and exhaustible wealth. Te idea that Earth should be thought of as a
spaceship was frst suggested by Kenneth Boulding (1966).

Not only have green thinkers argued that, in their economic activity, humans live beyond the constraints
of a ‘closed’ ecosystem, but they have also been unwisely cavalier in plundering its resources

Types of Ecologism

Reformist Ecology

it seeks to advance ecological principles and promote ‘environmentally sound’ practices, but without
rejecting the central features of capitalist modernity – individual self-seeking, materialism, economic
growth and so on. It is thus very clearly a form of ‘shallow’ or humanist ecology.

- The key feature of reformist ecology is the recognition that there are environmental limits to
growth, in the sense that pollution, increased CO2 emissions, the exhaustion of non-renewable
energy sources and other forms of environmental degradation
- This ultimately threaten prosperity and economic performance. The watchword of this form of
ecologism is therefore sustainable development (in the sense of ‘weak’ sustainability) or, more
specifcally, environmentally sustainable capitalism

Eco-socialism

Tese include that private property encourages the belief that humans are dominant over nature; that the
market economy ‘commodifes’ nature, in the sense that it turns it into something that only has
exchangevalue and so can be bought and sold; and that the capitalist system breeds materialism and
consumerism, and so leads to relentless growth. From this perspective, ‘green capitalism’ is a
contradiction in terms.

- The core theme of ecosocialism is thus the idea that capitalism is the enemy of the environment,
while socialism is its friend.
- Therefore, ecologists should not form separate green parties or set up narrow environmental
organizations, but work within the larger socialist movement and address the real issue: the
economic system.

Eco-anarchism
Bookchin (1977) suggested that there is a clear correspondence between the ideas of anarchism and the
principles of ecology, articulated in the idea of social ecology, based on the belief that ecological balance
is the surest foundation for social stability. Anarchists believe in a stateless society, in which harmony
develops out of mutual respect and social solidarity among human beings. The richness of such a society
is founded on its variety and diversity.

- The anarchist rejection of government within human society thus parallels the green thinkers’
warnings about human ‘rule’ within the natural world.
- Green thinkers also believe that balance or harmony develops spontaneously within nature, in the
form of ecosystems, and that these, like anarchist communities, require no external authority or
control

Eco-feminism

The basic theme of ecofeminism is that ecological destruction has its origins in patriarchy: nature is under
threat not from humankind but from men and the institutions of male power. Feminists who adopt an
androgynous or sexless view of human nature argue that patriarchy has distorted the instincts and
sensibilities of men by divorcing them from the ‘private’ world of nurturing, home-making and personal
relationships. Te sexual division of labour thus inclines men to subordinate both women and nature,
seeing themselves as ‘masters’ of both.

- Te fact that women cannot live separate from natural rhythms and processes in turn structures
their politico-cultural orientation
- Traditional ‘female’ values therefore include reciprocity, cooperation and nurturing, values that
have a ‘sof’ or ecological character

Deep Ecology

Deep ecology is ‘deep’ because it persists in asking deeper questions concerning ‘why’ and ‘how’, and is
thus concerned with fundamental philosophical questions about the impact of the human species on the
biosphere. Te key belief of deep ecology is that ecology and anthropocentrism (in all its forms, including
‘enlightened’ anthropocentrism) are simply irreconcilable; indeed, anthropocentrism is an ofence against
the principle of ecology.

- Deep ecologists have viewed nature as the source of moral goodness. Nature thus has ‘intrinsic’
or inherent value, not just ‘instrumental’ value deriving from the benefts it brings to human
beings.
 - Deep ecology calls for a change in consciousness, specifcally the adoption of ‘ecological
consciousness’, or ‘cosmological consciousness’.

Conclusion

Signifcant problems nevertheless confront ecologism. In the frst place, it is difcult to see how ecologism
can become a genuinely global ideology. As far as developing-world states are concerned, the strictures
of ecologism appear to deny them the opportunity to catch up materially with the West, ruling out large-
scale industrialization, the exploitation of fnite resources and uncontrolled pollution. Second,
industrialism and its underlying values, such as competitive individualism and consumerism, have
become more deeply entrenched, in part as a result of the advance of economic globalization. Tird,
difculties surround the anti-growth or degrowth message of ecologism. Te politics of zero or even
sustainable growth may be so electorally unattractive to populations that it proves to be politically
impossible. Tis was perhaps demonstrated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and the speed with which states re-
prioritized economic growth each time they believed the public health crisis had passed