Green Capitalism and beyond. Prospects of socio-ecological transformation

Ulrich Brand --- 20 March 2014 --- --- CBS, Copenhagen

Morten Ougaard gave us three questions

1) Is environmental sustainability compatible

with economic and social sustainability? 

2) Is green capitalism possible?

If so, what will it take to achieve it?

3) What kind of transformation is required to make

society environmentally sustainable?

Is environmental sustainability compatible with economic and social sustainability? 

• What do we mean by sustainability?

–To maintain biophysical conditions of life

–To promote a good life for all members of (world) society; i.e. justice,

democracy, economic well-being

–To produce and distribute „required“ goods and services productively,

under stable conditions, with good work conditions; not only for market but

also non-market production / exchange / consumption

• Long-lasting debate how to achieve … innovation, reduction, role of governance, social values, pioneers of change, producers, consumers etc.

Just some thoughts

•Peter Newell: „elephant in the room“ … capitalism

•In principle reconciliation not possible:

economic = capitalist sustainability means capital accumulation / growth and growing use of resources and sinks; systematic limits to ecological modernisation

•Good living today: imperial mode of living; Fordist experience

•My proposal: to think envtl sustainability as part of social, economic and cultural developments … theoretical consideration

political ecology

• nature is not external to society but its materiality constituted by society: societal nature relations• nature has its materiality which we can detect (i.e. through science, experiences)• what are the historically specific and locally uneven forms of the appropriation of nature (resources, waste, sinks)?• crucial is then: forms of production, mobility, food, living – this is linked to interests, power and domination, to grammar of capital accumulation• the forms of societal nature relations are contested energy and food production

• in this sense: ecological crisis is a socio-economic, cultural and political crisis of unintended effects of the fossilist-capitalist-imperial mode of development

Answer to first question posed by Morten:

Is environmental sustainability compatible with economic and social sustainability? 

but we need to reflect what we are talking about:

•Environment is crisis-driven societal nature relations•Social sustainability need to shape imperial mode of living•Economic sustainability – what kind of economy? Sustainable growth and capital accumulation as motor?

I link 2nd and 3rd question

2) Is green capitalism possible? If so, what will it take to achieve it?

Yes, it might be in countries like Austria, Denmark, Germany on the way to it - however, depends on the very concept „Green capitalism“

a) as a term which indicates a more or less successful socio-economic and political dealing with the ecological crisis (1990s – „ecological modernisation“ / sustainable development; today: Green Economy)

b) my usage: not a normative one but an analysis how societies under dominance of capitalist mode of production shape partially their societal nature relations, i.e. energy production and use, mobility, food system, housing and clothing

•how integrated into capitalist logics of production and living?•selectively, against background of grammar of profits, externalising, ob uneben and combined development

Beginning of debate about „Green Capitalism“

• struggles / search processes to overcome multiple crisis• ecological crisis and issues will be part of it • What kind of strategies? How can projects evolve?

Strategies / versions of Green Capitalism• strategies of neoliberal competitiveness, austerity (Global Europe,

Lisbon; US)

• (new) neomarcantilist develomentalism: state capitalism; „oil socialism“, heavily world market oriented (China, Latin America)

• growing militarization: Columbia, Amazon, Russia

• Green New Deal, Green Economy; globalist-social democratic strategy:• Progressive social-ecological transformation; Left-wing NGOs, social

movements, progressive govts in Lat America, different experiences; critical debates like those on degrowth, vivir bien, ecological debt

Green Economy / Green Growth

• different approaches: more Keynesian (NEF, Greens), more liberal (UNEP)

• crucial idea is that „state“ should create adequate framework for „markets“ – more economic policy • emphasis on „green“ capital, efficiency and innovation• new spheres of capital accumulationimportant project – imaginary

Tend to overlook• danger to convert to capitalist modernisation project of some countries at expese of others• predominance of competition, competitiveness and geopolitics: natural resources are part of world market competition (e.g. „fracking“ in U.S.)• commodification of nature strong and problematic

3) What kind of transformation is required to make society environmentally sustainable?

• to start with: modern societies are characterised by transformations / transitions … smaller ones accomodation; more comprehensive ones, crisis-driven

“The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly revolutionising the instruments of production, and thereby the relations of production, and with them the whole relations of society. …. Constant revolutionising of production, uninterrupted disturbance of all social conditions, everlasting uncertainty and agitation distinguish the bourgeois epoch from all earlier ones.”

•it is not about „yes / no“ of transformation but about the logic of transformation

•transformation / transition debate about intentional change of the logic in light of experiences, normativity … but also ontologies

going beyond Green Economy: social-ecological transformation

• new models of well-being; attractive mode of production and living: chance of the actual crisis, degrowth debate• enhancement of sufficency to go beyond focus of efficiency• key: different energetic and resource basis; energy decentral• critical to profit-driven market (GE / GND trusts in it)• strong elements of planning (of use of resources)• democratic process, learning, incl. forms of production

– participation of people in planning, in protection

– conversion of industries not on backs of wage-earners

– who decides today over development path? – against authoritarian

ways

If strategies of social-ecological transformation remain weak

best we can get: progressive version of capitalism better than business-as-usual but not far reaching and probably not stopping ecological crisis

•As passive revolution (A-Gramsci) through „eco-capitalist power bloc“•„Economic viability“ at level of capital circuits (accumulation regime) and its embededdnes (mode of regulation)•stability of imperial mode of living•In parts, „green corporatism“ (role of trade unions)•Project „becomes state“ and is secured to state policies and structures

thank you for your attention!

•take a copy of „Beautiful Green World“ – Critique of Green Economy

•„Socioecological Transformations“, special issue of Austrian Journal of Development Studies 28(3), Ed. Ulrich Brand, Birgit Daiber, 2012 … also experiences from Latin America --- 30 DKK