The Red and the Green: Left Perspectives on Ecology

Abstract

The U.S. environmental movement is, in Murray Bookchin's estimation, "potentially, at least, one of the most radical to emerge since the sixties." Radical ecology perspectives, encompassing deep ecology, social ecology, bioregionalism, ecofeminism, and Marxist views, all involve some fundamental critique of the prevailing social/economic/political order of things in the world, thereby distinguishing themselves from mainstream environmentalism. But, even without the mainstream environmentalists, does the "movement"—more a hodgepodge of organizations informed by divergent ideologies and employing disparate strategies—really have the will or capacity to build toward the structural change necessary to stave off and reverse environmental ruin?

This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.

Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.