Social Ecology, Deep Ecology, and Liberalism

In: Critical review: an interdisciplinary journal of politics and society, Band 6, Heft 2-3, S. 305-370

Abstract

Offers a neoliberal critique of Murray Bookchin's writings on social ecology (SE), focusing on how his attempt to unite a leftist critique of liberalism with contemporary environmental concerns is undermined by the comparisons he draws between market systems & ecosystems. Bookchin's project is assailed for failing to acknowledge that these systems function in accord with impersonal principles of self-organization. Conclusions suggest that Left-oriented environmental analysis lacks the intellectual resources to develop a viable approach to SE, & that evolutionary liberalism, imbued with insights from deep ecology, provides a sound basis for SE theory. Adapted from the source document.