ABSTRACT
Ecosocialism envisages economic activity as an integral organic part of society, no longer subject to laws of its own but subject to democratic control. The concept of an “ecosocialist economics” may therefore be a category mistake. However, much work that goes under the name of ecosocialist economics is of great importance: first, reforms, sometimes prefigurative, such as a Green New Deal and a just transition, and second, the values and priorities that would inform an ecosocialist society. Marx’s first and O’Connor’s second contradiction of capitalism underpin the socialist and green movements respectively, parts of which have now co-evolved into the ecosocialist movement. Karl Polanyi’s analysis of the destructive effects of capitalism on human and non-human nature, arising from the operation of the markets for what he calls the “fictitious commodities” (labour, land, money), is a useful framework for understanding that human and non-human nature can only flourish if capitalism is replaced by ecosocialism.
The chapter argues that such a transition to sustainable flourishing would involve fundamental societal changes in the way we live and in the structure of economic activity. Once basic needs are met globally, human needs will need to evolve from quantity to quality, in accordance with Soper’s concept of “alternative hedonism,” if they are to be met in a sustainable way. The changes involved are so major that they can only be approached through a just transition, which means that those affected must be involved in deciding on the necessary changes and implementing them. The chapter ends by outlining possible processes and institutions through which this might be achieved: negotiated coordination based on social ownership and subsidiarity. It would be a learning process through which a self-governing society is able to recognize and correct mistakes and evolve towards a new way of life, a new ecosocialist civilization, founded on an ecologically sustainable conception of the “good life.”
