ABSTRACT
The discussion in the previous chapter demonstrated that, although ‘compatible’ with elements of environmentalism as Dobson (2000: 165) suggests, political liberalism is unable to provide the basis for an ‘alternative’ environmentalism to that found in the economic strand. Its atomistic tenets, view of the state as minimal and neutral, and conception of politics as an ‘aggregate of autonomous decisions’ (de-Shalit 1995: 295), puts political liberalism at odds with the collective or ‘communitarian’ imperatives at the foundation of an ecological approach (Eckersley 1992; Dobson 2000; de-Shalit 2000). It has also compressed the liberal tradition ‘into an unbroken celebration of individualism’, and this simplified portrayal makes liberalism vulnerable to becoming an overly myopic, canonic narrative (Simhony and Weinstein 2001: 3; Jones 1994a: 3). The synergy of economic and political theorising in this respect has provided fertile ground for critique and for seeking a ‘post liberal’ paradigm (Eckersley 2004: 2) to replace ‘the rudderless, confused and defensive remnants of [a] liberalism that . . . [has] passed its use-by date’ (Lynch and Wells 1996: 1). However, while both economic and political liberalism have natural affinities ‘with individualist anthropology’, liberalism is a conceptually diverse tradition (Miller 1999: 173). The current preoccupation with ‘heroic’ individualism has served to neglect other important ‘moments’ in its history – moments that have significance for the present generally, and for environmental concerns specifically. The ‘social liberalism’ of nineteenth-century progressives, with its ‘reformulation of the relation between individual and society’, embodied a distinct ontology that sets it apart from both the economic and political strands (Freeden 1973: 434). However, it does not represent a third ‘compartment’. Rather, ‘social’ liberalism transcends the separation of the economic and political with its appreciation of the social, cultural and environmental linkages underpinning economic and political life. Looking back to this history of liberalism is
constructive for contextualising and engaging critically with the current dominance of economic liberalism. It is also useful for seeking an alternative beyond the impotence of political liberalism. In both respects, it also reveals the ‘chameleonic’ qualities that have given liberal doctrine its longevity (Jones 1994a: 2). Coalescing around the ‘social problems’ generated by a burgeoning industrial capitalism, the social liberal tradition is part of a long and varied history of reformist political economy. However, despite its past status as a dominant form of ‘political philosophical discourse’, the myopic tendencies of contemporary political and economic theory have rendered such histories neglected by liberal thinkers, as well as their critics (Simhony and Weinstein 2001: 7; Jones 1995: 102). Consequently, while opponents of environmental neo-liberalism search for other options, this strand of liberal thinking remains substantially ‘un-mined’. Yet, as de-Shalit (1995: 295) suggests, social liberalism may offer different possibilities for addressing environmental issues because it is less hostile to the state and more willing to advance ‘certain ideas of the good’ (such as conservation, for example). It may therefore offer a genuine (liberal) alternative to environmental neo-liberalism, providing a bridge towards the kind of society Dobson (2000) holds is emblematic of ecologism. An investigation of liberalism would therefore be incomplete without making explicit the green potential embodied in social liberalism.
