The Revolutionary Socialist Network, Workers
Ecological Leninism has structural issues/prior questions
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Ecological Leninism has structural issues/prior questionsWoody, 2020 (Gus. “Revolutionary Reflections: Moving towards an ecological Leninism” rs21. December 18, 2020. https://www.rs21.org.uk/2020/12/18/revolutionary-reflections-moving-towards-an-ecological-leninism/ ///MF) Conclusion The introduction to Bellamy Foster and Burkett’s Marx and the Earth highlights what may be termed the ‘three stages’ of ecosocialist thought. [43] Put simply, the first consisted of the rejection of aspects of Marxism, to be supplemented by Green theory. The second saw the return of Marx: the excavation of his ecological thought in the metabolic theory championed by John Bellamy Foster and others. Finally, the third wave points to those who apply metabolic theory and its insights to specific situations and developments, the unleashing of the metabolism. If we are to take seriously Marx’s 11th thesis on Feuerbach, ‘philosophers have hitherto only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it’, then we need to put the theory of the metabolism to practical use. [44] Being able to explain particular ecological problems through Marxist metabolic theory still requires consideration of how to build a seriously revolutionary force. Metabolic theory may point to nodes, points, and flows in the metabolism where the proletariat can intervene, but it tells us little about how to get there. To put it crudely, there remains the absent question of ‘What is to be Done?’ I would suggest an ecological Leninism is the shift here. The fourth wave of ecological Marxism. One which speaks of aiming to seize power, moving swiftly to tackle the climate crisis, and doing so as revolutionaries. The preceding comments are brief dips into the pandora’s box opened by this term. But to summarise the potential directions of travel: What is an ecological Leninist understanding of and approach to the capitalist state? What does the ecological dictatorship of the proletariat look like? What is the organisational form of ecological Leninism? What are the strategic priorities and programmes adopted by such a body towards mass movements? What is the ecological Leninist conception of modern imperialism? How does this analysis contribute to the development of global ecological revolution? What is bedrock of ecological Leninism’s worldview? How does ecological Leninism approach the gordian knots of ‘nature’ and ‘science’ in ways that promote the transition to an ecological society? Finally, the thread that runs through all the above questions. How does an ecological Leninism learn from the successes and failures of past Leninist analyses and projects? How does ecological Leninism seriously attempt a synthesis between traditional Leninism, the changing nature of the world, and the insights on these question since Lenin’s death? There is a chance that any ecological Leninism, if it does answer the above questions and build on the insights of the 100 years since War Communism, would be unrecognisable to the Bolsheviks. Perhaps this is for the better. But the project of putting ecological Marxism into practice, of building an ecological movement which moves from tackling specific symptoms towards a revolutionary strategy, may as well start with Lenin. Download 2.09 Mb. Share with your friends:
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