Social ecology is, in the words of its leading exponents, "a coherent radical critique of current social, political, and anti-ecological trends" as well as "a reconstructive, ecological, communitarian, and ethical approach to society". Social Ecology is a radical view of ecology and of social/political systems. Ernst Haeckel coined the term oekologie in 1866. ...

Social Ecologists believe that the current ecological crisis is the product of capitalism. They believe it is not the number of people, but the way people relate to one another that has fueled the current economic, social, and ecological crises that the world currently faces. Over-consumption, productivism and consumerism are thus symptoms, not causes, of a deeper issue with ethical relationships within societies. An ecological crisis occurs when the environment of a species or a population changes in a way that destablizes its continued survival. ... Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately owned, and capital is invested in the production, distribution and other trade of goods and services, for profit in a competitive free market. ... Over-consumption is a concept coined in developing nations to counter the rhetoric of over-population by which developed nations judge them as consuming more than their economy can support. ... Productivism is the (purported) ideology that measurable economic productivity and growth is the purpose of human organization and perhaps the purpose of life itself. ... Consumerism is a term used to describe the effects of equating personal happiness with purchasing material possessions and consumption. ... An ethical relationship, in most theories of ethics that employ the term, is a basic and trustworthy relationship that one has to another human being, that cannot necessarily be characterized in terms of any abstraction other than trust and common protection of each others body. ...

Social Ecology and Anarchism

Undoubtedly Social Ecology is one of the most influential currents in the eco-anarchist thread within anarchism. Social Ecology is associated with the ideas and works of Murray Bookchin, who had written on such matters from the 1950s until his death, and, from the 1960s, had combined these issues with revolutionary social anarchism. His works include Post-Scarcity Anarchism, Toward an Ecological Society, The Ecology of Freedom and a host of others. Eco-anarchism argues that small eco-villages (of no more than a few hundred people) are a scale of human living preferable to civilization, and that infrastructure and political systems should be re-organized to ensure that these are created. ... This article or section may contain inappropriate or misinterpreted citations. ... Murray Bookchin[1] (born January 14, 1921) is an American libertarian socialist speaker and writer, and founder of the Social Ecology school of anarchist and ecological thought. ... The 1950s was the decade spanning the years 1950 to 1959. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... Social anarchism is a term self-applied by many anarchists of the libertarian socialist thread of anarchism. ...

Social Ecology locates the roots of the ecological crisis firmly in relations of domination between people. The domination of nature is seen as a product of domination within society, but this domination only reaches crisis proportions under capitalism. In the words of Murray Bookchin: An ecological crisis occurs when the environment of a species or a population changes in a way that destablizes its continued survival. ... Domination is a supreme or preeminate control, rule, or governing; plural dominion. ... Galunggung in 1982, showing a combination of natural events. ... Human relationships within an ethnically diverse society. ... Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately owned, and capital is invested in the production, distribution and other trade of goods and services, for profit in a competitive free market. ... Murray Bookchin[1] (born January 14, 1921) is an American libertarian socialist speaker and writer, and founder of the Social Ecology school of anarchist and ecological thought. ...

"The notion that man must dominate nature emerges directly from the domination of man by man… But it was not until organic community relations… dissolved into market relationships that the planet itself was reduced to a resource for exploitation. This centuries-long tendency finds its most exacerbating development in modern capitalism. Owing to its inherently competitive nature, bourgeois society not only pits humans against each other, it also pits the mass of humanity against the natural world. Just as men are converted into commodities, so every aspect of nature is converted into a commodity, a resource to be manufactured and merchandised wantonly." (Op. Cit., p. 63)

"The plundering of the human spirit by the market place is paralleled by the plundering of the earth by capital." (Ibid., p. 65)

The University of California, Irvine offers a Bachelor's degree in Social Ecology. A community usually refers to a group of people who interact and share certain things as a group, but it can refer to various collections of living things sharing an environment, plant or animal. ... A market is, as defined in economics, a social arrangement that allows buyers and sellers to discover information and carry out a voluntary exchange. ... The term exploitation may carry two distinct meanings: The act of utilizing something for any purpose. ... The University of California, Irvine is a public research university primarily situated in suburban Irvine, California; a significant portion of the campus falls into the neighboring community of Newport Beach. ...

See also

• Murray Bookchin
• Peter Kropotkin

Murray Bookchin[1] (born January 14, 1921) is an American libertarian socialist speaker and writer, and founder of the Social Ecology school of anarchist and ecological thought. ... Peter Kropotkin Prince Peter Alexeevich Kropotkin (In Russian Пётр Алексе́евич Кропо́ткин) (December 9, 1842 - February 8, 1921) was one of Russias foremost anarchists and one of the first advocates of what he called anarchist communism: the model of society he advocated for most of his life was that of a communalist society...

Contrasting views

• Deep Ecology
• Eco-socialism
• Inclusive Democracy
• Green syndicalism
• Ecofeminism
• Gaia philosophy
• Greens
• Primitivism

Deep ecology is a recent philosophy or ecosophy based on a shift away from the anthropocentric bias of established environmental and green movements. ... It has been suggested that Red Greens be merged into this article or section. ... // What is Inclusive Democracy? Inclusive democracy is a new conception of democracy, which, using as a starting point the classical definition of it, expresses democracy in terms of direct political democracy, economic democracy (beyond the confines of the market economy and state planning), as well as democracy in the social... Green syndicalism is the philosophy of the green guild or sustainable trades movement. ... Ecofeminism is a social and political movement which unites environmentalism and feminism, with some currents linking deep ecology and feminism. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Greens are people who support some or all of goals of a Green Party without necessarily working with or voting for that or any party. ... Primitivism is an artistic movement that looks to early human history and non-Western or childrens art for inspiration and makes use of themes or stylistic elements from prehistory and tribal cultures. ...

External links

• Institute for Social Ecology (ISE)
• Eco-Eating: Eating as if the Earth Matters
• Libertarian Communist Library Murray Bookchin holdings
• Social Ecology Research Group
• The Ecology by barrameda.com.ar