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10 ESSENCE March 17, 2010

LINDEN SHERMAN

In Enemy of Nature: The End of Capi-talism or the End of the World? (2002),

Joel Kovel, distinguished Professor of Social Studies at Bard College, pro-vides an unrelenting and insightfulindictment of capitalism as the causaefficiens , or “efficient cause,” of thecurrent ecological crisis.

For Kovel, ecological crises stemfrom capitalism’s inherent attachmentto the principles of profit maximiza-tion. Under free-market capitalism,firms must adopt the “sink or swim”mentality of profit maximization in

order to stay ahead of their competi-tors. To do so, a firm must render thefundamental use-value of natural re-sources, including human beings, intoquantifiable commodities available forsale on the market.

By fracturing the interconnectednessand intrinsic value of our communitiesand environment, this causes the over-exploitation of our natural and humanresource base and triggers the disinte-gration of the ecological “whole.”

Thus, Kovel believes that any formof political transformation aimed atattaining an ecologically just society must ultimately overthrow capitalism.To prove his point, Kovel spends anentire chapter systematically disprov-ing all existing forms of “eco-politics,”from green economics and coopera-tives to bioregionalism and anarchism.For Kovel, all of these solutions actas convenient masks for the continua-tion of capitalist forms of exploitation,risk sliding back into capitalist formsof exploitation, or are incapable of producing the necessary society-widetransformation.

Kovel’s solution, entitled “ecosocial-ism,” is an alternative socialist visionthat abandons socialism’s industrialistroots and adopts an ecocentric posi-tion that liberates both labour and

nature. For production to become“ecological,” we must emphasize theuse-value exchange of goods. Socialisttransformation must remain democrat-ic with labour organized into a self-governing system of “free associationsof producers,” as opposed to either thetraditional communist party-state orthe capitalist bourgeoisie state.

In sum, his goal is to create the “pre-figurative ensembles” – or prototypes– for social, economic, and politicalmechanisms that will organize aroundecological production, with no con-tradiction between or exploitation of labour and nature.

One such “pre-figurative ensemble”put forth by Kovel is the Bruderhof Hutterite colonies, which pursue so-phisticated forms of industrial produc-tion while maintaining anti-capitalistforms of ownership and distribution.Though the Bruderhof ’s consump-tion habits and relative ecologicalfootprints are significantly lower thanthe majority of their American con-temporaries, these communal societiesremain highly homogenous, authori-tarian, and patriarchal (ie. non-demo-cratic), providing very little inspira-tion as a model of widespread socialtransformation.

Other such “pre-f igurat ive en-

sembles” include vague references to

“autonomous zones of ecological pro-duction,” educational reforms, activeresistance, and co-operatives. Accord-ingly, Kovel emphasizes that “there isno royal road to ecosocialism, nor any privileged agent. It follows that humil-ity and flexibility should guide presentpolitics”.

This approach is novel in conception

but difficult in practice. Considering

that most of the world’s labour exists(perhaps ambivalently so) under someform of institutionalized capitalism,Kovel provides little critical reflectionon labour’s possible role in the activemaintenance or displacement of anecologically unjust society. Why, for example, have organized la-

bour groups such as the Woodworkers

of America (IWA) quarreled with en-

vironmental groups in the past? Why does job creation remain so critical togovernment re-election? Why, by re-investing the surplus profit of my ownproductive labour into things such aseducation, healthcare, and finances,am I acting in exactly the same way asa profit maximizing firm?

This is not to single out individu-

als or groups in their responsibility

for the ecological crisis, but rather tolook more deeply at our collective rolein the continuation of the capitalistsystem. As capitalism shatters traditional

relationships and ways of being, con-sumption is forced to pick up the piec-es. Increasingly, we not only consumeindividual products, but individualidentities, too. Thus, for many, con-sumption has become intricately tiedto the very formulation and expressionof being.

However, it remains unclear to me whether capitalism is simply the his-torical result of some original attack

on the commons. Indeed, we mustalso ask ourselves, what is thecausaefficiens of capitalism? I am convincedthat there is something more deeply compelling about capitalism: the in-stant capitalism enslaves us, it alsoliberates us. While capitalism doesexploit human and natural “ecologies,”the resulting material abundance andperceived choice is often liberating.

Perhaps the propensities for self-im-provement and perfectibility, whetherin tangible material conditions orintangible forms of wellness, are theproducts of the creativity, imaginationand drive that originally allowed hu-mans to survive as a species.

Perhaps the same human propensitiesthat drive profit maximization – com-petitiveness and individualism – arethe same ones that drove our ances-tors from the Fertile Crescent and intoevery inhabitable part of the globe.

Indeed, Kovel suggests that capi-talism’s “regime of ego” is the “latestversion of the purified male principle,emerging eons after the initial gen-dered domination became socially ab-sorbed and rationalized as profitability and self-maximization”. This indicatesthat Kovel really argues for a completere-assessment of the “capitalist” partsof our own psyches.

This hints at the enormity of thepost-capitalist project. Capitalism isnot simply a set of economic arrange-ments, but a complex web of political,social, and cultural institutions. Over-coming ecologically exploitative formsof production will not only require aneconomic recalibration, but an entireshift in political, social, and culturalthinking towards some sort of post-capitalist ecological ethic.

Following Kovel’s commitment todemocratic ideals, this type of changecan only occur through extensive pub-lic deliberation, not legislated fromabove, making the challenges of avert-ing crisis all the more difficult.

Thus, Kovel’s critique is insightfuland compelling, but fails to providespecific solutions that do not lack thesame contradictions, inconsistenciesand holes of the other “transformativeguides” he critiques. He offers little toput your hands on besides that whichis already being pursued by these othergroups.

In overcoming the ecological crisis, we must go beyond Kovel’s analysisand tackle the more serious questionof why capitalism is so ecologically incompatible yet seemingly infectiousand persistent today.

Finding an Alternative to Capitalism A Review of Joel Kovel’s “Enemy of Nature:The End of Capitalism or the End of the World?”

CAPITALISM AT ITS FINEST PHOTO BY JULIA BENNET

ECOSOCIALISM FOCUSSES ON THE INTRINSIC VALUE OF ECOSYSTEMS PHOTO BY NICOLE FONG