Green political thoughtshaded area in Figure3.4represents the broad area covered by ecologism. On
this reading, ecologism clearly has most in common with those doctrines
(socialism, anarchism, feminism) that (1) are critical of capitalism and have
sought to transform it and (2) believe that human nature can and should be
changed to make us less individualistic and less materialistic, although it
has also drawn on reformist doctrines that seek to dilute the worst aspects
of the market, such as welfare liberalism and social democracy. Thus ecol-
ogism stretches leftwards from just right of centre, but it does not reach
thefar left because greens want to control the market rather than remove
it and their suspicion of the state means they reject any form of command
economy. Ecologism goes no further to the right because sustainability is
incompatible with an unfettered market economy. Moreover, greater par-
ticipatory democracy and decentralisation would be impossible in either a
command economy, by definition, or in a free market, where they would be
curtailed by economic inequality and the capitalist dynamics of accumula-
tion, competition and concentration. This approach leads to a conclusion
that is slightly broader than that of Dobson: yes, ecologism does occupy
broadly left-of-centre territory, but it draws in a wider range of perspec-
tives than his anarchist–emancipatory framework. Although the model of
asustainable society outlined at the start of the chapter closely mirrored
theecoanarchist blueprint, the discussion of core green principles and the
influence of other ideologies has highlighted weaknesses in this model and
indicated the existence of several alternative perspectiveswithinthe green
political arena. Indeed, it seems reasonable to expect that, just as there are
many varieties of socialism, feminism and conservatism, the territory staked
out by ecologism will have space for a range of green alternatives, including
both the radical ecoanarchist and the ‘pro-state’ ecosocialist models.
This relatively relaxed approach to fixing the boundaries of ecologism is
sensitive to the view that attempts to pin down a definitive ‘correct’ ver-
sion of ecologism not only close down discussion (and put off potential
adherents) but also understate the impact of green political theory on other
political traditions. In this respect, there is much to commend Barry’s (1999a)
attempt to distinguish green political theory from the ideology of ecologism
toenable a richer debate unencumbered by the need to adhere to a ‘party
line’.
Nevertheless, the central argument of this chapter is that the two core
themes that underpin the ecological imperative (a reassessment of human–
nature relations and the finitude of the Earth’s resources), supplemented
bya coherent set of principles drawn from other doctrines, is sufficient
forustotalk legitimately about ecologism as an ideology in its own right.
However, an important underlying theme is that many green theorists and
activists have increasingly come to accept that liberal democracy is here to
stay, so ecologism needs strategies for reforming it (Wissenburg 1998 ). It is
this question that underpins the remainder of this book.