Social ecology as critical political economy

Abstract

This article critically examines the alternative view of economics, politics, and society outlined in the works of contemporary social ecologists. The diverse writings of Murray Bookchin, Ivan Illich, Andre Gorz, Hazel Henderson, Karl Hess, Amory Lovins, and E.F. Schumacher are considered to detail the possible strategies of restructuring industrial society along more ecological lines. Although the social ecologists present an attractive conception of new forms of technology, political community, and ethical economic exchange, the analysis suggests that their program for societal transformation is limited by its incomplete political tactics for organizing mass social change.