Wikipedia

Social-ecology

Not to be confused with Eco-socialism or Social ecology.

Social-ecology is a political movement that seeks to "link social and ecological issues".[1] Theorized by Éloi Laurent, it has mainly been used in France by the Socialist Party (PS).

Theorization

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In his 2011 book of the same name, Éloi Laurent proposes through social-ecology "a green economic model to reduce inequalities and preserve and conserve natural resources (p. 209), in order to adapt the globalized capitalist system to the context of the ecological crisis ".[2]

Scholar Michel Gueldry points out that social-ecology, represented by Éloi Laurent in France, is just one expression of "ecological thought", along with "simple living" (Pierre Rabhi), libertarian eco-communalism (Murray Bookchin), ecosocialism, political ecology ("in the sense of the vast leftist movement that emerged in the 1960s and 1970s, such as Hervé Kempf in France") and deep ecology.[3]

Usage in France

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In the partisan field

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In 1992, Ségolène Royal, Minister for the Environment in the Pierre Bérégovoy government, declared on the political program L'Heure de vérité: "If I wanted to sum it up in one word, I'm a social-ecologist", after specifying that, for her, "the environment is also a humanism" and that "what concerns me are inequalities in relation to the environment, and that's how I chose my priorities". For her, social justice and the environment are intimately linked.[4]

At the 1992 Rio Summit, she defended environmental justice in north–south economic relations, attacking the United States of America in the process.[5]

In 2003, Laurent Fabius, whose movement played "a decisive role in the evolution of the Socialist Party's ecological discourse" according to academic Timothée Duverger, argued "for a social-ecology", calling for ecology to become "central to the definition of the Socialist Party's policies".[6][7]

In 2010, the SP placed the notion of social-ecology at the heart of its new project: in terms of ecology, it advocated "eco-conditionality of tax breaks for businesses and an eco-modulable VAT", as well as a "climate-energy contribution".[8] Asked about this development in 2012, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a proponent of ecosocialism, defined social-ecology as "ecology with a concern for the social. Or social with an ecological sensibility. It remains on the surface, without getting to the bottom of the system. Ecosocialism is socialism. It's the new definition of the socialist approach".[9] During the 2012 presidential campaign, Aurélie Filippetti and several MPs and members of the Socialist Party's Ecological Pole put forward "François Hollande's social-ecology against the environmental liabilities of the Right".[10]

As already hinted at in 2009,[11] social-ecology became the SP slogan from the 2015 French departmental election campaign, under the impetus of First Secretary Jean-Christophe Cambadélis.[12][13] The term became part of the party's logo later that year, along with a leaf; the move was seen as a handout from socialist leaders to voters and members of Europe Écologie Les Verts, then in the process of splitting.[14] The Left Party denounced "a scandalous hold-up by the Socialist Party on eco-socialism", a term echoed in Jean-Christophe Cambadélis's motion: Cambadélis replied that "social-ecology has been defended by Laurent Fabius for 10 years now. Jean-Luc Mélenchon knew this, as he was once a member of this current within the Socialist Party".[15][16] That same year, Marie-Noëlle Lienemann, a member of the SP national bureau, wondered about the alternative between social-ecology and ecosocialism, and felt that her party was "still groping about the concept. Each term has already been pre-empted by other political forces or associations". In the end, she chose the term ecosocialism.[17]

  • Laurent Fabius and Jean-Marc Ayrault were leading figures in the social-ecology movement within the French Socialist Party (SP), before the latter made it a central notion of its project.
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The program presented by Benoît Hamon during his campaign for the 2017 citizens' primary has been described as social-ecological,[18][19] or ecosocialist.[20] François de Rugy, president of the Ecologist Party and candidate in this same primary, also presented himself on that occasion as a supporter of social-ecology.[21] During the 2017 presidential campaign, Éloi Laurent noted that "the social-ecological approach and the need for a social-ecological transition have progressed much further politically [than he could] have imagined six years ago, when [he] published Social-écologie. This can be seen, in particular, by consulting the programs of the two left-wing candidates in the presidential election" (Benoît Hamon and Jean-Luc Mélenchon).[22] During the campaign for the 2017 legislative elections, twelve SP figures led by former ministers Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, Mathias Fekl and Estelle Grelier, called for "reinventing the left of tomorrow" by advocating a "reformist social-ecology".[23][24]

During the campaign for the Aubervilliers congress (March 2018), Libération included social-ecology in the terms of "the hollow rhetoric" that contributed to the downfall of the SP, along with other expressions such as "vivre-ensemble" (living together), or "gauche de gouvernement" (government left).[25] After his election, Olivier Faure continued to use the expression to evoke his party's orientation: "Our party has become 'social-ecologist' and we no longer delegate these issues to political partners".[26] For the 2019 European elections, Le Parisien noted that within the SP, "social-ecology" was "gradually taking precedence over social-democracy", and that "under the influence of Place publique, the old party with the rose now advocated 'the meeting of social and ecology".[27]

Social-ecology and the exercise of power

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At the local level

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The alliance between the SP and the ecologists in the Nantes region is seen as an example of the practical application of social-ecology, with several figures emerging under the aegis of Jean-Marc Ayrault (Ronan Dantec, Jean-Philippe Magnen and François de Rugy).[28] Johanna Rolland, Jean-Marc Ayrault's successor as mayor of Nantes, also claimed to be a social-ecologist.[29] This is also the case for Damien Carême, mayor of Grande-Synthe (SP then EELV).[30][31]

On a national scale

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In June 2012, after the SP came to power, Environment Minister Nicole Bricq organized an environmental conference for the following month, "on an equal footing with the social conference", advocating social-ecology as a method.[32] In 2014, Cécile Duflot (Europe Écologie Les Verts) resigned from the government, saying it had favored "social orthodoxy" over social ecology:

"Choosing social-ecology means not just preserving an obsolete model, but preparing for a job-intensive future where we produce and consume differently."

— Lilian Allemagna, Laure Bretton, Cécile Duflot, Une décision douloureuse mais nécessaire, Libération

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Laurent 2015
  2. ^ Lejeune, Caroline (2012-06-13). "Éloi Laurent, 2011, Social-Écologie, Paris, Flammarion, p. 226". Développement durable et territoires. 3 (1). doi:10.4000/developpementdurable.9188. ISSN 1772-9971.
  3. ^ Michel Gueldry, "Enjeux écologiques de la crise alimentaire", La Vie des idées,‎ 24 may 2013
  4. ^ L'Heure de vérité (26 February 2020). "Ségolène Royal invitée de L'heure De Vérité | 18/10/1992 | Archive INA". YouTube. INA Politique. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Invitée : Ségolène Royal Ministre de l'environnement". YouTube. 6 June 1992. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  6. ^ Laurent Fabius (18 June 2003). "Pour une social-écologie". Libération.fr. Retrieved 4 January 2017..
  7. ^ Timothée Duverger, "Le Parti socialiste et l'écologie 1968-2011", Notes de la Fondation Jean Jaurès,‎ 19 september 2011
  8. ^ Laurent de Boissieu, "Le PS lance son "offensive de civilisation" contre Nicolas Sarkozy", La Croix,‎ 29 april 2010
  9. ^ Mathieu Deslandes; Jean-Luc Mélenchon (28 November 2012). "Mélenchon: "Je suis prêt à être Premier ministre"". Rue89. Retrieved 8 January 2017..
  10. ^ Aurélie Filippetti (27 October 2011). "La social-écologie de François Hollande contre le passif environnemental de la droite". lemonde.fr. plusieurs députés et membres du Pôle écologique du Parti socialiste. Retrieved 26 February 2017..
  11. ^ Guillaume Malaurie (17 June 2009). ""Green Storming" au PS". planete.blogs.nouvelobs.com. Archived from the original on 5 January 2017. Retrieved 4 January 2017..
  12. ^ André Bercoff (19 March 2015). "La social-écologie : quel potentiel électoral pour la dernière trouvaille de Jean-Christophe Cambadélis ?". Atlantico.fr. Retrieved 4 January 2017..
  13. ^ "Présidentielle 2017 : les inquiétudes de Cambadélis sur la gauche". L'Opinion.fr. 22 October 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2017..
  14. ^ Lilian Alemagna; Rachid Laïreche; Tristan Berteloot (30 August 2015). "La Rochelle, une gauche à implosion". Libération.fr. Retrieved 8 January 2017..
  15. ^ Marc de Boni (14 April 2015). "Le Parti de gauche accuse le PS d'un "holdup" sur ses idées". Le Figaro.fr. Retrieved 8 January 2017..
  16. ^ Jean-Luc Mélenchon, Corinne Morel Darleux, Martine Billard, Éric Coquerel, Mathieu Agostini, « Le scandaleux hold-up du PS sur l’écosocialisme », on Reporterre, 14 april 2015
  17. ^ "Qu'est-ce que la social-écologie ou l'éco-socialisme ?". mnlienemann.fr. 30 April 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2017. Support used at the end of the day on April 3, 2015 for his speech to trainees at the permanent university for Socialist Party executives and the Mouvement des jeunes socialistes.
  18. ^ Laure Bretton (2017). "Philippe Martin: "Benoît Hamon est le candidat de la sociale-écologie"". Archived from the original on 8 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017..
  19. ^ Geoffroy Clavel (7 January 2017). "Benoît Hamon, le candidat socialiste préféré des écologistes". huffingtonpost.fr. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017..
  20. ^ Timothée Duverger (19 December 2016). "5 raisons pour lesquelles je soutiens Benoît Hamon". ess.hypotheses.org. Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2017..
  21. ^ "Primaire à gauche. François de Rugy dépose sa candidature". Ouest-France.fr. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2017..
  22. ^ "ENTRETIEN – La transition social-écologique, avec Eloi Laurent". Nonfiction.fr. 31 March 2017. Retrieved 11 April 2017..
  23. ^ Gaëlle Macke (11 June 2017). "Législatives: Le PS en mode moribond". challenges.fr. Retrieved 12 June 2017..
  24. ^ "Douze figures du PS appellent à "réinventer la gauche"". Public Sénat.fr. AFP. 22 May 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017..
  25. ^ Rachid Laïreche; Laure Bretton (6 March 2018). "Les socialistes parlent-ils une langue morte ?". liberation.fr. Retrieved 8 March 2018..
  26. ^ Fabien Escalona (30 November 2019). "La résistible conversion des gauches à l'écologie politique". Mediapart. Retrieved 2 December 2019..
  27. ^ Jannick Alimi (2019). "A gauche ou à droite, cinquante nuances d'écologie"..
  28. ^ Anne-Sophie Mercier (7 June 2012). "Les hauts et les bas de l'"écolo-socialisme"". Le Monde.fr. Retrieved 8 January 2017..
  29. ^ "Européennes 2019. Johanna Rolland (PS) : « L'avenir de la gauche passe par la social-écologie »". presseocean.fr. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 6 August 2019..
  30. ^ Sylvain Mouillard (20 March 2017). "Damien Carême, hôte estime". Libération. Retrieved 11 April 2017..
  31. ^ Émilie Trevert (22 March 2017). "Damien Carême, artisan de la social-écologie". Le Point. Retrieved 11 April 2017..
  32. ^ Sophie Fabrégat (5 June 2012). "Conférence environnementale de juillet : la "social écologie" comme méthode". Actu Environnement. Retrieved 9 January 2017..

Bibliography

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