FIRST INTERNATIONAL ECOSOCIALIST MEETING
PARIS: On October 7th and 8th 2007, a group of ecological activists from thirteen countries met in Paris to inaugurate the Ecosocialist International Network. The International Ecosocialist Manifesto, written some years ago by Joel Kovel and Michael Löwy, was the starting point for this initiative. “Ecosocialism is a word that does not yet appear in any dictionary,” said one of the conveners of the event, “yet we believe that it represents the single best hope for healing the planet and saving society from ecological devastation.”
More than 60 activists from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States belonging to various political parties and ecological movements took part in this meeting. It was decided to organize a larger ecosocialist international conference on January 2009, in association with the next World Social Forum in Brazil.
The conference elected a coordinating committee which will help to develop the network in its opening phase; its members are:
- Ian Angus (Canada)
- Pedro Ivo Batista (Brazil)
- Jane Ennis (UK)
- Sarah Farrow (UK)
- Danielle Follett (USA/France)
- Vincent Gay (France)
- Joel Kovel (USA)
- Beatriz Leandro (Brazil)
- Michael Löwy (France/Brazil)
- Laura Maffei (Argentina)
- George Mitralias (Greece)
- Jonathan Neale (UK)
- Tracy Nguyen (UK)
- Ariel Salleh (Australia)
- Eros Sana (France)
- Derek Wall (UK)
Ecosocialists believe that the driving force of the ecological crisis is the ruthless pressure of the capitalist system to expand, in a process which destroys not only the integrity of nature but also the ecological basis of human survival. They therefore reject pseudo-solutions that only adjust the system, and seek basic changes in society and its relationship to nature.
Ecosocialism is a dynamic synthesis between ‘red” and ‘green’ approaches. It has no fixed blueprints for transforming society and takes a critical viewpoint toward the experiences maide in the name of socialism during the last century.
Ecosocialists are united in the belief that if we are to have a worthwhile future, the whole world needs to come together to drive capitalism from the stage and create an alternative society based on principles of social and environmental justice as well as popular participation. Thus the network sees itself as enabling communication and solidarity among the ever-increasing numbers of people and organizations who are coming to this realization.
For further information, please consult www.ecosocialism.org.
3 comments:
Three questions:
How many members have your new international and how active are you?
Can political parties join your international and how?
What is your political demands, except your ideological?
I am a US American living for twelve years in self-imposed and happy exile in western Mexico. I worked for years to get the green movement started in Texas, and years before that I was active in SDS. Thanks to you, I now know I am a red green. I would very much like to help. Is there an organization to join. At the moment I am unaffiliated. I am unable to travel to meetings because, first of all, I am not rich, and second because my lover of 32 years has Parkinson's disease and needs my constant care, which I am happy to give. Is there anything I can do to help from here? I am a writer, editor, photographer, graphic designer, and organizer. Please let me know.
Carlos Dews
These are encouraging news ! Since there are various ecosocialist and green Left political families, some of them coming from different branches of the Old Left, I hope that this ideological pluralism will help us to build a strong movement of resistence and alternative to the social and ecological unsustainability of capitalism, for equality in diversity, real freedom for all and solidarity.
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