In place of capitalism, eco-anarchists favour ecologically responsible forms of libertarian socialism (see section I), with an economy based on the principles of complementarity with nature; decentralisation of large-scale industries, reskilling of workers, and a return to more artisan-like modes of production; the use of environment-friendly technologies, energy sources, and products; the use of recycled raw materials and renewable resources; and worker-controlled enterprises responsive to the wishes of local community assemblies and labour councils in which decisions are made by direct democracy. (See, e.g. Murray Bookchin, Toward and Ecological Society and Remaking Society). Such an economy would be "steady-state," meaning that the rate of resource depletion would equal the rate of renewal and that it would not be subject to disastrous collapses in the absence of quantitative growth or stimulation by military spending.
As Bookchin emphasises, however, the ecological crisis stems not only from capitalism but from the principle of domination itself (see D.4) -- a principle embodied in institutional hierarchies and relations of command and obedience which pervade society at many different levels. Thus, "[w]ithout changing the most molecular relationships in society -- notably, those between men and women, adults and children, whites and other ethnic groups, heterosexuals and gays (the list, in fact, is considerable) -- society will be riddled by domination even in a socialistic 'classless' and 'non-exploitative' form. It would be infused by hierarchy even as it celebrated the dubious virtues of 'people's democracies,' 'socialism' and the 'public ownership' of 'natural resources,' And as long as hierarchy persists, as long as domination organises humanity around a system of elites, the project of dominating nature will continue to exist and inevitably lead our planet to ecological extinction" [Toward an Ecological Society, p. 76].
So, although we focus our attention below on the economic aspects of the ecological crisis and its solution, it should be kept in mind that a complete solution must be multi-dimensional, addressing all aspects of the total system of hierarchy and domination. This means that only anarchism, with its emphasis on the elimination of coercive authority in all areas of life, goes to the real root of the ecological crisis.
Eco-anarchists advocate workers' control of the economy as a necessary
component of a steady-state economy. This means society-wide ownership of
the means of production and all productive enterprises self-managed by
their workers, as described further in section I.
Most ecologists, even if they are not anarchists, recognise the pernicious
ecological effects of the capitalist "grow or die" principle; but unless
they are also anarchists, they usually fail to make the connection between
that principle and the hierarchical form of the typical capitalist
corporation. In contrast, eco-anarchists emphasise that socially owned and
worker self-managed firms, especially the type in which surpluses are
shared equally among all full-time members, would be under far less
pressure toward rapid expansion than the traditional capitalist firm.
The slower growth rate of co-operatives has been documented in a number of
studies, which show that in the traditional capitalist firm, owners' and
executives' percentage share of profits greatly increases as more
employees are added to the payroll. This is because the corporate
hierarchy is designed to facilitate exploitation by funnelling a
disproportionate share of the surplus value produced by workers to those
at the top of the pyramid (see C.2, "Where do profits come from?") Such a
design gives ownership and management a very strong incentive to expand,
since, other things being equal (e.g. no recession), their income rises
with every new employee hired. Hence the hierarchical form of the
capitalist corporation is one of the main causes of runaway growth. [See
e.g. Henry Levin "Employment and Productivity of Producer Co-operatives,"
in Robert Jackall and Henry Levin (eds.), Worker Co-operatives in
America, UC Press, 1984; cf. David Schweickart, Against Capitalism].
By contrast, in an equal-share worker co-operative, the addition of more
members simply means more people with whom the available pie will have to
be equally divided -- a situation that immensely reduces the incentive to
expand. Thus a libertarian-socialist economy will be able to function in
a stationary state, requiring neither an expanding population nor
technological innovation at a pace sufficient to guarantee increased
production. Moreover, it will be able to switch from a growth state to a
stationary state without excessive disruption. For if consumers start
buying less, this will increase leisure time among producers, which will
be shared by those firms affected first and then gradually spreading to
other sectors. For these reasons, libertarian socialism based on producer
co-operatives is essential for the type of steady-state economy necessary
to solve the ecological crisis.
E.1.1 Why do eco-anarchists favour workers' control?