L3 - env authoritarianism and fascism Flashcards
intro + refresh
last class: modernity as cause and solution of env degradation
= two versions
- eco modernism: industrialization -> env crisis but industrialization can be made env sound through technological innovation
*criticisms: rebound effect (more corruption), what is env good is not always equal to what is good economically (and econ will win) + social problems - Green Keynesianism: capitalism (as part of modernization) is the problem, but can be made more env friendly
= Aaronhoff (thicker version): state shuold promote green production
*criticisms: only global sovereign able to control how capital moves (hold levers keynesian econ) + even green consumption can still generate env harm
both are troubled by epical critique: modernity is the cause, than how is modernity the solution?
today:
bleak lens of fascism and authoritarianism: how they frame the problem and what type of solutions they offer
- avocado politics (Gilman): projects that are green on the outside BUT brown/far-right on the inside
- examples (Gilman): German fascism, national socialism (green wing of nazi party)
Gilman (summary basic ideas)
genealogy of ideological continuities/linkages between fascism and ecology (well before nazism emerged)
pre-nazi blend of naturalist-nationalist sentiment (brewing in German political culture) around the rejection of modernity
- Anti-modern rejection of industrialization, urbanization, capitalism, and rationality as environmentally destructive forces (associated with Judaism)
- Nature mysticism, traditionalism, and romantic connection to nature (associated with German völk)
- Pseudo-scientific “justification” of this distinction in early ecology
national socialist ideology and practice
- Skepticism of modernity and anthropocentrism, argues society must be organized according to nature’s laws
- Frames anti-modernism in racialized terms, in part by drawing on misapplied ecology (env destructive forces modernity associated with Judaism)
- Pursues environmentally sensitive policies in agricultural and industrial sectors
- Enacts assertive environmental laws
significance
- Environment and ecology are politically indeterminate (i.e., environmentalism and ecologism can be part of all sorts of political projects and endowed with all sorts of political meaning)
- Therefore, must be vigilant about how green concerns are interpreted and mobilized politically
hybrid nationalist/naturalist distinction
Nazism put nationalist spin on anti-modernism on environmental grounds: society should be organized on dictates nature
- ‘green wing; of the Nazi party was active in diff policy domains: advocated env sensitive policies in industrial and agricultural sectors + some of the most robust env laws (seen up to now)
what does this mean? this genaolgoical confluence points that environmentalism and ecology are politically indeterminate: caring for env doesn’t automatically translate to a certain politics/political project = suggests we need to be vigilant how green concerns are interpreted and given meaning
anti-modern naturalism and nationalism
Late 19th, early 20th century Germany: cultural synthesis of naturalism and nationalism
- Naturalism: nature is not inert matter to dominate through reason, but a quasi-mystical entity to commune or connect with (affirmed with deep mysterious interconnectivity of all things)
- Nationalism: well-being of German people linked to well-being of German land, nature and nation one (nature and nation were one of the same)
E.g., Völkisch movement
= powerful cultural disposition that
- Unites ethnocentric populism with nature mysticism
- Rejects modernity i.e., capitalism, industrialization, urbanization
(Stautenmeier or smth) - Advocates return to land, simplicity, natural purity = return to simplicity life close to nature, maintaining natures purity
- Personifies forces of modernity as expressions of Judaism
- Naturalism and nationalism linked to antisemitism
- Judaism became personification of modernity including its destruction of the env
ecology
Ernst Haeckel: originator of term “ecology” (i.e., study of how organisms interact with environment); social Darwinist; proponent of eugenics; proponent of “racial purity”
(close connection ecology and racism and nationalism)
- Early ecology bound up in an intensely reactionary political framework: commitment to applying biological concepts directly on society
- Unmediated application of biological concepts onto society has complex implications
- Insisting human society is governed by the same laws as the rest of nature cuts against anthropocentrism and the modern ethos of human supremacy and control (humans not superior to the rest of non-human nature)
- Insisting human society is governed by the same laws as the rest of nature lends scientific veneer to racist naturalism-nationalism of völkisch movement (i.e., modernity personified can be framed as antithetical to the “laws of nature” or “unnatural”)
*antisemitism etc found justification in ecology: urbanization, industrialization personified in the Jew were seen as against the laws of nature
youth movement
“Hiking Birds” [Wandervögel] youth movement (example of a youth movement)
- Neo-romanticism, nature mysticism, hostility to reason
- Environmental conservation, wilderness expeditions, immersion in nature
- “Right-wing hippies” later absorbed by Nazis who model their own youth movement on it
advocating a return to the land -> cultivated sensitivity to the natural world and bemoaned the damage modernity had done to it, later absorbed by the Nazis + formed own youth movement
- rejection idea society should be organized in purely rationalized ways (originated in French revo)
- C19 pushback against this: maybe it can’t be remade however human logic decides it should be = expressed in romantic movement
- rejection enlightenment project and return to something beyond rationality, something that escapes calculation (social world can’t be completely rationalised)
nazism tapped into these ideas: combined racialized nationalism/naturalism, ecological reduction of the social to the biological and mystical rejection reason and modernity
(another vehicle through which ethnocentrism, anti-modernism and ecology found a toehole in German political culture (Völkisch movement is another))
environment and nazi ideology 1
Denigrates human agency in favor of natural order and law
(human agency subordinate to nature)
- Takes issue with anthropocentrism and modern ethos of human primacy (humanity not the center of the universe, nature is)
- Anthropocentrism only valid “if it is assumed that nature has been created only for man. We decisively reject this attitude. According to our conception…man is a link in the living chain of nature just as any other organism” (nature is superior to humanity)
- Systems of human life must be modeled on nature and organized according to fixed laws of nature (man should not rule nature)(nature’s laws are fixed)
- Failure to organize human society according to nature’s dictates will lead to social and environmental devastation
environment and nazi ideology 2
Emphasizes organic holism
- Holism: parts of a whole (e.g., system or organism) can’t exist independently or be understood except in relation to whole, which therefore takes priority over parts
- E.g., 1934 Reich Agency for Nature Protection biology curricula objective: “Very early, the youth must develop an understanding of the civic importance of the organism, i.e., the coordination of all parts and organs for the benefit of the one and superior task of life” (to survive elements must work together)(survival of the whole more important than survival specific pieces)
- Nazi thought transposes ecological-biological idea of holism onto society
- Because human society is no different from nature, rules of ecology and biology apply
- This has authoritarian implications: individuals can be sacrificed for totality
- This has racist implications: if an “urbanized and overcivilized modern human race” is “responsible” for destroying the environment, then it must be eliminated
env and ecology were central themes in nazi ideology
- but also in practice: implemented env sensitive policies (green wing nazi party promoted these)
environment and Nazi practice (green wing Nazi party)
- agricultural policy
- Organic farming methods introduced at mass scale
- Goals a) re-agrarianization b) farming conducted according to “laws of life”
- Increased agricultural productivity in harmony with nature (soil needed to be kept healthy)
- Government (ministry of agriculture headed by committed ecologist) support for environmentally sound agriculture
at this time unmatched support for environmentally sound methods of farming
env and Nazi practice (green wing Nazi party)
- industrial and technological policy
- Massive construction projects (e.g.,. Autobahn) must be executed in environmentally sensitive way
- Construction must harmonize with natural surroundings and complement landscape
- Environmental criteria for industrial projects (e.g., protection of wetlands, forests, fragile eco-systems)
- Reich “Advocate for the Landscape” ensures industrial build-up doesn’t compromise environment (env safeguarded)
also headed by “green wing”
env and Nazi practice (green wing Nazi party)
- environmental laws
pieces of ordenance:
- 1933: reforestation; species protections; preservationist limits to industrial development; construction of nature preserves
- 1935: guidelines for safeguarding of flora, fauna, and natural monuments; restrictions on commercial uses of natural resources; requirement to consult “nature-reserve” authorities in advance of development
= even more influential
perhaps most important
attention to env is built into nazi law
env and genocide
Anti-humanism and preoccupation/fixation with natural purity feed into genocide
National Socialism personified forces of modernity (capitalism, industrialization, urbanization) as expressions of Judaism
National Socialism blamed modernity’s environmental degradation on “destructive influence” of a race
To correct for environmental degradation, and return/reclaim the German people to their supposedly innate closeness to nature, Nazism sought to eliminate that race
Legacy of eco-fascism in power: “genocide developed into a necessity under the cloak of environmental protection”
lesson nazism embrace of env concern: env and ecology are politically volatile, can be pressed on surface of all kind of protects from the left and right
- take on political meaning only through meanings we attach to them
Li & Shapiro
== pivot from environmental fascism to environmental authoritarianism
China as eco-political model? eco-autocrat needed to save planet?
- China world leader on evn
- contrast democracy and env process
- some people see China as beacon of hope for env repair and perhaps as political model for achieving env outcomes (planet needs green autocracy)
NO: Chinese state is not authoritarian environmentalism (where env is the end and authorirtarinsm is the means), China is environmental authoriatarian (coercion is the goal, env is invoked as means to the end of it)
environmental authoritarianism
- environmentalism as means to the end of authoritarianism
- state uses environmentalism to concentrate, entrench and justify authoritarian rule
environmental authoritarianism in China
- expansion of state’s regulatory scope to env and env adjacent issues
- cooptation of non-state actors (e.g. NGOs, media, scientists) into state’s environmental agenda
China’s environmental accomplishments real but compromised
- China has made environmental progress (e.g., clean tech industries, enshrining of “ecological civilization” in Constitution (commitment to higher stage of dev characterized by env/social wellbeing in constitution PRC)
- But is still plagued by environmental challenges (e.g., pollution, contamination)
it may be one of the greenest places, but also the most polluting
int’l level: promoted env questionable construction and products
national level: pollution problems etc. - What progress has been made has come at the cost of individual rights and social freedoms (sacrificed in name of env improvement)
environmental authoritarianism in China
Environmental authoritarianism is different in different parts of the country
In less developed areas, it can take the form of forced relocations in the name of environmentalism
- Relocation to facilitate reforestation, building of renewable energy sites, conservationism, etc.
- Often targets ethnic minorities
Can allow state to advance several goals at once
- E.g., with forced relocations, state can pacify border regions and secure green energy at the same time (e.g. hydropower dams)
For Li and Shapiro, this isn’t authoritarian environmentalism, but environmental authoritarianism
- authoritarianism is the goal, environmentalism is the means
- consolidation of state power
environmentalism and the growth of state power
use environmentalism to enforce authoritarianism in
- physical space of its geography
- internal psyche/experiences of its people
Increased OUTWARD manifestation of state power
- E.g., state moves whole populations and builds new hydropower dams in their wake, leaving physical mark on environment
- That mark sends a message: the state is powerful and authoritative, so much so that it can dramatically reorder both people and environment
- physical side: material expressions of the state that affirm its atuhority and strength
Increased INWARD experience of state power
- E.g., morality bank: part of social credit system awarding points for virtuous deeds and deducting them for immoral behavior
- Environmentally virtuous deeds like recycling rewarded, environmentally unvirtuous deeds punished
- state penetrates further in experiences of people
Taking up environmental concerns can expand authoritarian state’s reach and increase its resilience
China and High Modernism
increased reach both internal and external reflects high modernist ambitions of China (mastery and control key for modern ethos)
Mastery and control key ingredients of modern ethos
Li and Shapiro see this in China
People mastered and controlled
- E.g., morality bank (people are readable/transparent for the state)
- Citizens legible or transparent to state
- Can be monitored and evaluated according to environmental conformity with regime
- Environment mastered and controlled
- E.g., hydropower dams
- Water and land its channeled through subjected to technological command and direction
environmental authoritarianism = modern project
two contrasts
Both skepticism and embrace of modernity can issue in coercive politics
- For National Socialism, human domination of nature yields social and environmental devastation
- For China, human domination of nature yields social and environmental advancement = acceptance of modernity + attempt to further and improve it by making it sustainable (so some uncanny resemblance to eco-modernism)
- Environmental assessments of modernity can be politically indeterminate
Environmental coercion and illiberalism at play in the West too
- E.g., UNFCCC REDD+ program (“Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation”) (Li and Shapiro)(initiated by Norway)
- Rich countries effectively pay poor countries to not cut down forests
- This policy can be unpopular among citizens in target countries who can no longer use their environments as they’d like to without having had much say in the matter
- Here it’s not the state, but an international organization that issues coercive environmental policy
- E.g., Climate crisis as rationale for tighter borders, stronger nationalism (Gilman)
*e.g. maintaining purity of untouched wilderness linked to racial purity
*Gilman: if climate change is seen as heightening resource scarcity, those sorts of problematic conflations are likely to return (and we have recently seen this in far-right actors in the rest)
avoiding eco-coercion (env authoritarianism and fascism)
it is about their logic (so they don’t necessarily directly say it)
Gilman One
- Cautions against framework of catastrophe, which can motivate new forms of eco-fascism as readily as mainstream environmental engagement
- E.g., apocalyptic framing of climate change may invite extreme opposition to immigration and “us vs. them” antagonisms
Gilman Two
- Makes a bid for the importance of historical awareness
- If we understand how past illiberal politics took up environmentalism, then we can reduce the chances of environmentalism being co-opted by present and future illiberal politics
- The historical form of Gilman’s argument is in this way connected to its prescriptive content (understanding how env and far-right politics intersected in the past -> better position to understand how they might intersect / are already starting to intersect down the line)
Gilman Three (implicit in Gilman’s work)
- Cautions against unreflectively applying natural scientific concepts onto society
- E.g., National Socialists thought ecological holism must dictate socio-political life, but this authorizes absolutism and shuts down debate, negotiation, and compromise (organize society according to nature -> no room for debate)
- Argues against reducing social systems and dynamics, which are contingent and mutable, to natural systems and dynamics, which are necessary and immutable (to avoid eco fascism)
Li and Shapiro (less prescriptive than Gilman, but some can be drawn from their work)
- Caution to be wary of environmentalism as Trojan horse
- Overtly protecting the environment can be a way to covertly advance other political goals (CAN BE, DOESNT HAVE TO BE)
- Suggest we interrogate political implications of different courses of environmental action
- (efforts/claims to address env concerns can really be way other goals as well)
questions
nazism: were the env policies effective? they were implemented, it was not mere rhetoric
reactionary modernism: effortto take up tools of modernity (technological, bureaucratic state) to reject/overcome modernity (eco, social, political configuration)
- use modern techniques to reject modernity and envision/create something beyond it (seeming contradiction)
nazism = anti-communistic (so does not fit with watermelon rhetoric that it is green on the outside and red at the inside)
movement east = appropriate bc neighbours fail to take care of env, German settlers would be better at it
video Li and Shapiro - diff authoritarian env and env authoritarianism
authoritarian environmentalism
- what Western observers want China to look like
- using authoritarian means to accomplish environmental goals
- end goal is noble/env enough, the means don’t matter
- perhaps temporary sacrifice indiv freedom is justified given env crisis
vs
environmental authoritarianism
- what is going on in China
- using env means to justify the intensification of authoritarianism
- green initiatives may or may not actually translate to good env outcomes BUT across all cases consolidation/intensification China’s power/capacity (monitoring technology etc)
