Rejecting Eco-Authoritarianism, Again

Abstract

Ecologically-motivated authoritarianism flourished initially during the 1970s but largely disappeared after the decline of socialism in the late-1980s. Today, 'eco-authoritarianism' is beginning to reassert itself, this time modelled not after the Soviet Union but modern-day China. The new eco-authoritarians denounce central planning but still suggest that governments should be granted powers that free them from subordination to citizens' rights or democratic procedures. I argue that current eco-authoritarian views do not present us with an attractive alternative to market liberal democracy even if we take a highly pessimistic view of our shared prospects under the latter sort of regime.

Liberalism, Illiberalism, and the Environment

“…Among the catalysts for this special issue project is a lively, continuing debate on the relative possibilities and risks of various forms of environmental authoritarianism: ranging from the accomplishments as well as failures of state-led environmentalism in China (Beeson 2010;Blühdorn 2013;Wurster 2013;Shahar 2015;Bernauer et al 2013); to growing calls for binding, top-down, environmental mandates to mitigate urgent threats of global warming (Shearman and Smith 2007;Hobson 2012), species extinction, the global migration of new disease risks, and a plethora of other perceived and actual environmental emergencies. 2 The collection is relevant today in ways hardly imaginable at the onset of this scholarly undertaking.…”

Reframing Tacit Human–Nature Relations: An Inquiry into Process Philosophy and the Philosophy of Michael Polanyi

“…Whilst the 39 I agree with Hukkinen (forthcoming) in that whilst nudging is not ethically unproblematic, the 'fate of human beings as socially and materially circumscribed organisms is to constantly nudge and be nudged.' Whilst nudging can be criticized on democratic grounds (although I would not regard it being 'ecoauthoritarian'; Shahar, 2015), a truly undemocratic society would prevail in a post-ecocide future -it is the wholehearted responsibility of political actors to prevent this future from occurring.…”

“…The target audience of the article is therefore designed to consist primarily of environment-oriented policy makers and designers as well as environmental philosophers and scientists, although I expect the text to be wholly comprehensible -and moreover, interesting -to the more casual reader (this is also in accordance with the journal's guidelines). Also, since Environmental Values emphasizes cognizance and familiarity with current ongoing debate in the journal, I have made numerous references (Honig et al, 2015;Hukkinen, forthcoming;Richardson et al, 2015;Shahar, 2015) to recent (as of 3/2016) articles published in the journal and set the article in the context of current discussion within the journals publications.…”

Balancing and counterbalancing : the Indonesian state addressing pressures to improve palm oil sector sustainability

“…Then, I reflect on what types of governance the state is inclined to take, such as on a spectrum between the green state and environmental (eco) authoritarianism. In the green state concept, the state aims for improving environmental protection through civil society participation and democratic regimes that institutionalise checks and balances (Eckersley 2004a;Duit 2016;Shahar 2015;Ball 2006). In eco-authoritarianism, environmental protection is achieved through top-down approaches with extensive orchestration from state agencies and officials (Beeson 2010;Gilley 2012;Han 2017;Han 2015).…”

“…As an example, these scholars refer to the econationalism of the Nazi regime (Eckersley 2006). Another critique of eco-authoritarianism is the fear that bureaucrats are often unaware of social reality, and as such lack the required administrative and resource capacity to effectively protect the environment (Shahar 2015;Sommerer and Lim 2015).…”