New Age Ecological Consciousness and Capitalism
This special series is an attempt to investigate and evaluate the new age methods of environmentalism in vogue. These include corporates investing in ESG bonds, tech companies experimenting with green coding, proposing changes in production processes, reducing one’s carbon footprint, assessing e-waste generation, vegan eating, opting out of getting cutlery on food delivery applications and so on. These attempts seem to be techno-focused, almost dematerialised approaches towards environmentalism, which prods one to reflect on how these trends are consciously de-politicised and are made around goals of capital-accumulation and profit making. It is important to understand that a lot of new-age ecological attitudes are embedded in neo-liberal as well as libertarian economic values and transfers the responsibility of action from the conglomerates/institutions to the individual/consumers.
The seemingly radical counterpart to this is seen with approaches like the degrowth paradigm which entails an opposition to the idea of development in general and not the specific path or model of development and argues for a shift towards reducing global consumption and production. Though the de-growth model is backed by an intent to seek alternatives to the current reality, it still remains an empty signifier as it is not supported by an adequate critique of hegemonic systems that are at the root of the ecological crisis. Furthermore it seems either oblivious or indifferent to the demands for social and economic justice and decent work and living. An environmental approach that abhors human intervention in/appropriation of nature,displaces the focus on improving human lives and forgets that sustainability is not an attribute of nature but a social ideal.
Thus, through this series, we delve into possibilities of ecological efficiency amidst a more “informed” world that operates on capitalist formations. We wish to bring to the fore as well as critique different forms of environmentalism in vogue—green capitalism, ethical consumption, degrowth rhetoric, neo Malthussian trend (a sub-trend of degrowth), primordialist/religiously oriented environmentalism and so on. We also intend to locate neoliberal principles within certain sectors: most importantly, forest and water where there is rampant commercialization, and are often overlooked in policy matters.
