Paper short abstract:

Against green capitalism, many organizations propose a Green New Deal. We will discuss the strengths and limits of these proposals, leaning on traditions from open/autonomist marxism, anarchism & popular ecology, and the actual struggles in Latin America for a radical socioecological transition.

Paper long abstract:

As the climate crisis worsens, the debate on how to confront it grows. While dominant classes propose a move towards Green capitalism, sociopolitical organizations from diverse veins have begun talking about a Green New Deal, or an EcoSocial Pact in the south. Green capitalism includes full commodification of nature (eg., carbon markets, green taxes) and technological solutions (eg., bioengineering) to the mounting costs of environmental degradation. On the contrary, the Green New Deal push for greater State intervention in the (capitalist) economy. These proposals presume that the problem is neoliberalism’s irrationality, but not capitalist social relations. Thus, they emphasize the need for State planning, nationalization of key enterprises, redistribution of income, and also greener taxation as the solutions.

But who will sign this New Deal: social movements or reformist NGOs? How can the capitalist State make good of these promisses? Is the climate crisis a consequence of neoliberalism, or a capitalist by-product? Can we tax-away this crises without further commodifying life and nature? How can we transition to a greener world if we don’t do away with dependency and imperialist rule?

In this article we will discuss the strengths and limits of these proposals, while sketching how real alternatives for socioecological transformation are actually leading the struggles for (anti)postcapitalist social change. We will lean on theoretical traditions from open/autonomist marxism, anarchism and latinamerican popular ecology to engage in a debate the includes the actual socio political struggles in Latin America for a radical socioecological transition.