Format/Structure

Panel presentation and discussion

Long Abstract

Despite many different approaches to conceptualising transition within social-environmental sciences – from sustainability to socio-technical transitions – only one transition truly matters: the ecosocialist transition. Borrowing from the Marxist philosopher István Mészáros, ecosocialist transition can be defined as the process of establishing ‘a self-sustaining alternative metabolic order’ characterised by ‘the positive appropriation and ongoing improvement of the vital functions of metabolic interchange with nature among members of society by the self-determining individuals themselves’ (2010: 792). This definition acknowledges that we can never truly resolve our worsening social and ecological crises unless we understand them as being determined, in the last instance, by capital itself. ‘Either transition to socialism or regression into barbarism’ (Luxemburg 1915) remains the premise for establishing a safe and just operating space for humanity.

Although there is a wealth of critical ecological thought establishing ecological crisis as endemic to capitalism (Moore 2000; Foster et al. 2010; Saito 2017; Pineault 2023), the ‘question of transition’ remains the ‘the blind spot of contemporary radicalism’ (Toscano 2014: 761). Whilst we can imagine ‘other worlds’ organised through more rational and democratic means, far less is said about how we might theorise transition itself. This session welcomes contributions that address this blindspot, including but not limited to:

What is the relevance of historical theories of socialist transition in theorising contemporary ecosocialist transition?

What are the invariant features (see Heron, Milburn and Russell 2025) of an ecosocialist transition? How do we articulate these within the specificities of different contexts?

How can we project the necessary popular protagonism? What types of social subjects, alliances, and organizational forms might function as agents of transition?

What transitional dynamics might exist between communal forms and state action?

How do theories of transition take into account different positions in the world system of core, semi-periphery and periphery?

This Panel has 9 pending paper proposals.
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