Political Ecology: Beyond Environmentalism

"Change the system, not the climate!" This slogan, chanted in the streets of Paris during COP21, expresses a now implacable reality: political institutions are not adequately responding to the ecological crisis. Dimitri Roussopoulos looks back at the history of environmental policies that led to this failure and recalls the great diversity of citizen responses that can be made to this crisis, from the housing struggle in Montreal's Milton Parc neighborhood in the 1970s to Syrian Kurdistan today.
For this social ecology activist, the exploitation of nature is first and foremost a mirror of the exploitation of humans by humans. In other words, this troubled relationship with the natural world is merely a symptom of the socioeconomic, ethnic, cultural, and gender conflicts that exist in our societies. This is why today's environmental activists are not only dedicated to protecting the environment; they are also working to build new communities, new ways of living, and new ways of doing politics.
In this revised and expanded edition of an Écosociété classic, the author explores how environmentalists' aspirations can be channeled toward such political alternatives. It's an essential compass to guide us through the current confusion of environmental discourse and to act now on our lifestyles, our neighborhoods, and our cities.