• 3. Ecological Resistance

Defending Life

In the 21st century, humanity is facing an enormous ecological crisis caused by capitalist modernity. International forums such as the Conference of the Parties (COP), where states and capitalists meet, are unable to come up with effective solutions to the ecological problem. On the one hand, fossil industrialism wants to maintain its sources of profit despite the grave danger they represent; on the other hand, a proposal is made for a “green” capitalism based on renewable energy technologies, that does not question the dynamics of destruction and exploitation of society and nature, and is going to be the new frontier of extractivism, including in Europe.

It is becoming increasingly clear that a solution to the ecological problem cannot be found without a political and social transformation that overcomes capitalist modernity. In recent years, numerous movements have emerged to draw attention to the climate crisis and to demand solutions, resistance in defence of land and water, against mega infrastructures, toxic industries and military facilities. These ecological movements have been an important form of resistance and a glimpse of possible democratic alternatives. However, they do not yet have sufficient strength to influence environmental policies, even in individual states. Indeed, ecological movements face urgent political and ideological challenges. There is still the illusion that states can be allied to limit the ecological destruction of capitalism, or that the development of new technologies will enable an ecological turnaround of the system. From these considerations emerges the need for ecological movements to develop their own alternative worldview to the capitalist one, capable of criticising its ideological, political and economic pillars. From this it will be possible to address the other urgent need: to develop their own strategy capable of constructing prospects for social organisation that are autonomous from the agenda imposed by the rulers.

The ideological hegemony of capitalist modernity separates the individual from society, society from the environment, and obscures the history of society, its resistance and the transformations that have taken place. Real developments can only take place where ecological movements are able to rewrite the history of democratic struggles, linking them to struggles in the economic sphere, against war and for women’s freedom. A correct analysis of the situation cannot ignore the fact that women are in the vanguard of many ecological movements, showing how the defence of the earth and the environment is intimately linked to the struggle against the patriarchal system of domination. In summary, we believe it is necessary to discuss the forms in which love for one’s land and society is manifested in the European context, and in which forms it becomes an act of revolutionary resistance.

The aim of this workshop is to provide a framework for discussing these important questions, analysing the limits and potential of ecological struggles in Europe, and identifying common directions of struggle towards a renewed free, democratic and ecological society.