Vol. 53 No. 210 (2023): Social-Ecological Transformation Conflicts and Left Strategies

Currently and for the foreseeable future, the ecological question is an essential dimension in almost all social areas and conflicts. But the gap between the pressure to act and the hesitant real changes is striking. And where ecological distortions meet unequal social conditions, socio-ecological transformation conflicts arise. This poses numerous challenges for the social left.

The jobs vs. environment dilemma is often cited, according to which climate and environmental protection and employment interests contradict each other. This dilemma is reinforced by right-wing forces that social-demagogically pose as defenders of workers' interests in resource- and emission-intensive sectors such as the car industry. The global dimension of socio-ecological inequalities and the perspective of global solidarity is also contested: the imperial way of life of large parts of the population in countries like Germany can only be maintained by externalising social and ecological costs to the Global South. As a result, the interests of the subalterns in different parts of the world come into conflict with each other.

PROKLA 210 examines these socio-ecological transformation conflicts and asks for convincing strategies and concepts for a more radical change of course that goes beyond ecological modernisation. What are the characteristics of socio-ecological transformation conflicts in this country and internationally? How do ecological crisis phenomena translate into social conflicts and vice versa? What can left strategies look like in view of the dramatic nature of the situation?