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Title: The Environment Author: Workersâ Solidarity Federation Language: en Topics: ecology, economics, environment, organization, racism, South Africa, syndicalist, technology Source: Retrieved on January 1, 2005 from http://www.cat.org.au
Anarchism ... has always fostered an intense interest in the proper
ecological management of the Earth, and its history, theory and practice
contains valuble clues and suggestions as to how we might overcome the
ecological crisis that presently confronts the human species.
Graham Purchase, Anarchism and Ecology: the Historical Relationship of
Anarchism to Ecological Thought, Black Swan, 1992.
1. The Earth is facing an environmental crisis on a scale unprecedented
in human history. This environmental crisis is already responsible for
high levels of human suffering. If the crisis continues to develop at
its current rate, the ultimate result wil be the extinction of human
life on the planet.
2. We call for action to end the environmental crisis because of the
threat it poses to humankind, and because we recognize that nature and
the environment have value in their own terms. Although we hold human
life above all other life on the planet, we do not think that humans
have the right destroy animals, plants and eco-systems that do not
threaten its survival.
3. The main environmental problems include:
3.1. Air pollution: destroys the ozone layer that filters out dangerous
rays from the sun; creates a general increase in planetary temperatures
(the greenhouse effect) that will severely disrupt weather patterns;
turns rain water into acid that destroys plant and animal life; causes
respiratory and other diseases amongst humans.
3.2. Solid waste: the sea and the land environments are poisoned by the
dumping of dangerous industrial wastes (such as mercury and nuclear
waste); the use of materials that nature cannot break down in packaging
and in other products, particularly disposable products, have turned
many parts of the world into large rubbish dumps as well as wasting
resources; poisons and injures people.
3.3. Soil erosion: this takes place in both the First and the Third
World, and is the result of factors such the (mis-)use of chemical
fertilizers, dangerous pesticides etc, as well as inappropriate land
use, land overuse, and the felling of trees. For these reasons, soil is
eroded at a rate faster than that at which it is being produced;
contributes to rural poverty [1].
3.4. Extinction: plants and animals are being made extinct at a faster
rate than any time since the dinosaurs died out, 60 million years ago;
results in the loss of many species, and undermines the ecosphere on
which all life depends.
4. All of these environmental problems exist on a serious scale in South
Africa [2].
4.1. For example, in 1990 coal burning power stations and factories in
the Eastern Transvaal and Vaal Triangle pumped acid rain-producing
chemicals into the atmosphere at levels twice those of (ex-)East
Germany, which is the country with the worldâs most serious acid rain
problem [3].The area affected includes half of South Africaâs
agricultural land and forest resources, whilst the rivers that drain out
of it provide a quarter of the countryâs surface water.
4.2. As for soil erosion, this takes place in South Africa at a very
high rate: on average, at least 20 tons of topsoil are lost for every
ton of grain produced. Rates are higher in many areas.
5. The environmental crisis has contributed strongly to the emergence of
a large world-wide environmental movement. This movement first emerged
in the nineteenth-century but has become especially prominent since the
1960s.
6. We reject the argument that economic development and economic growth
always leads to the destruction of the environment. The implication of
this type of argument is either that the environmental crisis is
unavoidable and that we should just âgrin and bear itâ, or that the
worldâs economy must be drastically shrunk, and industry replaced with
small-scale craft and agricultural production.
6.1. By âdevelopmentâ we mean a sustained structural shift in the
economy from the primary sector (farming, mining) towards manufacturing
and the service sector; by âeconomic growthâ we mean the expansion of
per capita output in a given economy. [4].
6.2. There is nothing inherently environmentally destructive about
modern industrial technologies [5]. Many dangerous technologies and
substances can be replaced. For example, petrochemical based plastics,
which are not biodegradable, can be replaced by starch-based plastics
(which safely disintegrate if left outside in a couple of weeks),
palm-oil can be used to replace diesel etc.
6.3. There is nothing wrong in and of itself with development and
economic growth [6]. The point is that these processes can and must take
place on environmentally-sensitive and sustainable lines. Dangerous
technologies must be replaced with sustainable ones (eg). nuclear energy
with solar energy. Wasteful practices must be ended (eg). the use of
disposable containers as opposed to recyclable ones like glass bottles;
the production of more of a good than can be used.
6.4. There is still a need for (environmentally-sustainable) development
and economic growth in order to deal with poverty and under-development
(eg). need for a massive program of house-building.
6.5. In addition, industrial technology holds a number of advantages
over small-scale craft production [7]. Industry can produce many types
of goods on a larger scale and at a faster rate than craft production,
and can thus not only increase the level of economic growth, but also
help shorten the working day, and free people from many unpleasant jobs.
7. We reject the argument that the First World is, as a whole,
responsible for the environmental crisis [8]. By the âFirst Worldâ we
mean the advanced industrial capitalist countries of West Europe, the
United States of America, Canada, Australia, and Japan. According to
this kind of argument living standards in the First World are
excessively high, with the âaverageâ person not only consuming resources
at a much higher rate than people elsewhere, but also owning far more
things than are remotely neccesary for a comfortable existence. The
implication of this argument is that there must be a drastic reduction
in First World living standards, and that the rest of the world can
never hope to raise their living standards to the levels supposedly
enjoyed by the ârich countries.â
7.1. The majority of people in the First World â the working class â are
not a rich elite living it up at the expense of the planet and the Third
World (Africa, Asia, South America, and arguably, parts of the
ex-Eastern bloc) [9].There are massive levels of inequality in wealth
and power in the First World.
7.2. For example, in the United Kingdom (UK) (Britain and Northern
Ireland) at the start of the 1980s, the top 10% of the population
received 23.9% of total income while the bottom 10% received only 2.5%.
The top 10% of the population also owned four fifths of all personal
wealth, and 98% of all privately held company shares and stocks. The top
1% itself owned 80% of all stocks and shares. Meanwhile the bottom 80%
of the population owned just 10% of the personal wealth, mostly in the
form of owning the ho use they live in. These economic inequalities
correspond to material deprivation and hardship. A study published in
1979 found that about 32% of the population of the UK (15â17.5 million
out of a population of 55.5 million) was living in or near poverty. A
1990 United Nations survey of child health in the UK showed that 25% of
children were malnourished to the extent that their growth was stunted
[10].
7.3. From these figures it should be clear that the majority of the
working class in the First World is not enjoying âvery high per capita
material living standardsâ. The high levels of consumption that exist in
the First World can only be explained by reference to the excessively
high living standards of the ruling classes as well as parts of the
middle class. In the Third World, too, there is a small ruling elite
whose jet-set lifestyle contributes directly to environmental
degradation.
7.4. In fact, given that most industry (and hence pollution) is located
in the First World, the working class of these countries is among the
primary victims of environmental degradation.
7.5. Thus, the majority of people in the First World do not need
âde-developmentâ and a scaling down of living standards, but increased
(egalitarian and environmentally-sensitive) growth to improve their
living standards.
8. The real blame for the environmental crisis must be laid at the door
of capitalism and the State, and the society which these forces have
created.
9. Capitalism is an enormously wasteful system of production, which is
geared towards competition in the market, and to making profits. Under
capitalism, the needs of the working class are not met, a false sort of
âover-productionâ takes place, and pollution is endemic [11]. See
position paper on class struggle for discussion of capitalism.
9.1. Huge amounts of goods are built to break as soon as possible in
order to keep sales up (built-in obsolescence).
9.2. A large number of useless or inefficient goods are promoted and
sold by means of high pressure advertising (eg) private cars in place of
large-scale public transport.
9.3. We must not make the mistake of assuming that all goods produced
under capitalism are actually consumed by ordinary people. Often the
bosses produce more of a given good than can be sold on the market, and
this can lead to a price collapse and a recession. The bossesâ solution
is to destroy or stockpile the âextraâ goods, rather than distribute
them to those who need them (which would cut into profits) (eg). In 1991
there were 200 million tons of grain worldwide which were hoarded to
preserve price levels. Three million tons could have eliminated famine
in Africa that year.
9.4. It also costs money and cuts into potential profits to install
safety equipment and monitor the use of dangerous materials. It is more
profitable for the capitalists to shift these costs (sometimes called
âexternalitiesâ) onto the consumer in the for m of pollution. 9.5. We
noted above that there are many environmentally-friendly technologies
that can replace environmentally destructive ones. Many of these have
been bought up and suppressed by vested capitalist interests that do not
want technological changes that will threaten their profits [12].
10. The State, like capitalism, is a major cause of environmental
degradation. See position paper on class struggle for discussion of the
state.
10.1. The State is a structure created to allow the minority of bosses
and rulers to dominate and exploit the masses of the working class (and
working peasants). The State will not willingly enforce strong
environmental protection laws against the bosses because it does not
want to cut into the profits of the bosses and into its own tax revenue.
10.2. In addition, the rulers of the State are afraid that strong
environmental laws will chase away investors (eg). in 1992, capitalists
in Holland were able to block a proposed tax on carbon pollution by
threatening to relocate in other countries [13].
10.3. The State directly contributes to the environmental crisis in its
drive to strengthen its military power against the working class and
against rival States. War and the mobilization of resources for war has
devastating effects on the environment [14].
10.4. Massive amounts of resources that could be used to introduce
environmentally-friendly technologies, promote soil conservation and the
like are spent on military projects: worldwide military expenditure
amounts to $900 billion a year.
10.5. Military technology such as atomic weapons are more than capable
of destroying all life on the planet. Beyond this, many technologies
developed in wars have been adapted to industry, resulting in very
dangerous products (nuclear weapons â > nuclear reactors; nerve gases
â > pesticides).
10.6. Both war and environmental destruction are based on a disrespect
for life and the values of domination, conquest and control (over people
or nature).
10.7. Another example of the links between the Stateâs war against
people and its war against the environment: evidence has emerged that
the South African Defense Force (SADF) was involved in the smuggling of
ivory and rhino horns to fund Unita and Renamo rightwing armed
operations in Angola and Mozambique [15]. In this case, rare animals
were slaughtered to prop up reactionary movements aligned to the
Apartheid state.
11. Capitalism and the State also contribute to environmental
degradation by generating massive inequality.
11.1. One reason for the environmental crisis is clearly the excessively
high consumption of the ruling classes of the First World and the Third
World. Capitalism and the State always result in the accumulation of
wealth and power in the hands of a few.
11.2. Poverty also leads directly to environmental destruction (eg). the
homelands system in South Africa. The homelands only make up 13% of the
countryâs surface territory but are home to more than 10 million people,
thus creating severe pressure on the land: the land is overgrazed,
scarred by dongas, and natural woodlands are denuded [16].
11.3. Poverty is the direct result of the system of capitalism and the
State (eg). the capitalists supported the homelands system because they
wanted farming in the homelands to subsidize cheap migrant labor by
supporting the workersâ families, and providing a retirement home for
old and crippled workers. In addition, they wanted to prevent African
peasants from competing with them in agriculture and the land market.
The size of the homelands reflects the process of colonial dispossession
that resulted in the White farmers owning most of the land. The State
supported the homelands system because it promotes the interests of the
capitalists and also because it wanted to prevent the development of a
urbanized African working class. See position paper on fighting racism
for discussion of racial capitalism in South Africa
12. It is possible that the very idea that people should dominate and
exploit nature only emerged after relationships of domination and
exploitation developed within human society [17]. In classless
societies, according this theory, people saw themselves as part of
nature, but with the emergence of inequality a new worldview in which
others (humans and the environment) were seen as things to be
manipulated and controlled develops.
13. We reject the idea that the environment can be saved by means of the
State, or by electing a Green Party. Not only does the State defend
capitalism, but the State is itself one of the main causes of
environmental destruction.
Class
14. At a general level, it is clear that the environmental crisis
affects everybody, and threatens the survival of the human race as a
whole.
15. However, even though the environmental crisis is a global threat, it
is the working class (and working peasantry) that is most severely
affected by the various environmental problems [18].
15.1. It is the working class which has to take the dangerous jobs that
cause environmental degradation. At least three workers died of exposure
to mercury waste at the Thor Chemicals plant in KwaZulu-Natal [19]. The
company got off with a R13,500 fine in 1995. Farmers in South Africa (as
well as the State) routinely make use of dangerous pesticides which are
banned or restricted in their countries of manufacture [20]. The workers
who do the actual spraying are often untrained, lack protective
clothing, and are often not able to read the labels that explain
appropriate safety procedures. As a result, at least 1600 South Africans
die from the chronic effects of pesticides every year.
15.2. Working class communities, particularly working class Black
townships and squatter camps, also bear the brunt of environmental
problems. Pollution levels in Soweto are two and a half times higher
than anywhere else in the country, and children in Soweto suffer from
more asthma and chest colds, and take longer to recover from respiratory
diseases, than children elsewhere [21].
15.3. Because of the racial division of labour in South Africa (which
confined Africans to low-paying unskilled and semi-skilled jobs),
because of the design of the Apartheid city (dirty industries and dumps
were located near townships rather than White suburbs), and because of
the homeland system, it is clear that the Black working class is the
main victim of South Africaâs environmental crisis.
15.4. Therefore, a safe environment is a basic need for the workers and
the poor of South Africa. The environment is not just something âout
thereâ such as the veld, sea etc. The environment also refers to where
people live and work [22]. We can distinguish between âgreenâ
environmental issues (like wildlife, trees, ozone layer etc.), and
âbrownâ environmental issues (like workplace safety and community
development) [23]. The two are obviously connected: brown ecological
issues (like lack of sewerage facilities) directly affect green
ecological issues (like marine life); tackling brown issues will
generally improve green ecology.
15.5. Unlike the working class, the bosses and the rulers, including the
Black politicians and Black business, are protected from the effects of
their greed and appetite for power by their air-conditioned offices and
luxury suburban homes.
15.6. While in the long-term a global environmental crisis would
obviously affect everyone, it is not true that everybody shares an
immediate interest in fighting against the environmental crisis: the
bosses and the State benefit from the processes that harm the
environment and the middle classes can at the very least avoid contact
with many environmental hazards [24]. Only the workers and the poor have
a direct interest right now in fighting for a clean environment.
16. There is clear evidence of environmental concern and awareness on
the part of the Black working class (eg). the involvement of the
Chemical Workers Industrial Union in the campaign against Thor
Chemicals, linking opposition to the dangerous working co nditions at
the Thor plant to opposition to the companyâs practice of importing
toxic waste [25].
17. It is, however, undoubtedly true that the membership of most
environmental organizations in South Africa (and in a number of other
countries) is mainly White and middle-class [26]. As should be obvious
from what we have said before, we reject the view that this membership
profile can be explained in terms of the inherently âWhiteâ or
âpetty-bourgeoisâ nature of environmental issues [27].
17.1. A number of factors make it difficult for Black working class
people to get involved in environmental organizations. These include: a
lack of time, inability to pay high membership fees (the Wildlife
Society charges R80 per year), a degree of ignorance around
environmental problems, and, finally, a lack of confidence in getting
involved in political activity [28]. This explanation is inadequate
because the Black working class has, despite these sorts of obstacles,
built large and powerful trade union and civic movements.
17.2. Part of the explanation lies with the fact that many working class
people have been alienated by the actions of sections of the
environmentalist movement. These sections focussed their attention on
wilderness and wildlife conservation, and strongly supported the Stateâs
establishment of nature reserves. But many of these reserves were
established by means of the forced removal of rural communities, who
thus lost their land as well as access to natural resources such as fish
and building materials. To add insult to injury, many of these nature
reserves were (until the 1990s) reserved for âWhites onlyâ. These
practices can only breed hatred for conservation among the rural poor
[29].
17.3. Related to this is the fact that few environmental organizations
in South Africa address environmental issues of direct relevance to the
working class [30]. To use the distinction we drew above, they focus on
âgreenâ environmental issues (wildlife, ozone layer etc.) as opposed to
the âbrownâ environmental issues (health and safety, community
development) that working class people tend to emphasize. For example,
the Campaign to Save St. Lucia nature reserve that begun in 1989
generally failed to con sult the people who lived in the area, many of
whom had been forcibly removed when the reserve was set up
Future of the Planet
18. Mass action and a working class revolution are the only real ways to
deal with the environmental crisis.
18.1. The environmental crisis was generated by capitalism and the
State, and can only be dealt with by challenging the power of these
forces. We believe that only mass organizing and mass actions, as
opposed to elections and lobbying, are effective methods of struggle.
18.2. Because of the manner in which capitalism and the State by their
very nature generate environmental destruction it is necessary in the
long term to overthrow these structures and create a society based on
real freedom and production and distribution on the basis of need, not
profit. This society can be called Anarchism or stateless socialism.
18.3. The working class is the only force in society capable of
accomplish these tasks. As the main victim of the environmental crisis,
and as the victim of capitalism as a whole, the working class has a
direct interest in dealing with the environmental crisis and in
resisting and overturning the capitalist system as a whole. By contrast,
the ruling class, and sections of the middle class, are dependent on the
continued survival of capitalism and the State, and are also able to
avoid the worst effects of the environmental crisis.
18.4. In addition, the working class (and working peasantry) is the
source of all social wealth and is thus able, by action at the point of
production, to wield a powerful weapon against the bosses and the
rulers. We believe that the power of the workers must be brought to bear
in the struggle to halt the environmental crisis.
18.4. Finally, because the working class (and working peasantry) produce
all social wealth, only these classes can overthrow capitalism and the
State and create a free society in their place, because only these
classes do not need to exploit.
19. We believe that workplace organizing is the key to saving the
environment, in both the short-term and the long-term.
19.1. Because a large proportion of environmental damage takes place at
the point of production (as the result of dangerous technologies, poor
plant maintenance, hazardous operating procedures, the handling of
dangerous substances, poor worker training), and because the workers and
their communities are the main victims of this pollution , â[t]rade
union struggles for health and safety constitute the first line of
defense for an embattled environmentâ [31].
19.2. The working class, organized in trade unions, allied with
communities struggling against environmental abuses can go a long way in
stopping the State/ capitalist onslaught against the planet. As we
argued above, dealing with brown ecological issues (safety, health etc.)
will definitely benefit green ecological issues (wildlife, sea etc.).
This sort of mass organizing by the productive working class will do far
more to stop the bosses than the small-scale guerrilla and obstruction
tactics favored by groups such as Earth First!, such as sabotaging
bulldozers [32].
19.3. In the long-term the unions can not only defend the environment
but save it. Inspired by the revolutionary ideas of Anarchism, and
structured in a non-bureaucratic, decentralized and democratic manner,
the unions can be the battering ram that smashes capitalism and the
State, by seizing the factories, mines etc. and putting them under the
control of the workers (in cooperation with community structures).
19.4. A working class revolution will help the environment in four ways.
First, the capitalist/ State system that was the main cause of
environmental problems, a system oriented to profit and power, will be
replaced by a society based on need-satisfaction and grassroots
democracy. Secondly, the excessive levels of consumption by the upper
class and the middle class will be eliminated altogether, as will the
idea that happiness can only be gained by buying more and more useless
commodities [33]. Thirdly, the introduction of social and economic
equality will end the environmental degradation forced on the poor by
means such as land shortages and the homelands system. And finally, the
workers will be able to install (and further develop) the ecologically
sustainable technologies that the bosses suppress [34].
Relate to the Environment?
20. The two fundamental structures of the Anarchist society will be the
Syndicate (democratic workplace associations) and the Free City-Commune
(the self-managed city or village, made up of syndicates and community
committees in a given area) [35].
20.1. Communes will be federated into regions and nations; they will
also be linked by federations of Syndicates that provide services
impossible to organize purely at the level of the individual Commune
(eg. transcontinental railways, post).
20.2. Each Commune must be located in a particular ecological region
(Bio-region) and must learn to preserve, enhance and integrate itself
into that regionâs natural dynamics.
20.3. The trade unions and civic associations provide the nucleus of the
future syndicates and communes.
21. The role of Workers Solidarity Federation is first and foremost to
spread the ideas of Anarchism as far and far as possible. We are also in
favor of helping the working class organize itself and increase its
confidence in its own decision-making capacity.
22. A crucial part of our work is to link a criticism of the present
society with a vision of how society could be organized to benefit the
masses. We support all progressive struggles, for their aims, for the
confidence that campaigning gives people, and because it is in struggle
that ideas are spread.
23. We always try to relate our ideas to the day to day needs and
struggles of the working class. We are opposed to an abstract form of
environmentalism that does not link itself to the class struggle.
24. Call for workers in polluting factories to enforce safety rules and
monitor pollution. Support actions by workers and the local community to
stop/ reduce pollution. Where factories cannot be made safe we can
demand that they be closed but that their workers get employed at the
same pay levels and skill in the local area.
25. Call for the shutting down of all nuclear power stations under
capitalism because the placing of profits before human needs means that
these facilities will never be safe.
26. Link the fight for land redistribution to the issue of how the
homelands system has generated severe environmental problems. Argue that
the redistributed land should be farmed by means of sustainable
agricultural practices.
27. Support wilderness preservation in the form of nature reserves, but,
recognizing that such reserves have often been set up at the expense of
local communities, and the resentment this creates, call for these
communities to retain access to some grazing, dry wood, and other
resources. Demand that local communities receive cut from gate takings.
Unionize workers at these facilities.
28. Oppose all testing of atomic, biological and chemical weapons in all
circumstances and support blacking of goods and services as well as
other direct action to halt these tests.
29. Oppose the practice of vivisection not just for its cruelty but for
its scientific flaws. Link this issue to the struggle for health and
safety by pointing out how bogus âscientificâ testing on animals results
in the exposure of the working class to unsafe medicines.
30. Call for strike action against companies strip mining forests to
force them to reforest and manage extraction. Support unionization of
workers in these industries and their revolutionary education.
31. Call on unions to fund their own environmental monitoring section
answerable to the workers and community affected. Call on unions to
publicize and organize action against industries that expose workers and
the community at large to toxic substances, pollution etc.
32. Within unions also demand industry use recycled products where
possible and find alternatives for products or by-products that harm the
environment. This should be backed by industrial action.
catastrophic results.
environmental crisis as it the main victim of this crisis. By contrast
the ruling class profits from the crisis.
effective way to fight the environmental crisis in the short-term.
of capitalism and the State by Anarchism or stateless socialism.
Anarchist society, but this will take place only on an
environmentally-sustainable basis.
winning the battle to end the environmental crisis, and its causes.
Â
[1] Cooper, Dave, (1991) âFrom Soil Erosion to Sustainability: land use
in South Africa,â in Cock, Jacklyn and Eddie Koch (editors), (1991),
Going Green: People, Politics And The Environment In South Africa. Cape
Town. Oxford University Press. p177.
[2] Three books that provide a good overview of environmental issues in
South Africa are Cock, Jacklyn and Eddie Koch (editors), (1991), Going
Green. Cape Town. Oxford University Press; Koch, Eddie, Cooper Dave and
Henk Coetzee, (1990), Waste, Water And Wildlife: The Politics Of Ecology
In South Africa. Penguin Forum Series; Ramphele, Mamphela (editor),
(1991), Restoring The Land: Environment And Change In Post-Apartheid
South Africa. London. Panos Institute.
[3] This figure and the next one come from Koch, Cooper and Coetzee,
(1990), p5. and Cooper (1991), p177, respectively.
[4] Basically the same definitions as those provided by Gould, J.D.
(1972), Economic Growth in History pp1-2.
[5] Purchase, Graham (1993), âRethinking the Fall of State-Communismâ,
in Rebel Worker, volume 12, no 9 (108) pp15-16. The examples of
environmentally-friendly technologies come from Purchase, (1993), pp15-6
and Graham Purchase, (1991), Anarchist Organization: Suggestions and
Possibilities. Sydney. Black Swan. pp3-5, 21â3.
[6] The following two sections are based on McLoughlin, Conor, (1992),
âDoes âSaving The Planetâ Mean An End To Industry, Progress And
Development?â, in Workers Solidarity no 36. Ireland.
[7] Graham Purchase, (1993), p17.
[8] For an example of this kind of argument, see Ted Trainer, (1991),
âThird World Povertyâ, in Andrew Dobson (ed) The Green Reader. Andre
Deutsch. London.
[9] The argument presented in this section draws on Bill Meyers.
âEcology and Anarcho-syndicalismâ, Ideas and Action no 13.
[10] Figures for the UK from Robert Lekachman and Borin van Loon,
(1981), Capitalism for Beginners. Pantheon Books. New York, esp. 44â5,
67, 70. and Class War (1992), Unfinished Business: The Politics Of Class
War. AK Press and CWF, p. 77. For the USA see Lind, Micheal, The Next
American Nation, cited in âStringing up the Yuppiesâ, (24 September
1995), Sunday Times, p14; Business Week which estimated in 1991 36
million Americans (15% of the total population) were living in poverty;
and New York Times, Sept . 25, 1992
[11] This section is based on McLoughlin (1992); Class War (1992),
pp30-1; and Lekachman and van Loon, (1981), pp62-4.
[12] McLoughlin (1992); Purchase (1991), p4.
[13] Weekly Mail (22â8 May 1992) p34 for this and other examples.
[14] This section is based on Cock, Jacklyn, (1991a), âGoing Green at
the Grassroots: The Environment As A Political Issue,â in Cock, Jacklyn
and Eddie Koch (editors), 1991, Going Green. Cape Town. Oxford
University Press. pp8-9.
[15] Koch, Cooper and Koetzee (1990), pp15-6, 25â27; Ann Eveleth,
(September 1â7, 1995), âSADF used ivory to fund war in Angolaâ, in Mail
and Guardian, p6; Ann Eveleth, (Sept 8â14 1995) âNew claims of SADF
ivory smugglingâ, in Mail and Guardian, p8.
[16] On the environmental impact of the homelands system see Koch,
Cooper and Coetzee (1990), pp6-9; also Cooper (1991) pp177-9). For an
analysis of why the capitalists and the government promoted the
homelands system and migrant labor, see Callinicos, Luli, (1981), Gold
and Workers 1886â1924, volume 1 of A Peopleâs History of South Africa.
Ravan Press. Braamfontein, especially Chapter 17; Lacey, M., (1981),
Working For Boroko: The Origins Of A Coercive Labor System In South
Africa. Ravan. Braamfontein.; Legassick, M, (1974), âSouth Africa:
capital accumulation and violence,â Economy and Society vol. 3, no. 3.;
Saul, John S. and Stephen Gelb, (1986), The Crisis in South Africa, Zed
Books. Revised edition; Posel, D., (1991), The Making Of Apartheid
1948â61 : Conflict And Compromise. Clarendon Press. Oxford, esp Chapter
1.
[17] Green Anarchism: Its Origins And Influences, text of PNRâs lecture
during the Workers Education Association (Oxford Industrial Branch),
Anarchism Course, (24 November 1992), pp21-2.
[18] Crompton, Rod and Alec Erwin, (1991), âReds And Greens: Labor And
The Environment,â in Cock, Jacklyn and Eddie Koch, 1991, Going Green.
Oxford University Press. Cape Town. p80; Chemical Workers Industrial
Union (1991), âThe Fight for Health and Safetyâ, in Ramphele, Mamphela
(editor), 1991, Restoring the Land. London. Panos Institute. p80; also
Koch and Hartford cited in Cock (1991a) p14. For similar arguments for
the USA, see J. Baugh, (1991), âAfrican-Americans and the Environment: A
Review Essay,â in Policy Studies Journal, vol. 19, no. 2, p194;
Morrison, D.E. and R.E. Dunlap (1986), âEnvironmentalism And Elitism: A
Conceptual And Empirical Analysis,â in Environmental Management, vol.
10, no. 5, pp586; van Liere, K.D. and R.E. Dunlap, (1980), âThe Social
Bases of Environmental Concern: A Review Of Hypotheses, Explanations And
Empirical Evidence,â in Public Opinion Quarterly, vol. 44, no. 2.
pp183-4, 189â90. Cf. to Lowe, P. and J. Goyder, (1983), Environmental
Groups in Politics. George Allen and Unwin. London. pp14-5; McCloughlin
(1992).
[19] Crompton and Erwin (1991) pp82-3; Mail and Guardian April 1995.
[20] Cooper (1991) p185.
[21] Cock (1991a) p4; for other examples see Koch (1991),âRainbow
Alliances: Community Struggles Around Environmental Problems,â in Cock,
Jacklyn and Eddie Koch, 1991, Going Green. Oxford University Press. Cape
Town. pp21-2; and Khan, Farieda, 1991, âEnvironmental Sanitationâ, in
Ramphele, Mamphela (editor), 1991, Restoring the Land. London. Panos
Institute. p132.
[22] Crompton and Erwin, (1991), p80; also David McDonald, (September
1994), âBlack Worker, Brown Burden: municipal workers and the
environmentâ, South African Labor Bulletin, Vol 18, no 4. p73.
[23] McDonald (1994) p73.
[24] see also A. Dobson, (1990), Green Political Theory: An
Introduction. Unwin Hyman. London. pp152-3.
[25] see Koch (1991), âRainbow Alliancesâ for an overview of community
and worker struggles around environmental issues since the late 1980s
[26] On South Africa, see Ulrich, N. and L. van der Walt, (1994), Green
Politics In South Africa: The Ideological And Social Composition Of The
South African Environmentalist Movement, With Special Reference To
Earthlife Africa And The Wildlife Society Of Southern Africa. Sociology
Dept. University of the Witwatersrand. For elsewhere, see (eg). see
Baugh, J., (1991); Cotgrove, S. and A. Duff, (1980), âEnvironmentalism,
Middle Class Radicalism, and Politics,â in Sociological Review, Vol 32.
pp334,340,342; Lowe, P. and J. Goyder, (1983); Morrison, D.E. and R.E.
Dunlap (1986); Taylor, D.E., (1989), âBlacks and The Environment:
Towards And Explanation Of The Concern And Action Gap Between Blacks And
Whites,â in Environment and Behavior, vol. 21, no. 2; van Liere, K.D.
and R.E. Dunlap, (1980).
[27] For examples of this line of argument see Dobson (1993) p218; Koch,
Cooper and Koetzee, (1990), p. iv; Lowe and Goyder (1980), p10; Lowe and
Goyder (1983) pp25-6; van Liere and Dunlap (1980) p183.
[28] McDonald, David, (September 1994), âBlack Worker, Brown Burden:
municipal workers and the environmentâ, South African Labor Bulletin,
Vol 18, no 4. p76; Ramphele, Mamphela, (1991), ââNew Day Risingâ:
Environmental Issues And The Struggle For A New South Africa,â in
Ramphele, Mamphela (editor), 1991, Restoring the Land. London. Panos
Institute p6; also Taylor (1989) pp199-200, also 190â2; Taylor, D.,
(1990), âCan the Environmental Movement Attract and Maintain the Support
of Minorities?,â in B. Bryant and P. Mohai (eds), The Proceedings of the
Michigan Conference on Race and the Incidence of Environmental Hazards.
pp38-40; footnote 3 (p 54); the converse argument (that middle class
people are generally especially prominent in political and voluntary
organizations) is found in Lowe and Goyder (1983) p11; Morrison and
Dunlap (1986) p583; Taylor (1989) p184; van Liere and Dunlap (1980)
p184.
[29] See Cock (1991a) pp1-2; Cock (1991b), âThe Politics of Ecology:
Moving Away From The Authoritarian Conservation And Towards Green
Politics,â Ramphele, Mamphela (editor), 1991, Restoring the Land.
London. Panos Institute; also see AFRA (1991), âAnimals versus People:
the Tembe Elephant Park,â in Cock, Jacklyn and Eddie Koch, 1991, Going
Green. Oxford University Press. Cape Town; Ramphele (1991) p6; Koch,
Cooper and Coetzee (1990) pp22-5.; for similar experiences in the USA
see Taylor (1990) p42.
[30] cf. Taylor (1990) pp40-1; Baugh (1991) pp182-3; Cock (1991a) p2;
Cock (1991b) pp13-14; Koch, Cooper and Coetzee (1990) p2; Ramphele
(1991) p6; also Khan (1990) p36; Marais, H., (1991), âWhen Green Turns
to White,â in Work in Progress, no 89.; Koch, Cooper and Koetzee (1990)
pp24-5; quoted in Koch, Cooper and Coetzee (1990) pp24-5; Ramphele,
Mamphela, (1991), p7.
[31] Crompton and Erwin (1991) p80; also Chemical Workers Industrial
Union (1991); McDonald (1994).
[32] Bill Meyers. âEcology and Anarcho-syndicalismâ, Ideas and Action;
see Anon. You Canât Blow Up A Social Relationship: The Anarchist Case
Against Terrorism for a detailed examination of the case for mass
organizing and actions instead of small-scale guerrilla and terrorist
approaches.
[33] see Bill Meyers. âEcology and Anarcho-syndicalismâ
[34] Mark McGuire, (1993), âBook Review Cornerâ, Rebel Worker, vol 12,
no. 6 (108)). p12.
[35] on the theory of the Communes and the Syndicates as developed by
classical Anarchism, see Guerin, Daniel, (1970), Anarchism: From Theory
To Practice. Monthly Review Press. New York and London. Chapter 2, esp.
pp56-60. The addition of the Bio-regional dimension is found in Purchase
(1993), Purchase (1991) and Purchase, Graham, (1990), Anarchist Society
and its Practical Realization. San Francisco. See Sharp Press.