Environmental Authoritarianism and Fascism Flashcards
(32 cards)
1
Q
What is included in Gilman’s genealogy of ideological continuities?
A
- Fascism
- Ecology
2
Q
Gilman’s take on pre-Nazi blend of naturalist-nationalist sentiment
A
- Anti-modern rejection of industrialization, urbanization, capitalism, and rationality as environmentally destructive forces (associated with Judaism)
- Promotion of nature mysticism, traditional folk life, and romantic connection to nature (associated with German volk)
- Pseudo-scientific “justification” of this distinction in early ecology
3
Q
Gilman’s take on National Socialist ideology and practice
A
- Skepticism of modernity and anthropocentrism, argues society must be organized according to nature’s law
- Frame anti-modernism in racialized terms, in part by drawing on misapplied ecology
- Pursues environmentally sensitive policies in agricultural and industrial sectors
- Enacts assertive environmental laws
4
Q
Significance of Gilman’s take on National Socialist ideology and practice
A
- Environment and ecology are politically indeterminate (ie. environmentalism and ecologism can be part of all sorts of political projects and endowed with all sorts of political meaning)
- Therefore, must be vigilant about how green concerns are interpreted and mobilized politically
5
Q
Late 19th, early 20th century Germany anti-modern naturalism and nationalism
A
Cultural synthesis of naturalism and nationalism
- Naturalism
– Nature is not inert matter to dominate through reason, but a quasi-mystical entity to commune or connect with
- Nationalism
– Well-being of German people linked to well-being of German land, nature and nation one
6
Q
Volkisch movement anti-modern naturalism and nationalism in Germany
A
- Unites ethnocentric populism with nature mysticism
- Rejects modernity ie. capitalism, industrialization, urbanization
- Advocates return to land, simplicity, natural purity
- Personifies forces of modernity as expressions of Judaism
- Naturalism and nationalism linked to antisemitism
7
Q
Ecology in Nazi Germany
A
- Ernst Haeckel, coiner of term “ecology” (ie. study of how organisms interact with environment), social Darwinist, proponent of eugenics, proponent of “racial purity”
- Early ecology bound up in a reactionary political framework
- Unmediated application of biological concepts onto society has complex implications
8
Q
What are examples of complex implications of unmediated application of biological concepts onto society? (Nazi Germany)
A
- Insisting human society governed by same laws as the rest nature cuts against anthropocentrism and the modern ethos of human supremacy and control
- Insisting human society governed by same laws as the rest of nature lends scientific veneer to racist naturalist-nationalism as volkisch movement (ie. modernity personified can be framed as against the “laws of nature” or “unnatural”)
9
Q
Wandervogel youth movement
A
- Neo-romanticism, nature mysticism, hostility to reason
- Environmental conservation, wilderness expeditions, immersion in nature
- “Right-wing hippies” later absorbed by Nazis who model their own youth movement on it
10
Q
What are the two impacts of environment and Nazi ideology?
A
- Denigrates human agency in favor of natural order and law
- Emphasizes organic holism
11
Q
How the interplay of environment and Nazi ideology denigrates human agency in favor of natural order and law
A
- Takes issue with anthropocentrism and modern ethos of human primacy
- Anthropocentrism only valid “if it is assumed that nature has been created only for man. We decisively reject this attitude. According to our conception man is a link in the living chain of nature just as any other organism”
- Systems of human life must be modeled on nature and organized according to fixed laws of nature
- Failure to organize human society according to nature’s dictates will lead to social and environmental devastation
12
Q
How the interplay of environment and Nazi ideology emphasizes organic holism
A
- Holism: part of a whole (eg. system or organism) can’t exist independently or be understood except in relation to whole, which therefore takes priority over parts
- eg. 1934 Reich Agency for Nature Protection biology curricula objective: “Very early, the youth must develop an understanding of the civic importance of the organism, ie. the coordination of all parts and organs for the benefit of the one and superior task of life”
- Nazi thought transposes ecological-biological idea of holism onto society
13
Q
What are the implications of organic holism? (Nazi ideology)
A
Because human society is no different from nature, rules of ecology and biology apply
- This has authoritarian implications: individual can be sacrificed for totality
- This has racist implications: if an “urbanized and overcivilized modern human race” is “responsible” for destroying the environment, then it must be eliminated
14
Q
Environment and Nazi practice in agricultural policy
A
- Organic farming methods introduced at mass scale
- Goals a) re-agrarianization b) farming conducted according to “laws of life”
- Increased agricultural productivity in harmony with nature
- Government support for environmentally sound agriculture
15
Q
Environment and Nazi practice in industrial and technological policy
A
- Massive construction projects (eg. Autobahn) must be executed in environmentally sensitive way
- Construction must harmonize with natural surroundings and complement landscape
- Environmental criteria for industrial projects (eg. protection of wetlands, forest, fragile eco-systems)
- Reich “Advocate for the landscape” ensures industrial build-up doesn’t compromise environment
16
Q
Environment and Nazi practice in environmental laws
A
- 1933: reforestation, species protections, preservationist limits to industrial development, construction of nature preserves
- 1935: guidelines for safeguarding of flora, fauna, and natural monuments, restrictions on commercial uses of natural resources, requirement to consult “nature-reserve” authorities in advance of development
17
Q
Environment and genocide in Nazi Germany
A
- Anti-humanism and preoccupation with natural purity feed into genocide
- National Socialism personified forces of modernity (capitalism, industrialization, urbanization) as expressions of Judaism
- National Socialism blamed modernity’s environmental degradation on “destructive influence” of a race
- To correct for environmental degradation, and return the German people to their supposedly innate closeness to nature, Nazism sought to eliminate that race
- Legacy of eco-fascism in power: “genocide developed into a necessity under the cloak of environmental protection”
18
Q
Li and Shapiro environmental authoritarianism
A
- Environmentalism as means to the end of authoritarianism
- State uses environmentalism to concentrate, entrench, and justify authoritarian rule
19
Q
Li and Shapiro environmental authoritarianism in China
A
- Expansion of state’s regulatory scope to environment and environment adjacent issues
- Cooptation of non-state actors (eg. NGOs, media, scientists) into state’s environmental agenda
20
Q
Li and Shapiro China’s environmental accomplishments real but compromised
A
- China has made environmental progress (eg. clean tech industries, enshrining of “ecological civilization” in constitution)
- But is still plagued by environmental challenges (eg. pollution, contamination)
- What progress has been made has come at the cost of individual rights and social freedoms
21
Q
Environmental authoritarianism variation across China and goals (Li and Shapiro)
A
- Environmental authoritarianism is different in different parts of the country
- In less developed areas, it can take the form of forced relocations in the name of environmentalism
– Relocation to facilitate reforestation, building of renewable energy sites, conservationism, etc.
– Often targets ethnic minorities - Can allow state to advance several goals at once
– eg. with forced relocations, state can pacify border regions and secure green energy at the same time - For Li and Shapiro, this isn’t authoritarian environmentalism but environmental authoritarianism
22
Q
Environmentalism and the growth of state power
A
- Increased outward manifestation of state power
- Increased inward experience of state power
- Taking up environmental concerns can expand authoritarian state’s reach and increase its resilience
23
Q
Increased outward manifestation of state power (environmentalism and the growth of state power)
A
- eg. state moves whole populations and builds new hydropower dams in their wake, leaving physical mark on environment
- That mark sends a message: the state is powerful and authoritative, so much so that it can dramatically reorder both people and environment
24
Q
Increased inward experience of state power (environmentalism and the growth of state power)
A
- eg. morality bank: part of social credit system awarding points for virtuous deeds and deducting them for immoral behavior
- Environmentally virtuous deeds like recycling rewarded, environmentally unvirtuous deeds punished
25
China and high modernism
- Mastery and control key ingredients of modern ethos
- Li and Shapiro see this in China
- People mastered and controlled
-- eg. morality bank
-- Citizens legible and transparent to state
-- Can be monitored and evaluated according to environmental conformity with regime
- Environment mastered and controlled
-- eg. hydropower dams
-- Water and land its channeled through subjected to technological command and direction
26
Both the eco-fascistic skepticism of modernity and the eco-authoritarian embrace of modernity can issue in coercive politics
- For National Socialism, human domination of nature yields social and environmental devastation
- For China, human domination of nature yields social and environmental advancement
- Environmental assessments of modernity may be politically indeterminate
27
Environmental coercion and illiberalism at play in the West too, example
- eg. UNFCCC REDD+ program ("Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation") (Li and Shapiro)
- Rich countries effectively pay poor countries to not cut down forests
- This policy can be unpopular among citizens in target countries who can no longer use their environments as they'd like to without having had much say in the matter
- Here it's not the state, but an international organization that issues coercive environmental policy
- eg. Climate crisis as rationale for tighter borders, stronger nationalism (Gilman)
28
How to avoid eco-coercion?
Gilman:
1) Cautions against framework of catastrophe
2) Makes a bid for the importance of historical awareness
3) Cautions against dangers of unreflectively applying natural scientific concepts onto society
Li and Shapiro:
1) Cautions to be wary of environmentalism as disguise or Trojan horse
29
Avoiding eco-coercion, Gilman one (framework of catastrophe)
- Cautions against framework of catastrophe
- Which can motivate new forms of eco-fascism just as easily as it can motivate mainstream environmental engagement
- eg. apocalyptic framing of climate change may invite extreme opposition to immigration and "us vs them" antagonisms
- Argues disaster talk should be replaced by more temperate narratives
30
Avoiding eco-coercion, Gilman two (importance of historical awareness)
- Makes a bid for the importance of historical awareness
- If we understand how past illiberal politics took up environmentalism, then maybe we can reduce the chances of environmentalism being co-opted by present and future illiberal politics
- The historical form of Gilman's argument is in this way connected to its prescriptive content
31
Avoiding eco-coercion, Gilman three (dangers of applying natural scientific concepts onto society)
- Cautions against dangers of unreflectively applying natural scientific concepts onto society
- eg. National Socialist thought ecological holism must dictate socio-political life, but this authorizes absolutism and shuts down debate, negotiation, and compromise
- Argues against reducing social systems and dynamics, which are contingent and mutable, to natural systems and dynamics, which are necessary and immutable
32
Avoiding eco-coercion, Li and Shapiro
- Caution to be wary of environmentalism as disguise or Trojan horse
- Overtly protecting the environment can be a way to covertly advance other political goals
- Suggest we must interrogate political implications of different courses of environmental action
