Ecological civilization

Last updated

Ecological civilization is the hypothetical concept that describes the alleged final goal of social and environmental reform within a given society. It implies that the changes required in response to global climate disruption and social injustices are so extensive as to require another form of human civilization, one based on ecological principles. [1] It has become one of the tenets of the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, often referred to as Xi Jinping Thought on ecological civilization.

Contents

Conceptualization

Broadly construed, ecological civilization involves a synthesis of economic, educational, political, agricultural, and other societal changes toward sustainability. [2]

Although the term was first coined in the 1980s, it did not see widespread use until 2007, when "ecological civilization" became an explicit goal of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). [3] [4] In April 2014, the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and the International Ecological Safety Collaborative Organization founded a sub-committee on ecological civilization. [5] Proponents of ecological civilization agree with Pope Francis who writes, "We are faced not with two separate crises, one environmental and the other social, but rather with one complex crisis which is both social and environmental. Strategies for a solution demand an integrated approach to combating poverty, restoring dignity to the excluded, and at the same time protecting nature." [6] As such, ecological civilization emphasizes the need for major environmental and social reforms that are both long-term and systemic in orientation. [2]

The Chinese government views ecological civilization as linked to the development of the Belt and Road Initiative, where sometimes the term "Green Silk Road" is used. [7] : 85  The government's view of ecological civilization is focused on cities, under the view that any solution for the climate crisis must focus on cities because that is where most people live, most energy is consumed, and most carbon emissions are generated. [7] : 85  China has designated ecological civilization pilot cities, including Guiyang. [7] : 85 

History

In 1984, former Soviet Union environment experts proposed the term "Ecological Civilization" in an article entitled "Ways of Training Individual Ecological Civilization under Mature Socialist Conditions", which was published in the Scientific Communism, Moscow, vol. 2. [8]

Three years later, the concept of ecological civilization (Chinese: 生态文明; pinyin: shēngtài wénmíng) was picked up in China, and was first used by Qianji Ye (1909–2017), an agricultural economist, in 1987. [8] Professor Ye defined ecological civilization by drawing from the ecological sciences and environmental philosophy. [9]

Beginning in 1998, the CCP began to shift from a focus on pure developmentalism towards eco-developmentalism. [10] : 85  Responding both to scientific evidence on the environment and increasing public pressure, the CCP began to re-formulate its ideology to recognize that the developmentalist approach during reform and opening up was not sustainable. [10] : 85  The CCP began to use the terminology of environmental culture (huanjing wenhua) and ecological civilization. [10] : 85 

The term is found more extensively in Chinese discussions beginning in 2007. [3] [4] In 2012, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) included the goal of achieving an ecological civilization in its constitution, and it also featured in its five-year plan. [2] [11] The 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party in 2012 made ecological civilization one of the country's five national development goals. [12] : 173  It emphasized a rural development approach of "Ecology, Productivity, Livability". [12] : 173  Ecological civilization gained further prominence in China after it was incorporated into Xi Jinping's approach to the Chinese Dream. [10] : 424  In the Chinese context, the term generally presupposes the framework of a "constructive postmodernism", as opposed to an extension of modernist practices or a "deconstructive postmodernism", which stems from the deconstruction of Jacques Derrida. [2]

Since 2015, the Chinese discussion of ecological civilization is increasingly associated with an "organic" form of Marxism. [2] "Organic Marxism" was first used by Philip Clayton and Justin Heinzekehr in their 2014 book, Organic Marxism: An Alternative to Capitalism and Ecological Catastrophe. [13] The book, which was translated into Chinese and published by the People's Press in 2015, describes ecological civilization as an orienting goal for the global ecological movement. [14]

Beginning in 2017, Chinese universities and regional governments have begun establishing centers for the study of Xi Jinping Thought on ecological civilization. [10] : 89  At least 18 such centers had been established as of 2021. [10] : 89 

In 2018, the constitution of the People's Republic of China was amended to include the concept of ecological civilization building, as part of amendments that emphasized environmental conservation and the scientific outlook on development. [15] : 1  In 2022, the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party further highlighted ecological civilization as a core developmental goal of the CCP. [7] : 85 

The first time the phrase "ecological civilization" was used as a technical term in an English-language book was in 1995 by Roy Morrison in his book Ecological Democracy. [16] Both "ecological civilization" and "constructive postmodernism" have been associated with the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. [2] [17] David Ray Griffin, a process philosopher and professor at Claremont School of Theology, first used the term "constructive postmodernism" in his 1989 book, Varieties of Postmodern Theology. [18] A more secular theme that flowed out of Whitehead's process philosophy has been from the Australian environmental philosopher Arran Gare in his book called The Philosophical Foundations of Ecological Civilization: A Manifesto for the Future. [19]

The largest international conference held on the theme "ecological civilization" (Seizing an Alternative: Toward an Ecological Civilization) took place at Pomona College in June 2015, bringing together roughly 2,000 participants from around the world and featuring such leaders in the environmental movement as Bill McKibben, Vandana Shiva, John B. Cobb, Jr., Wes Jackson, and Sheri Liao. [20] This was held in conjunction with the 9th International Forum on Ecological Civilization--an annual conference series in Claremont, CA established in 2006. [21] Out of the Seizing an Alternative conference, Philip Clayton and Wm. Andrew Schwartz co-founded the Institute for Ecological Civilization (EcoCiv), and co-authored the book What is Ecological Civilization: Crisis, Hope, and the Future of the Planet, [22] which was published in 2019.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese Communist Party</span> Ruling party of the Peoples Republic of China

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victorious in the Chinese Civil War against the Kuomintang. In 1949, Mao proclaimed the establishment of the People's Republic of China. Since then, the CCP has governed China and has had sole control over the People's Liberation Army (PLA). Successive leaders of the CCP have added their own theories to the party's constitution, which outlines the party's ideology, collectively referred to as socialism with Chinese characteristics. As of 2024, the CCP has more than 99 million members, making it the second largest political party by membership in the world after India's Bharatiya Janata Party.

Process philosophy, also ontology of becoming, or processism, is an approach in philosophy that identifies processes, changes, or shifting relationships as the only real experience of everyday living. In opposition to the classical view of change as illusory or accidental, process philosophy posits transient occasions of change or becoming as the only fundamental things of the ordinary everyday real world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Murray Bookchin</span> American social theorist (1921–2006)

Murray Bookchin was an American social theorist, author, orator, historian, and political philosopher. Influenced by G. W. F. Hegel, Karl Marx, and Peter Kropotkin, he was a pioneer in the environmental movement. Bookchin formulated and developed the theory of social ecology and urban planning within anarchist, libertarian socialist, and ecological thought. He was the author of two dozen books covering topics in politics, philosophy, history, urban affairs, and social ecology. Among the most important were Our Synthetic Environment (1962), Post-Scarcity Anarchism (1971), The Ecology of Freedom (1982), and Urbanization Without Cities (1987). In the late 1990s, he became disenchanted with what he saw as an increasingly apolitical "lifestylism" of the contemporary anarchist movement, stopped referring to himself as an anarchist, and founded his own libertarian socialist ideology called "communalism", which seeks to reconcile and expand Marxist, syndicalist, and anarchist thought.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party</span> Party constitution

The Constitution of the Chinese Communist Party has 55 articles and its contents describe the program of the party, as well as its organizational structure and party symbolism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John B. Cobb</span> American theologian, philosopher, and environmentalist (born 1925)

John Boswell Cobb Jr. is an American theologian, philosopher, and environmentalist. He is often regarded as the preeminent scholar in the field of process philosophy and process theology, the school of thought associated with the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. Cobb is the author of more than fifty books. In 2014, Cobb was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Pan Yue is a Chinese government official who is the current minister of the National Ethnic Affairs Commission and a deputy head of the United Front Work Department.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ariel Salleh</span> Australian sociologist

Ariel Salleh is an Australian sociologist who writes on humanity-nature relations, political ecology, social change movements, and ecofeminism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scientific Outlook on Development</span> Socio-economic principle of the Chinese Communist Party

The Scientific Outlook on Development is one of the guiding socio-economic principles of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), credited to former Chinese leader Hu Jintao and his administration, who was in power from 2002 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party</span> 2012 Chinese Communist Party conference

The 18th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party was held November 8–14, 2012 at the Great Hall of the People. It was preceded by the 17th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party. Due to term limits and age restrictions, seven of the nine members of the powerful Politburo Standing Committee (PSC) retired during the Congress, including Hu Jintao, who was replaced by Xi Jinping as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party. The Congress elected the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and saw the number of Politburo Standing Committee seats reduced from nine to seven. It was succeeded by the 19th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arran Gare</span> Australian philosopher (born 1948)

Arran Emrys Gare is an Australian philosopher known mainly for his work in environmental philosophy, philosophy of science, philosophy of culture and the metaphysics of process philosophy. He currently holds the position of Associate Professor in the Faculty of Life and Social Sciences at Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Center for Process Studies</span>

The Center for Process Studies was founded in 1973 by John B. Cobb and David Ray Griffin to encourage exploration of the relevance of process thought to many fields of reflection and action. As a faculty center of Claremont School of Theology in association with Claremont Graduate University, and through seminars, conferences, publications and the library, CPS seeks to promote new ways of thinking based on the work of philosophers Alfred North Whitehead, and Charles Hartshorne, and others in the process tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eco-socialism</span> Ideology merging aspects of socialism with green politics, ecology and alter-globalization

Eco-socialism is an ideology merging aspects of socialism with that of green politics, ecology and alter-globalization or anti-globalization. Eco-socialists generally believe that the expansion of the capitalist system is the cause of social exclusion, poverty, war and environmental degradation through globalization and imperialism, under the supervision of repressive states and transnational structures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission</span> Chinese policy coordination group

The Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission (CCDR), also translated as the Central Commission for Deepening Reform, is a policy formulation and implementation body of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in charge of "Comprehensively Deepening Reforms". These reforms are intended to be even more far-reaching than the previous round of comprehensive Chinese economic reforms initiated by Deng Xiaoping.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) frames its ideology as Marxism–Leninism adapted to the historical context of China, often expressing it as socialism with Chinese characteristics. Major ideological contributions of the CCP's leadership are viewed as "Thought" or "Theory," with "Thought" carrying greater weight. Influential concepts include Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and Xi Jinping Thought. Other important concepts include the socialist market economy, Jiang Zemin's idea of the Three Represents, and Hu Jintao's Scientific Outlook on Development.

"Four Confidences" is a political concept by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Xi Jinping. The concept includes "Confidence in Path, Confidence in Theories, Confidence in System, and Confidence in Culture." In 2021, the concept was expanded to include the idea of Historical Confidence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xi Jinping Thought</span> Set of policies and ideals from Chinese leader Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, commonly abbreviated outside China as Xi Jinping Thought, or more recently, Xi'ism is an ideological doctrine created during General Secretary Xi Jinping's leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that combines Chinese Marxism and national rejuvenation. According to the CCP, Xi Jinping Thought "builds on and further enriches" previous party ideologies and has also been called as the "Marxism of contemporary China and of the 21st century". The theory's main elements are summarized in the ten affirmations, the fourteen commitments, and the thirteen areas of achievements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clear waters and green mountains</span> Political slogan

Clear waters and green mountains, alternatively green mountains are gold mountains or two mountain theory, refers to a political slogan on environmental policy formulated by Chinese Communist Party (CCP) general secretary Xi Jinping. The full slogan is "clear waters and green mountains are as valuable as gold and silver mountains".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Environmentalism in China</span>

Environmentalism in China consists of philosophical concepts and the movement within China with the goals of preserving its environment and addressing environmental issues.

The Resolution of the CPC Central Committee on the Major Achievements and Historical Experience of the Party over the Past Century, commonly known as the "third historical resolution", is a document adopted by the 19th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on its Sixth Plenary Session held between 8–11 November 2021. This document was the third of its kind after "historical resolutions" adopted by Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping.

Whole-process people's democracy, formerly termed whole-process democracy, is a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) political concept describing the people's participation in, and relationship to, governance under socialism with Chinese characteristics. Whole-process people's democracy differs from liberal democracy in that it is a consequentialist model of political decision-making, aiming to be judged by how well the government is able to improve the socioeconomic lives of citizens, rather than being based on democratic processes.

References

  1. ↑ Wang, Hongbo (2017). "Philosophical Connotations, Generating Logic and Construction Paths of Ecological Civilization in a Global View". Proceedings of the 2017 International Conference on Innovations in Economic Management and Social Science (IEMSS 2017). doi: 10.2991/iemss-17.2017.118 .
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Zhihe Wang, Huili He, and Meijun Fan, "The Ecological Civilization Debate in China: The Role of Ecological Marxism and Constructive Postmodernism—Beyond the Predicament of Legislation", last modified 2014, Monthly Review , accessed November 1, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Zhang Chun, "China's New Blueprint for an 'Ecological Civilization'", last modified September 30, 2015, The Diplomat , accessed November 1, 2016. Archived March 1, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
  4. 1 2 James Oswald, "China turns to ecology in search of ‘civilisation’", last modified August 3, 2016, Asian Studies Association of Australia, accessed November 1, 2016.
  5. ↑ Zhu Guangyao, "Ecological Civilization: A national strategy for innovative, concerted, green, open and inclusive development" Archived 2019-05-09 at the Wayback Machine , last modified March 2016, United Nations Environment Programme , accessed November 1, 2016.
  6. ↑ Francis, Pope. Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home. p. Ch 4, #139.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Curtis, Simon; Klaus, Ian (2024). The Belt and Road City: Geopolitics, Urbanization, and China's Search for a New International Order. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. doi:10.2307/jj.11589102. ISBN   9780300266900. JSTOR   jj.11589102.
  8. 1 2 Arran Gare, "Barbarity, Civilization and Decadence: Meeting the Challenge of Creating an Ecological Civilization" Archived 2016-11-04 at the Wayback Machine , in Chromatikon V: Yearbook of Philosophy in Process, ed. Michel Weber and Ronny Desmet (Louvain-la-Neuve: Presses universitaires de Louvain, 2009): 167.[ dead link ]
  9. ↑ Jiahua Pan, China's Environmental Governing and Ecological Civilization (Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag GmbH, 2016), 35.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Harrell, Stevan (2023). An Ecological History of Modern China. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN   9780295751719. JSTOR   jj.8362580.
  11. ↑ John B. Fullerton, "China: Ecological Civilization Rising?", last modified May 2, 2015, Huffington Post , accessed November 1, 2016.
  12. 1 2 Abramson, Daniel Benjamin (2020). "Eco-Developmentalism in China's Chengdu Plain". In Esarey, Ashley; Haddad, Mary Alice; Lewis, Joanna I.; Harrell, Stevan (eds.). Greening East Asia: The Rise of the Eco-Developmental State. Seattle: University of Washington Press. ISBN   978-0-295-74791-0. JSTOR   j.ctv19rs1b2.
  13. ↑ "Spotlight: Organic Marxism, China's ecological civilization drive in spotlight at int'l conference", last modified May 1, 2016, Xinhua News Agency , accessed November 1, 2016. See Philip Clayton and Justin Heinzekehr, Organic Marxism: An Alternative to Capitalism and Ecological Catastrophe (Claremont: Process Century Press, 2014).
  14. ↑ Philip Clayton and Justin Heinzekehr, Organic Marxism: An Alternative to Capitalism and Ecological Catastrophe, trans. Xian Meng, Guifeng Yu, and Lixia Zhang (Beijing: The People's Press, 2015).
  15. ↑ Rodenbiker, Jesse (2023). Ecological States: Politics of Science and Nature in Urbanizing China. Environments of East Asia. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press. ISBN   978-1-5017-6900-9.
  16. ↑ Jiahua Pan, China's Environmental Governing and Ecological Civilization (Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag GmbH, 2016), 34.
  17. ↑ Cobb, Jr., John B.; Scwhartz, Wm. Andrew (2018). Putting Philosophy to Work: Toward an Ecological Civilization. Minnesota: Process Century Press. ISBN   978-1940447339.
  18. ↑ John B. Cobb, Jr., "Constructive Postmodernism" Archived 2013-08-08 at the Wayback Machine , 2002, Religion Online, accessed November 1, 2016. See David Ray Griffin, William A. Beardslee, and Joe Holland, Varieties of Postmodern Theology (Albany, State University of New York Press, 1989)
  19. ↑ Arran Gare: "The Philosophical Foundations of Ecological Civilization: A Manifesto for the Future" (Routledge, 2016)[ dead link ]
  20. ↑ Herman Greene, "Re-Imagining Civilization as Ecological: Report on the 'Seizing an Alternative: Toward an Ecological Civilization' Conference", last modified August 24, 2015, Center for Ecozoic Societies, accessed November 1, 2016.
  21. ↑ "CONFERENCE LIST". postmodernchina.org. Archived from the original on 2019-12-24. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
  22. ↑ Philip Clayton and Wm. Andrew Schwartz (2019). What is Ecological Civilization?: Crisis, Hope, and the Future of the Planet. Anoka, Minnesota. ISBN   978-1-940447-41-4. OCLC   1112736444.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.