Socialist States and the Environment - Lessons for Eco-Socialist Futures

More than thirty years after the collapse of the USSR, the critique of state socialism is still used to deny alternatives to capitalism, irrespective of global capitalist ecological and social devastation. There is seemingly nothing worthwhile salvaging from decades of state socialist experiences. As the climate crisis deepens, Engel-Di Mauro argues that we need to re-evaluate the environmental practices and policies of state socialism, especially as they had more environmentally beneficial than destructive effects. Rather than dismissing state socialism's heritage out of hand, we should reclaim it for contemporary eco-socialist ends. By means of a comparative and multiple-scaled approach, Engel-Di Mauro points to highly diverse and environmentally constructive state socialist experiences. Taking the reader from the USSR to China and Cuba, this is a fiery and contentious look at what worked, what didn't, and how we can move towards an eco-socialist future.More than thirty years after the collapse of the USSR, the critique of state socialism is still used to deny alternatives to capitalism, irrespective of global capitalist ecological and social devastation. There is seemingly nothing worthwhile salvaging from decades of state socialist experiences. As the climate crisis deepens, Engel-Di Mauro argues that we need to re-evaluate the environmental practices and policies of state socialism, especially as they had more environmentally beneficial than destructive effects. Rather than dismissing state socialism's heritage out of hand, we should reclaim it for contemporary eco-socialist ends. By means of a comparative and multiple-scaled approach, Engel-Di Mauro points to highly diverse and environmentally constructive state socialist experiences. Taking the reader from the USSR to China and Cuba, this is a fiery and contentious look at what worked, what didn't, and how we can move towards an eco-socialist future.

About the author

Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro is Professor at the Geography Department of SUNY New Paltz. His research includes critical physical geography, dialectical and historical materialism, gender-environment processes, socialism and environment, socialist histories, and soil acidification and contamination. He is chief editor for the journal Capitalism Nature Socialism.

Product details

• Authors: Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro
• Publisher: Pluto
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.07.2021
• EAN: 9780745340401
• ISBN: 978-0-7453-4040-1
• No. of pages: 288
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Political science > Political science and political education; Sustainability, Nature / Environmental Conservation & Protection, Political Ideologies, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Ecology, 21st Century, 21st century, c 2000 to c 2100, Environmental Economics, Environmentalist thought & ideology, Economic systems & structures, Socialism & left-of-centre democratic ideologies, Left-of-centre democratic ideologies, Higher & further education, tertiary education, Physical geography & topography, Higher education, tertiary education, Environmentalist thought and ideology, Constitution: government & the state, Physical geography and topography, Constitution: government and the state, Green politics / ecopolitics / environmentalism, Planned economic systems