We live in an era in which nature is increasingly rebelling against the reckless capitalist policies and the statist management of land that have characterized Western civilization since the post-industrial period: the effects of climate extremes (severe floods, heatwaves, droughts, etc.) are now a regular occurrence in all parts of the planet, global temperatures have exceeded 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial period (and show no signs of decreasing). Despite that, any mention of “degrowth” is vilified as an obstacle to progress.
Our lives are based on the produce-consume-die cycle. The spaces and people who move through them are treated as commodities within this system, mere passive subjects no longer capable of generating change.
As anarchists and left-libertarians, we have developed two methods that have proven effective in opposing this dominant ideology: social ecology and mutual aid.
Social ecology affirms that the environmental issues are structurally linked to the state-capitalist system, because the exploitation of nature, and of human beings as well, stems from the same voracious rationale. That’s why, to eliminate the effects caused by exploitation of humans and nature, we must move beyond the predatory logic of capitalism.
Mutual aid is a practical example of how to act outside of state and capitalist frameworks and how to interact with the land while respecting the complex dynamics at play within it.
Drawing from the experiences of numerous grassroots solidarity initiatives that have emerged in response to recent emergencies we will discuss – together with Selva Varengo, Veronica Macchiavelli e Alberto (Abo) Di Monte - on what social ecology and mutual aid can teach us about the possibility of transforming the urban and natural spaces we live in, and how we can incorporate its principles into our everyday lives.