Debate: Whose “Green New Deal” ?
Call for debate
Since the collapse began in 2007 we have experienced some rapid shifts in governments’ reactions to the crisis. First they said it’s only the sub-prime sector and some limited state help and better transparency will manage the crisis. But soon the crisis affected the whole financial sector. Suddenly main phrases from 30 years of neo-liberalism were out of time and deeper regulation but first of all bail outs of banks at unbelievable high cists became natural. But these actions did not stop the crisis process to affect the “real economy”. Governments started large neo-Keynesian stimulation programs to rescue parts of the motor industries or stimulate investments into infrastructure. Trade Unions and Keynesian leftists demand more of that. According to their analysis the crisis is not only an effect of deregulation but even of redistribution of wealth from the masses to rich, and from public to private. With a new “new deal” it should be possible to re-establish a cycle of growth based on incresoing mass income and consumption.
It’s obvious that for a simple solution in this sense we do not have the conditions today (like fixed currency, competition of systems, national markets or a specific balance of class forces). It’s also obvious that this limited planet does not allow a repeated Fordistic growth pact at global level. And finally, such a program is even confronted with capital immanent problems: the levels of automatisation and globalisation of production build strict challenges for an easy return to high profit rates in production and increasing national mass income accompanied by full employment.
One popular reaction to these problems is the slogan of a „Green New Deal”. Even the habitat call to G 20 is referring to that. Obviously with the motivation to contribute to another definition of “Green New Deal”: a global investments programm for sustainable and people based poverty reduction. But is that a realistic option or at least a well based agenda or just a naive wish?
Meanwhile, within the beginning civil society mobilization to the crisis, critical debates even about “Green New Deal” became more virulent. It’s not only a debte among radical leftists. Concerns by the ecological movements are obvious.
It’s time to start a discussion about this “concept” from the view point of local and habitat struggles!
Stimulating questions:
- Do investments into regenerative energies, climate protection etc. really have the potential to stimulate the needed global growth?
- Could the poorer classes participate in that?
- How can a “new deal” based on investments in high technologies care for the daily needs of the billion of people living in misery?
- How can top-down emergency programmes meet with the local democracy and the needs of local people? Isn’t “green new deal” even risking to implement an new authoritarianism?
- Isn’t “green” and growth a principal contradiction in itself?
- May „green capitalism” lead to a further expropriation, privatisation, commodification of commons and thus exclude even more people in the world?
- Will “green assets” including plantations, land etc. build the basis for the next bubble?
- Or is it possible to redefine a green new deal which is socially based and even meets the needs of the excluded classes at global levels? How?
- In a socially based overcome of the crisis the local dimensions - local needs, local social infrastructure, local markets, local democracy etc. - obviously has to play a prominent role. Does the “green new deal” paradigm offer a frame for that?
- These local dimensions are directly linked with commons, with people’s assets and needs like housing, land, water, energy provision, transport, education… Yes, there is a horrible need for investments at these levels. But who decides about the priorities? And who takes the profits?
Discuss by leaving a comment or send articles for posts!
knut.unger (a) reclaiming spaces.org
Posted on February 8th, 2009 under debate • 
Print This Post
• RSS 2.0 feed • You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed