David Pepper’s Thought Study On Eco-socialism

While the industrial revolution and scientific and technological progress brought convenience to mankind,the accumulation of capitalist wealth was greatly satisfied,but with it,the quality of the environment deteriorated and the ecological crisis broke out.In the face of international pressure and intense concern from scholars,capitalism has had to take some steps to solve ecological problems.However,the hypocrisy of the Western capitalist countries at the "Global Summit" made David Pepper see the essence of these measures,and under the influence of Marxist theory,he finally completed the transition from geography to ecological Marxism and devoted himself to the exploration of the path of Eco-socialism.Therefore,studying Pepper’s Eco-socialism ideas is of necessary significance for us to understand the evolution trend of ecological crisis and explore ways to solve ecological problems.First,David Pepper’s Eco-socialist ideas have concrete practical soil and theoretical origins.From the perspective of reality,since the twenties and thirties of the last century,the ecological crisis of capitalism has spread faster and wider,reaching an unprecedented degree.The academic community is deeply aware of the seriousness of the ecological crisis of capitalism,organizes academic conferences to discuss ecological issues,and actively participates in the green movement.The green movement has flourished under the impetus of many academics and environmental groups.At the same time,Soviet socialism,under the long-term influence of the Stalinist model,showed its shortcomings and eventually failed;From the perspective of theoretical origins,Pepper draws on the discourse of "nature" and the dialectical relationship between man and nature in Marxist theory,as well as the description of communist society,the dialectical relationship between man and nature and the analysis of the root causes of ecological crisis in the Frankfurt School ecological critical theory,ecological Marxist ecological thought,and some views of social ecology and deep ecological theory.Secondly,the main contents of David Pepper’s Eco-socialist thought are discussed from three aspects.The first is to launch an all-round critique of capitalist society.Pepper attributes the historical generation of the ecological crisis to the capitalist mode of production,pointing out that the alienation of consumption and Eco-imperialist strategies triggered by this mode of production inevitably exacerbate the ecological crisis.The second is to establish a "weak" anthropocentric value position.Techno-centrism is essentially a veil of optimism put on by the bourgeoisie in order to consolidate its rule,and the value orientation of Eco-centrism "biomorality" is obviously contrary to the laws of social development,he pointed out that the position of human beings in social activities must be anthropocentric,and finally established a "weak" anthropocentric value position.The third is the construction of Pepper’s Eco-socialism.Pepper proposed the formation of a "red" and "green" union,which then established specific economic,political,and conceptual ideas,and advocated relying on the power of the working class to adopt a method of exploration of class struggle and nonviolence.Finally,I revisit the value of David Pepper’s Eco-socialism ideas.It is undeniable that Pepper’s Eco-socialism thought has flaws in many aspects,such as the criticism of capitalism focusing more on ecological aspects,affirming the role of the proletariat but not taking it as the leading force,etc.,but the people-oriented,common ownership of means of production,sustainable development and other practices advocated in it coincide with many aspects of China’s ecological civilization construction.Studying Pepper’s Eco-socialism Thought not only broadens our understanding of Eco-socialism,but also provides great enlightenment for promoting the construction of socialist ecological civilization with Chinese characteristics in the new era.Therefore,absorbing and drawing on the essence of Pepper’s Eco-socialist thought can provide us with new ideas for correctly handling the relationship between man and nature and promoting the construction of ecological civilization.