Bookchin and Merchant | Edexcel A-Level Politics
Updated: 6 days ago
For Specification 9PL0
Edexcel A-Level Politics | Free Revision Notes
Estimated study time: 70–85 minutes
Murray Bookchin and Carolyn Merchant explain environmental destruction by examining the structures and relationships within human society. These Bookchin and Merchant A-Level Politics revision notes cover Bookchin's argument that environmental crisis emerges from social oppression, his vision of decentralised and self-sufficient communities, Merchant's connection between environmental and gender oppression, and her rejection of the mechanistic view of nature. Together, their ideas develop the social-ecological approach introduced in deep green, shallow green and social ecology.
Learning Objectives 🎯
By the end of this revision page, you should be able to:
Explain Bookchin's argument that environmental crisis emerges from existing social structures of oppression.
Explain why Bookchin believes existing social structures and the state must be overthrown.
Explain Bookchin's vision of decentralised societies organised as self-sufficient communes.
Explain Merchant's argument that the oppression and destruction of nature are linked to gender oppression.
Analyse Merchant's rejection of the mechanistic, male view of science and nature.
Compare Bookchin's and Merchant's social-ecological explanations of environmental problems.
Revision Notes 📚
Studying Bookchin and Merchant for Edexcel
Edexcel includes Murray Bookchin and Carolyn Merchant as two of the five specified ecologist thinkers.
The specification is explicit that students should focus on their key ideas, rather than detailed biographical information. Their ideas should be used to exemplify the wider principles and divisions within ecologism.
For this lesson, the required ideas are:
Thinker | Specified ideas |
Murray Bookchin | Environmental crisis emerges from existing social structures of oppression; social structures and the state must therefore be overthrown; ecological lessons point towards decentralised societies made up of self-sufficient communes |
Carolyn Merchant | The oppression and destruction of nature are linked to gender oppression, requiring radical restructuring of gender relations; opposition to the mechanistic, male view of science and nature because it is not holistic |
Both thinkers are closely associated with social ecology, which argues that environmental degradation is connected to existing social structures and that sustainability therefore depends upon radical social change.
What is social ecology?
Before examining the two thinkers separately, it is essential to understand their shared starting point.
Social ecology argues that environmental problems cannot be understood simply by looking at humanity's relationship with the non-human world in isolation.
Instead, environmental degradation is connected to the way human society itself is organised.
This distinguishes social ecology from other ecological approaches.
A simplified comparison is:
Deep green: the central problem is humanity's relationship with nature.
Shallow green: existing society can be reformed to operate more sustainably.
Social ecology: damaging relationships between humans help produce damaging relationships between humanity and nature.
This means social ecologists seek radical social change, not merely better environmental management.
Understanding this distinction builds directly on ecology, holism and environmental ethics and environmental consciousness, post-materialism and sustainability.
Murray Bookchin: environmental crisis and social oppression
Bookchin argues that the environmental crisis emerges from existing social structures of oppression.
This is the foundation of his social ecology.
Environmental destruction is therefore not simply the result of:
individual carelessness
insufficient environmental awareness
isolated policy failures
Instead, the way society is structured creates relationships of domination and oppression.
Bookchin connects these relationships within human society to humanity's domination of the natural world.
From human domination to environmental domination
Bookchin's reasoning can be expressed as a chain:
oppressive social structures → domination between humans → a wider culture of domination → domination of the non-human world → environmental crisis
This gives social ecology a distinctive explanation of ecological problems.
The environmental crisis cannot be completely solved while the social relationships that encourage domination remain intact.
Official Edexcel mark schemes use Bookchin to illustrate the social-ecological view that human-to-human domination lies at the root of environmental destruction.
Why this differs from deep-green ecologism
Bookchin's explanation should not be confused with deep-green ecocentrism.
Deep greens seek a new relationship between humans and nature, based around ideas such as environmental consciousness and ecocentric values.
Bookchin instead focuses attention on relationships between humans.
For social ecology:
change human-human relationships → remove structures of domination → transform the human-nature relationship
This is an important difference.
The 2025 Edexcel mark scheme distinguishes social ecology from both shallow-green anthropocentrism and deep-green ecocentrism by explaining that social ecology sees anthropocentrism as part of a wider hierarchical system of domination.
Bookchin's rejection of existing social structures
If environmental destruction grows out of existing structures of oppression, Bookchin concludes that these structures cannot simply be adjusted.
The specification states that:
social structures and the state must be overthrown.
Bookchin therefore represents the radical side of ecologism.
This separates him particularly clearly from shallow-green approaches.
Radical change versus reform
Shallow greens believe existing institutions can be reformed to achieve ecological objectives.
This can include:
environmental management
technological solutions
green capitalism
sustainable management by the existing state
Bookchin's approach is fundamentally different.
If the state and existing social structures are themselves part of the system of domination producing ecological problems, relying on those structures to solve the crisis is inadequate.
The contrast is:
Shallow-green approach | Bookchin's social ecology |
Existing institutions can be reformed | Existing structures are part of the problem |
State can become an agent of environmental change | The existing state must be overthrown |
Reformist | Radical |
Environmental problems can be managed within the existing framework | The social framework producing environmental destruction must itself change |
Official Edexcel assessment material repeatedly uses Bookchin when distinguishing shallow-green reformism from the radical approach of social ecology.
Bookchin and the state
Bookchin's criticism therefore extends directly to the state.
Social ecology sees existing state structures as connected to hierarchy and domination.
The solution is not to create a more environmentally active central state.
Instead, Bookchin's ecological lessons point towards a fundamentally different form of political organisation.
This leads to his second specified idea: decentralisation.
Bookchin: learning the lessons of ecology
Bookchin argues that society should learn lessons from ecology.
Ecology emphasises relationships and interdependence within the natural world.
Bookchin applies these lessons politically by rejecting highly centralised political organisation in favour of smaller and decentralised communities.
The specification states that the future should be built around:
decentralised societies organised as a collection of self-sufficient communes.
Decentralisation
Decentralisation is a specified ecological term.
Edexcel defines decentralised societies as societies based around:
communes
villages
bioregions
These can achieve sustainability through high levels of self-sufficiency, making communities more dependent upon and connected to their natural environment.
Bookchin therefore moves power away from large, centralised political structures and towards smaller communities.
Bookchin's future society
Bookchin's alternative can be expressed as:
centralised state → overthrown
hierarchical social structures → replaced
future society → decentralised
political organisation → collection of communes
communes → highly self-sufficient
This is not simply an environmental policy.
It is a radically different vision of political and social organisation.
Why communes are ecological
Decentralised, self-sufficient communes matter because they change the relationship between:
political organisation
local communities
economic activity
the natural environment
Smaller communities become more directly dependent upon their surrounding natural environment.
Official Edexcel assessment material associates Bookchin with decentralised communities where decisions are taken locally and are closely linked to both community needs and the natural environment.
Decentralisation and sustainability
Bookchin's decentralisation also connects to sustainability.
The ecological glossary links decentralised communes, villages and bioregions to sustainability through:
self-sufficiency
closer dependence upon the local environment
This provides a radical alternative to the shallow-green belief that the existing centralised state can manage resources sustainably.
The contrast is therefore:
Shallow green: use the state to achieve sustainability.
Bookchin: replace existing state structures with decentralised forms of organisation better aligned with ecological relationships.
Bookchin and eco-anarchism
Within the Edexcel specification, eco-anarchism is one of the forms of social ecology.
Bookchin's opposition to the existing state and his support for decentralised, self-sufficient communes strongly illustrate this social-ecological approach.
The important exam point is not simply to attach the label "eco-anarchist" to Bookchin.
Instead, explain why his ideas fit the social-ecological argument:
Existing hierarchical structures create oppression.
Oppressive relationships contribute to environmental destruction.
The existing state is therefore part of the problem.
Political organisation must become decentralised.
Self-sufficient communes provide an alternative.
This enables you to use Bookchin's ideas analytically in an essay about deep green, shallow green and social ecology.
Bookchin and the economy
Bookchin's social ecology also has implications for the economy.
Official Edexcel mark schemes associate deep greens and social ecology with opposition to the existing industrial and growth-centred economic model.
The reason follows from social ecology.
An economic system based upon domination, continual growth and exploitation cannot simply be separated from the environmental crisis.
This helps explain why Bookchin is often used in Edexcel mark schemes to contrast:
shallow-green reform of capitalism
radical social-ecological change
Official assessment material also links social ecology to small-scale, localised production rather than an economic system driven by unrestricted growth.
This connects Bookchin to the debates studied in environmental consciousness, post-materialism and sustainability.
Carolyn Merchant: environmental and gender oppression
Merchant also provides a social-ecological explanation of environmental destruction.
Her first specified argument is that:
the oppression and death of nature are linked to gender oppression.
This means environmental domination and gender domination should not be understood as completely separate problems.
Both reflect oppressive relationships within society.
Merchant's central connection
Merchant's reasoning can be expressed as:
gender oppression ↔ domination of nature
The relationship is important because it changes the solution.
If environmental destruction is linked to gender oppression, an ecological society cannot be created while oppressive gender relationships remain unchanged.
The specification therefore states that radical societal restructuring of gender relations is needed.
Why Merchant is a social ecologist
Merchant's environmental explanation begins with human social relations.
Like Bookchin, she does not treat environmental destruction as purely a problem involving humans and nature.
Instead:
relationships within human society affect humanity's relationship with nature.
For Merchant, the relevant social relationship is particularly gender oppression.
This makes her ideas an important example of eco-feminism, one of the three social-ecological approaches named in the specification.
Merchant and eco-feminism
Eco-feminism links environmental problems to gender relations.
Merchant's specified argument provides the connection clearly:
Gender oppression exists within society.
The oppression and destruction of nature are linked to this gender oppression.
The two forms of domination cannot therefore be treated entirely separately.
Environmental change requires change in social relationships.
Gender relations must be radically restructured.
Merchant therefore shows why social ecology seeks radical social change rather than simply environmental reform.
Why environmental reform alone is insufficient
A state could introduce environmentally friendly policies while leaving gender relationships unchanged.
From Merchant's social-ecological perspective, this would fail to confront part of the deeper structure of domination associated with environmental destruction.
Her analysis therefore reaches beyond specific environmental policies.
It asks what kind of society creates a destructive relationship with nature.
Merchant and the mechanistic world view
Merchant's second specified idea is opposition to the:
mechanistic, male view of science and nature.
The specification states that this view dominates society because it is not holistic.
This connects Merchant directly to one of ecologism's core principles.
What is the mechanistic world view?
The mechanistic world view treats nature like a machine.
Nature is divided into separate components that can be:
understood separately
manipulated
repaired
replaced
The ecological criticism is that this approach ignores relationships and interdependence within the natural world.
Merchant connects this mechanistic outlook to a male view of science and nature.
The specification requires students to understand her opposition to this outlook because it is not holistic.
Merchant and holism
Holism understands the natural world as an interconnected whole.
This contrasts directly with the mechanistic approach.
Mechanistic view criticised by Merchant | Holistic ecological approach |
Nature resembles a machine | Nature is an interconnected whole |
Individual parts can be treated separately | Relationships between parts matter |
Encourages control and manipulation | Emphasises ecological interdependence |
Associated by Merchant with a male view of science and nature | Challenges domination of the natural world |
Reductionist rather than holistic | Holistic |
Official Edexcel mark schemes use Merchant's mechanistic-world-view criticism to explain why ecologists reject the idea that nature is a machine whose parts can be understood or replaced in isolation from the whole.
Merchant: connecting gender oppression and the mechanistic world view
Merchant's two ideas are closely connected.
They should not be revised as separate facts.
A strong analytical chain is:
Society contains oppressive gender relations.
The oppression of nature is linked to gender oppression.
A mechanistic, male view of science and nature encourages domination rather than holism.
Nature is treated as something that can be controlled and manipulated.
Ecological thinking instead requires a holistic relationship with the non-human world.
Achieving that relationship requires radical restructuring of gender relations within society.
Merchant therefore connects:
gender → power → world view → relationship with nature → environmental destruction
This is a powerful example of a social-ecological explanation.
Merchant and Carson: holism
Merchant's rejection of the mechanistic world view has a clear connection to Rachel Carson's argument that nature should be understood holistically.
Carson argues that nature does not exist simply for human convenience.
Merchant similarly rejects an outlook that treats the natural world as separate components available for domination and manipulation.
The difference is one of emphasis:
Carson: stresses ecological interdependence and why nature should be viewed holistically.
Merchant: explains the mechanistic outlook as part of a wider social system of domination and connects it particularly to gender.
This creates a useful link back to Leopold, Carson and Schumacher.
Comparing Bookchin and Merchant
Bookchin and Merchant share the basic assumptions of social ecology but focus on different social structures.
Bookchin | Merchant |
Environmental crisis emerges from social structures of oppression | Oppression and destruction of nature are linked to gender oppression |
Focuses broadly on oppressive and hierarchical social structures | Focuses particularly on gender relations |
Existing social structures and state must be overthrown | Gender relations require radical societal restructuring |
Future society should be decentralised | Future human-nature relationship must reject mechanisms of domination |
Supports self-sufficient communes | Supports a holistic rather than mechanistic understanding of nature |
Strong connection to eco-anarchist social ecology | Strong connection to eco-feminist social ecology |
Their central agreement
Both thinkers argue:
Environmental destruction is rooted in relationships within human society.
This separates both from explanations that treat the environmental crisis simply as a lack of environmental consciousness.
For both:
social domination → environmental domination
The solution must therefore include:
radical social transformation.
Their central difference
They emphasise different forms of oppression.
Bookchin focuses more broadly on oppressive social structures and the state.
Merchant particularly identifies the relationship between environmental oppression and gender oppression.
Their alternative visions also emphasise different things.
Bookchin provides a clearer institutional alternative:
overthrow existing structures
decentralisation
self-sufficient communes
Merchant provides a clearer critique of:
gender relations
the mechanistic outlook
the absence of holism
Comparing their explanations of the environmental problem
A helpful way of comparing them is to ask three questions:
1. What causes environmental destruction?
Bookchin: existing social structures of oppression.
Merchant: environmental domination is linked particularly to gender oppression and a mechanistic male view of nature.
2. Why are existing arrangements inadequate?
Bookchin: the state and existing social structures reproduce the relationships of domination connected to environmental crisis.
Merchant: society is dominated by a mechanistic, non-holistic understanding of science and nature, while gender oppression remains connected to environmental oppression.
3. What must change?
Bookchin: social structures and the state must be overthrown and replaced with decentralised, self-sufficient communes.
Merchant: gender relations require radical societal restructuring and society must move away from the mechanistic world view towards a more holistic relationship with nature.
Bookchin, Merchant and the social-ecological argument
Together, the two thinkers demonstrate the central principle of social ecology:
Environmental problems are also social problems.
Environmental degradation cannot therefore be completely addressed by changing only:
environmental policies
technology
individual consumption
attitudes towards nature
The social relationships that shape humanity's behaviour must also change.
This produces a particularly clear contrast with shallow-green ecologism, which believes ecological problems can be addressed through reform within existing political and economic structures.
Social ecology versus shallow-green ecologism
Shallow green | Bookchin and Merchant's social ecology |
Reformist | Radical |
Existing institutions can be adapted | Existing social relations themselves generate environmental problems |
Existing state can help deliver sustainability | Bookchin sees the existing state as part of the problem |
Environmental behaviour and management can change | Social relationships and structures must change |
Weak sustainability | Sustainability connected to radical social change |
Enlightened anthropocentrism | Social ecology rejects domination and hierarchy |
Bookchin's rejection of existing state structures provides one of the clearest differences.
The 2023 Edexcel mark scheme explains that shallow greens see the state as capable of managing resources sustainably, while social ecology wishes to replace existing state structures with decentralised communities.
Social ecology versus deep-green ecologism
Social ecology and deep greens have more in common politically because both seek radical change.
Both can:
reject existing economic structures
reject the existing state
criticise materialism and consumerism
favour strong forms of sustainability
reject shallow-green reformism
However, they explain environmental destruction differently.
Deep green | Social ecology |
Focus on humanity's relationship with nature | Focus on relationships within human society |
Ecocentrism | Opposition to hierarchy and domination |
Environmental consciousness | Radical social restructuring |
Change in the individual's relationship with nature | Change in human social relationships |
Leopold can illustrate ecocentric ethics | Bookchin and Merchant illustrate social explanations |
The 2024 Edexcel mark scheme makes this distinction particularly clearly: deep greens move from anthropocentrism towards ecocentrism, while social ecology focuses instead on human-to-human domination as the root of environmental destruction.
📝 Exam application: Saying "Bookchin and Merchant are radical ecologists" is only the beginning. For AO2, explain why they are radical and how their social explanation differs from deep-green ecocentrism.
Comparing Bookchin and Merchant with the other ecologist thinkers
Thinker | Central explanation or idea |
Leopold | A new land ethic should extend moral community into the non-human world |
Carson | Humans cannot assume authority to dominate nature, which must be understood holistically |
Schumacher | Traditional materialist economics should be replaced by economics centred on wellbeing and minimum necessary consumption |
Bookchin | Environmental crisis originates in oppressive social structures, requiring overthrow of the state and decentralisation |
Merchant | Environmental oppression is linked to gender oppression and the non-holistic mechanistic view of nature |
This shows why thinkers should be used to illuminate different explanations and debates within ecologism.
Using Bookchin in an exam
A weak thinker reference might say:
"Bookchin believed in decentralisation."
This provides some knowledge but little analysis.
A stronger use would be:
Bookchin argues that environmental crisis emerges from oppressive social structures, making the existing state part of the ecological problem. His proposal for decentralised, self-sufficient communes therefore represents a radical social-ecological alternative to the shallow-green belief that existing institutions can simply be reformed.
The second version uses his idea to create a comparison.
Using Merchant in an exam
A weak reference might say:
"Merchant was an eco-feminist."
A stronger use would be:
Merchant links the oppression and destruction of nature with gender oppression, arguing that environmental problems cannot be separated from relations of domination within human society. Her rejection of the mechanistic, male view of nature therefore supports the social-ecological case for radical restructuring rather than merely environmental reform.
Again, the thinker is being used to develop an argument.
The key comparison to remember
A concise revision framework is:
Bookchin
Problem: oppressive social structures.
State: part of the problem and must be overthrown.
Alternative: decentralised, self-sufficient communes.
Ecological lesson: social relationships and environmental relationships are connected.
Merchant
Problem: environmental oppression is connected to gender oppression.
World view: mechanistic, male view of science and nature is non-holistic.
Alternative: radical restructuring of gender relations and a more holistic relationship with nature.
Shared conclusion: environmental crisis cannot be solved without changing human society.
Hints from the Examiner Reports 💡
Examiner hint: Distinguish social ecology from deep-green ecocentrism. The 2021 examiner report praised stronger answers that compared shallow greens, deep greens and social ecology separately when analysing anthropocentrism. Social ecology should not simply be treated as another name for deep-green thinking.
Examiner hint: Use Bookchin's ideas to create analysis. Examiner feedback notes that stronger responses use thinkers' main ideas to open up comparisons between ecological positions rather than simply naming the thinker. Bookchin is particularly useful for explaining the radical social-ecological rejection of existing state and social structures.
Examiner hint: Compare agreement and disagreement between strands rather than writing one section on each strand. The 2021 report warns that taking ideological strands one at a time makes it harder to achieve the comparative AO2 analysis required for higher levels.
Examiner hint: Make a judgement about extent, not just a list of similarities and differences. Examiner feedback on ecologism stresses that identifying areas of unity and division is not enough for the strongest AO3. You need to judge how significant those similarities and differences are.
Examiner hint: Use precise ecological terminology. Bookchin can help you discuss decentralisation, radical social change and the state, while Merchant can help develop holism, the mechanistic world view and social domination. Official mark schemes explicitly integrate their ideas into these wider ecological debates.
Examiner hint: Do not turn Merchant into a general feminism essay. For ecologism, focus specifically on her specified connection between gender oppression and the oppression of nature, together with her rejection of the mechanistic, male view of science and nature.
Examiner hint: Keep thinkers subordinate to the question. The highest-level responses use Bookchin or Merchant as evidence for a wider argument about ecologism rather than organising the whole essay as a comparison of individual thinkers.
Common Mistakes ⚠️
Mistake: Saying Bookchin believes environmental problems are mainly caused by people's attitudes towards nature
Why this is incorrect: Bookchin's specified explanation is social. Environmental crisis emerges from existing structures of oppression.
How to improve: Remember the chain:
social oppression → domination → environmental domination → ecological crisis.
Mistake: Treating Bookchin as simply a deep-green ecocentrist
Why this is incorrect: Bookchin represents social ecology. His explanation begins with human social relationships rather than simply replacing anthropocentrism with ecocentrism.
How to improve: Ask: "Where does the thinker locate the root cause?"
For Bookchin, it is in existing social structures of oppression.
Mistake: Saying Bookchin wants the state to decentralise some of its powers
Why this is incorrect: This understates the radicalism of his specified position. Edexcel states that the social structures and state must be overthrown.
How to improve: Distinguish limited devolution or reform from Bookchin's replacement of the existing state by decentralised societies.
Mistake: Describing decentralisation without explaining why it is ecological
Why this is incorrect: The concept is not simply about making government smaller.
How to improve: Link self-sufficient communes to closer dependence upon the natural environment and to an alternative to centralised, hierarchical structures.
Mistake: Saying Merchant only argues that women care more about the environment
Why this is incorrect: That is not her specified argument.
How to improve: Use the exact relationship required by Edexcel:
the oppression and destruction of nature are linked to gender oppression, so radical restructuring of gender relations is required.
Mistake: Treating Merchant's two ideas as unrelated
Why this is incorrect: Her criticism of gender oppression and her rejection of the mechanistic, male view of nature are both explanations of social domination.
How to improve: Connect them through the idea that relationships of domination within society shape humanity's treatment of nature.
Mistake: Defining the mechanistic world view without contrasting it with holism
Why this is incomplete: Merchant's specified criticism is that this mechanistic approach dominates society because it is not holistic.
How to improve: Always contrast:
isolated machine-like parts ↔ interconnected ecological whole.
Mistake: Writing a 24-mark essay about Bookchin and Merchant rather than the ideological debate
Why this is incorrect: The thinkers exemplify the broader content of ecologism.
How to improve: Organise the essay around issues such as:
causes of environmental destruction
social structures
the state
anthropocentrism and ecocentrism
radical versus reformist change
Then use Bookchin and Merchant as evidence.
Exam-Style Questions ✍️
The Edexcel Non-core Political Ideas section assesses ecologism through a 24-mark essay requiring appropriate specified thinkers. The shorter questions below are revision scaffolds that develop the knowledge and comparative reasoning needed for that assessment.
Question 1
Which specified ecologist thinker argues that the future should be organised around decentralised, self-sufficient communes? (1 mark)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Answer: Murray Bookchin. (1)
Question 2
Explain Bookchin's view of the cause of environmental crisis. (4 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative mark scheme:
Award credit for explaining that:
environmental crisis emerges from existing social structures
these structures involve oppression or domination
relationships within human society therefore affect humanity's relationship with nature
ecological problems cannot be completely solved without radical social change
Bookchin therefore argues that existing social structures and the state must be overthrown
Question 3
Explain why decentralisation is important to Bookchin's social ecology. (6 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative mark scheme:
A developed response could explain that:
Bookchin rejects existing state structures
ecological lessons point towards decentralised political organisation
the future should consist of self-sufficient communes
decentralised societies can be more closely connected to their natural environment
high levels of self-sufficiency can contribute to sustainability
decentralisation therefore represents a radical alternative rather than reform of the existing state
Question 4
Explain Merchant's relationship between gender oppression and environmental destruction. (6 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative mark scheme:
Relevant points include:
Merchant argues that the oppression and destruction of nature are linked to gender oppression
environmental relationships therefore reflect social relationships
environmental problems cannot be treated separately from gender relations
lasting ecological change requires changes within human society
radical societal restructuring of gender relations is therefore needed
this makes Merchant's argument an example of social ecology and eco-feminism
Question 5
Analyse why Merchant rejects the mechanistic view of science and nature. (8 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative mark scheme:
A strong response should establish that:
Merchant identifies a mechanistic, male view of science and nature
this outlook treats nature as machine-like and reducible to separate parts
it therefore encourages domination and manipulation of nature
this view dominates society
it is inconsistent with holism
ecological thinking instead emphasises relationships and interdependence
Merchant's criticism connects treatment of nature to wider social relations of domination
rejecting the mechanistic outlook therefore forms part of the radical social restructuring required by social ecology
Question 6
Analyse two similarities and two differences between Bookchin's and Merchant's explanations of environmental problems. (12 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative mark scheme:
Similarities:
Both explain environmental destruction through social relationships rather than treating it solely as a human-nature problem.
Both connect environmental domination to forms of domination within human society.
Both therefore favour radical rather than shallow-green reform.
Both imply that sustainability requires changes to existing social arrangements.
Differences:
Bookchin focuses broadly on oppressive social structures and the state.
Merchant specifically links environmental oppression to gender oppression.
Bookchin develops a political alternative of decentralised, self-sufficient communes.
Merchant emphasises radical restructuring of gender relations.
Merchant explicitly attacks the mechanistic, male view of science and nature as non-holistic.
Judgement:
Their explanations share the same social-ecological foundation but identify different structures through which domination operates. Bookchin provides the broader political and institutional critique, while Merchant provides a specifically gendered and mechanistic-world-view explanation.
Question 7
Assess the view that Bookchin and Merchant provide a fundamentally different explanation of environmental destruction from deep-green ecologism. (12 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative mark scheme:
Arguments supporting the view:
Deep greens focus on humanity's relationship with the non-human world.
Deep greens favour environmental consciousness and ecocentrism.
Bookchin instead locates environmental crisis in structures of human oppression.
Merchant connects environmental destruction to gender oppression.
Social ecology therefore begins with human-to-human relationships.
Bookchin and Merchant seek radical restructuring of society rather than simply a new environmental ethic.
Arguments qualifying the view:
Both deep greens and social ecology are radical.
Both reject the existing human domination of nature.
Both challenge the mechanistic and anthropocentric assumptions of existing society.
Both reject shallow-green reformism.
Both seek fundamental changes to the state, society or economy.
Judgement:
The most important difference concerns causation. Deep greens principally diagnose a broken human-nature relationship, whereas Bookchin and Merchant see destructive human-nature relations as emerging from domination within human society. Their desired scale of change may therefore be similar even though their explanations are significantly different.
Question 8
To what extent does social ecology provide the most radical explanation of environmental problems within ecologism? You must use appropriate thinkers you have studied to support your answer and consider differing views in a balanced way. (24 marks)
reveal mark scheme and indicative content
Indicative mark scheme:
AO1: Knowledge and understanding, 8 marks
Relevant knowledge could include:
social ecology
deep-green and shallow-green ecologism
radical versus reformist change
anthropocentrism and ecocentrism
environmental consciousness
holism
mechanistic world view
decentralisation
sustainability
Bookchin's social structures of oppression and decentralised communes
Merchant's link between gender and environmental oppression
Merchant's criticism of the mechanistic view of nature
relevant ideas of Leopold, Carson or Schumacher for comparison
AO2: Analysis, 8 marks
Arguments supporting the view could analyse that:
Bookchin sees existing social structures and the state themselves as causes of ecological crisis
he therefore requires their overthrow rather than reform
his decentralised, self-sufficient communes represent a fundamentally different political order
Merchant makes environmental change dependent upon radical restructuring of gender relations
both thinkers therefore make ecological change inseparable from transformation of human society
this goes considerably further than shallow-green environmental management or green capitalism
Arguments qualifying the view could analyse that:
deep-green ecologism is also radical
deep greens require profound environmental consciousness and replacement of anthropocentrism by ecocentrism
Leopold's land ethic can support a fundamental transformation of environmental ethics
Schumacher can support radical criticism of materialism, consumerism and conventional economics
social ecology and deep greens therefore differ more in their explanation of the problem than necessarily in the depth of change demanded
shallow greens provide the clearest contrast because they seek reform within existing structures
AO3: Evaluation, 8 marks
A strong judgement could argue that social ecology is especially radical in its political and social diagnosis, because Bookchin and Merchant make environmental sustainability dependent upon dismantling structures of domination within human society. However, deep-green ecologism can be equally radical in ethical and cultural terms because it requires a fundamental transformation in humanity's understanding of itself and the non-human world. Social ecology is therefore not necessarily uniquely radical, but it is distinctive because it locates the roots of ecological crisis in social domination and makes environmental transformation inseparable from radical restructuring of society.
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