Cover of the book “Futures (im)possibles” (Pol·len, 2024)
Conference II: Eva Vilaseca and Rubèn Suriñach
On Tuesday, March 18, two speakers linked to the Solidarity Economy Network (XES) and the Assembly for the Ecosocial Transition of Catalonia (ACTE) came to the faculty. Eva Vilaseca is a biologist and has specialized in Ecology and Social and Solidarity Economy, she works from the Espai Ambiental cooperative and from the EcoHub cooperative, recently promoted by Rubén Suriñach. Rubén is an economist specialized in social and solidarity economy and transformative economies, has been linked to the XES for many years, is currently the coordinator of the EcoHub cooperative and is the author of the novel “Tot era massa fràgil” (Pol·len Edicions).
They are coordinators and authors of the book “Futurs (im)possibles” (Pol·len, 2024) and have promoted the School of Transitions project, a specialization course in ecological transition and economic alternatives at the University of Barcelona (UB).
Building a future in a world that is ending: Scenarios, possibilities and strategies for an ecosocial transition
- Ecological realism
The great acceleration and energy decline
The Great Acceleration refers to the correlation between the availability of cheap energy and the exponential increase in economic, social and environmental indicators. The historical use of fossil fuels has enabled this growth, but, being finite resources, they are destined to run out. On a broader historical scale, their availability has been an exceptionality that has driven human development. However, we are now faced with energy decline and the urgent need to adapt to it..
After the Great Acceleration comes the Great Decline, the beginning of the era of consequences. The environmental impacts derived from the current growth model are evident through phenomena such as planetary boundaries.
The ecological transition is not an option, but an inevitable process. Degrowth is presented as an essential biophysical condition to guarantee sustainability. The key question is how to address this decline and reduce our ecological footprint in an equitable and effective way.
- Fighting dystopia
The concept of TINA (There Is No Alternative), coined by Margaret Thatcher, provides the idea that there is no viable alternative to capitalism. Mark Fisher calls capitalist realism the cultural process by which we are instilled with the belief that we cannot imagine another way of life outside of capitalism.
Since the financial collapse of 2008, the Western capitalist utopia has been shattered. The ideal of progress based on economic growth and social advancement has become unattainable for new generations, who find that living better than their predecessors is no longer a possibility. This has a psychosocial effect that translates into a cancellation of the future, where fewer and fewer people dare to imagine alternative horizons.
This phenomenon is reflected in mass dystopian productions, where the driving force of the narrative is not hope, but individualistic survival in a devastated world. This narrative has a perverse effect: it generates accommodation in the present, encourages conservative thinking and paralyzes any attempt to project a different future.
To reverse this situation, it is necessary to break with this narrative and open the box of the future. It is essential to dispute dystopia and train utopian thinking, promoting a collective imagination capable of narrating desirable and possible futures.
World Economic Forum table on the risks of the coming years
Source: World Economic Forum
We must go beyond cultural dispute and dystopian blockade and commit to strategic anticipation through the participatory construction of future scenarios, social and community fabric. The first four risks shown in the table are related to the ecological transition, it is within this framework that we must work on future scenarios. This approaching future is complex and we will move between an orderly and planned process and the need to respond to emergencies caused by climate phenomena.
- Future scenarios
Source: Image taken from the presentation
Based on two axes: institutional continuity/institutional discontinuity and market logic/common good logic, we can draw four possible future scenarios to address the ecosocial transition.
An ecofascist scenario is characterized by elites and corporate power carrying out a process of social segregation and concentration of land and resources. The conflict arises among the popular classes, which are internally fragmented, due to a democratic regression and a tendency towards authoritarianism.
On the other hand, what is called the corporate Green New Deal is a similar scenario. Here, a social numbness occurs, in which governments and private capital apply a green make-up (through renewables and the electrification of transport), while the less privileged population experiences a worsening of conditions.
- Five change strategies
Below are five major change strategies to influence to work on the just ecological transition, following the theory of change or social transformation.
- Mobilization, denunciation and resistance
- Political advocacy
- Construction of economic alternatives
- Strengthening the community fabric and governance
- Cultural change
- Ecosocial transition
The only path to a possible and livable future is an eco-social transition. Kate Raworth’s proposal for the doughnut economy is presented, a proposal that links the planetary limits that we cannot cross in the form of an ecological ceiling, and a social base made up of basic rights guaranteed for everyone. It is the space between these two axes that we must head towards to guarantee an eco-social future.
- How do we get there?
Technically it is possible but the challenges are that it is ecologically necessary, politically viable and culturally desirable. The need lies in building new narratives and being able to imagine this future as possible in addition to specifying the steps on how to do it.
- Building a political project for Catalonia
Our priority should be that, in the face of the ecosocial crisis, political strategies and proposals are aimed at making this outcome desirable and acceptable to the vast majority, an environmentalism for the 99%.
- Focused on people’s needs
Current environmentalism is often presented in an individualistic (e.g. recycling) or resistanceist (e.g. limits to growth) way. We can, however, propose solutions that also address everyday needs: housing, anti-racism, feminism, etc. Thus, the question of the end of the world and making ends meet become converging struggles.
2. Defense of three basic rights
- Social rights (social struggles)
- Rights of nature (defense of the territory)
- Right to the future (for new generations)
3. A macro-ecology
It is necessary to propose ambitious, concrete and realistic actions. Micro and localized proposals (such as energy communities) are important, but it is also necessary to propose broader changes that define how and what must be done to transform the situation.
4. Addressing the issue of jobs
The tension between the environmental agenda and the interests of the working class is central. Environmentalism must address job creation, forging relevant union alliances and developing concrete proposals that address this issue.
5. A shared project
The objective is to build a political proposal that responds to these needs, based on a broad process of great alliances. From ACTE, we propose to build a shared, ambitious political strategy that seeks bridges and defines a common horizon. It is necessary to build our political project in the face of this crisis, as reflected in the Ecosocial Pact of Catalonia.
In the following link you can consult the Measures for an Ecosocial Transition in Catalonia presented by ACTE, made up of 273 social organizations and movements, professionals and activists from various sectors. ACTE is presented with the aim of promoting an ecological and social transition in Catalonia that is just and democratic.