Centralism, de-centralism and bio-regionalism

Abstract

Two of the most important social movements in Canada today are the radical and social-democratic Left (exemplified by the Action Canada Network), and the environmental movement - in one of its more radical manifestations, as bioregionalism. At its best, the environmental movement is very concerned about the threat to sustainability posed by the growing power of the global economy and corporate capital. The Left, for its part, is coming to recognize the importance of the global ecological crisis. Together, these two movements have common goals. Both would like to limit or even eliminate capitalism and, for the most part, both would like to see a world in which ordinary Canadians had a lot more power. These similarities notwithstanding, they differ in their evaluation of what's needed and in their beliefs about what we should do to achieve a just, sustainable way of life.