Ep 6 - Toward Democratic Eco-Socialism in Australia - Associate Professor Hans A. Baer - a podcast by Common Alternatives

I offer a vision of a socially just and environmentally sustainable Australia that draws on the concept of democratic eco-socialism, a term which I along with Merrill Singer and Ida Susser coined over 20 years ago and conflates the notions of democratic socialism and eco-socialism. Following from my recent book Democratic Eco-Socialism as a Real Utopia (Berghahn, 2018), I delineate the following ‘non-reformist reforms’ or ‘system challenging reforms’ for transitioning Australia toward a democratic eco-socialist society as part and parcel of a larger transition to a democratic eco-socialist world system. I delineate the following transitional reforms as loose guidelines for shifting Australia from a capitalist liberal democratic system to a democratic eco-socialist system: (1) the creation of a new left party to capture the Australian state; (2) the implementation of a steep carbon tax; (3) revisiting and expanding public ownership of the means of production; (4) dramatically increasing social equality; (5) rejuvenating the labour movement and promoting workers’ democracy; (6) promoting green energy and green jobs; (7) reclaiming the 40 hour work week and beyond; (8) challenging the culture of consumption and adopting a simpler way; (9) creating sustainable settlement patterns and local communities; (10) promoting sustainable population and refugees policies; (11) implementing sustainable transport; (12) promoting sustainable food production and forestry; (13) increasing domestic manufacturing and tariffs and minimizing free trade agreements; and (14) drastically reducing the staunch military alliance with the United States. As the global socio-economic and ecological crises, particularly anthropogenic climate change, unfold, it is important for progressive people to envision radical alternatives to the existing capitalist world system, particularly in its neo-liberal phase, at the world-wide, regional, national, and local efforts. Anti-systemic movements can play a significant role in achieving the transition to democratic eco-socialism.   Hans A Baer is Principal Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Social Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. He earned his PhD in Anthropology at the University of Utah in 1976. Baer taught at several US colleges and universities both on a regular and a visiting basis, as a Fulbright Lecturer at Humboldt University in East Berlin in 1988-1989, and at the Australian National University and the University of Melbourne. He has published 21 books and some 190 book chapters and articles on a diversity of research topics, including Mormonism, African-American religion, socio-political life in East Germany, critical health anthropology, medical pluralism in the US, UK, and Australia, the critical anthropology of climate change, and Australian climate politics. Baer’s most recent books include Global Warming and the Political Ecology of Health (with Merrill Singer,) Global Capitalism and Climate Change), Climate Politics and the Climate Movement in Australia (with Verity Burgmann), The Anthropology of Climate Change (with Merrill Singer), Democratic Eco-Socialism as a Real Utopia, and Urban Eco-Communities in Australia: Real Utopias or Market Niches? (with Liam Cooper).  

Alternative Futures and Regional Prospects Symposium Working across Differences, beyond Carbon, Capital and Commodity  Thursday 22nd & Friday 23rd of November 2018 Organizers: The University of Newcastle Alternative Futures Network, Common Alternatives Network (http://thecommonalts.com/); hosted by The University of Technology Sydney

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