Countering corporate violence: Degrowth, ecosocialism and organising beyond the destructive forces of capitalism

Ekaterina Chertkovskaya,Alexander Paulsson

doi:10.1177/1350508420975344

Abstract

Corporate violence is a form of organised violence motivated or caused by material interest, profit-seeking or economic expansion. It is inflicted on human beings or ecosystems. Complementing a Marxist theoretical frame with literature on ecosocialism and degrowth, we examine how corporate violence is inherent to and has been consistently encouraged by the capitalist mode of production. By drawing on the concepts of primitive accumulation and social metabolism, we visibilise how such violence is manifested within the productive forces of capitalism – natural resources, labour, technology and money. Corporate violence, we argue, may only be countered in a post-capitalist society where the productive forces are radically transformed. We build on degrowth principles to articulate how corporate violence may be countered and how post-growth organising of productive forces may look.

Highlights

Since June 2019, a true catastrophe has been unfolding in Australia, with bushfires of an intensity hardly ever seen before
We have illustrated how violence is inherent to the productive forces of capitalist society, and how degrowth principles may contribute to countering this violence and organising societies that are centred on regenerative social metabolism
We have done this by arguing that post-growth organising needs to be post-capitalist, and by showing how organisations and productive forces built on degrowth principles may look

Summary

Introduction

Since June 2019, a true catastrophe has been unfolding in Australia, with bushfires of an intensity hardly ever seen before. The knowledge of Aboriginal communities, including how to keep bushfires under control, has been ignored while controversial government and corporate decisions on mining have paved the way for extractivism (Banerjee, 2003; Castellino, 2020) These fires in Australia depict a violence that goes beyond severe organisational failure, managerial malpractice, or the forces of nature. They indicate violence of a more systemic kind, which goes in hand with the pursuit of economic growth and corporate profit-seeking Such violence is not always immediately visible and its consequences may take years or even decades to unfold (Galtung, 1990; Nixon, 2011).

Objectives

Findings

Conclusion