On ‘the Other Crisis’: Diagnosing the Socio-Ecological Crisis

Abstract

A ‘socio-ecological’ crisis is unfolding between our societies and the ecologies of which they are a part. Exploring some of its key dimensions reveals that its precise nature is not as clear as is sometimes assumed. A little acknowledged, but extremely significant, debate over the ‘diagnosis’ of the crisis exists, which in turn reflects a long-running dispute between ‘under-consumptionist’ and ‘over-accumulationist’ currents in crisis theory. The debate points us to the very different and incompatible ‘prescriptions’ that the two currents offer for how to avoid the worst impacts of the crisis. Diagnosing the socio-ecological crisis is therefore central to understanding ‘the coming crisis’.