Book Review: (page 5 of 5)

The Ecology of Commerce
By Paul Hawken
Harper Business, New York City 1993
250 pages, $23.00 US.

By Ivan Handler
Networking for Democracy

One of the nice effects of Hawken's formulation is the way it can be used to eliminate "laundry list coalitions," where all social justice and environmental issues are listed in some order as principles of unity. These coalitions have a terrible history of disunity, since their very definition creates huge opportunities for disagreement. But coalitions built around the concept of "ecological maturity" can unite all of these seemingly disparate issues under one roof in a very neat and elegant fashion--as long as the concept of ecology is seen in its most inclusive (and thus most realistic) context.

The book's other main problem is the lack of reference to a political program. Clearly this is not a valid critique of Hawken; he can't be required to do everything and he has done quite a bit as it is. Still none of the items that he proposes will be possible to implement without political change.

Hawken makes it clear that he sees large multinational corporations as the enemy and they are likely to resist change at every opportunity. That's why the changes Hawken is proposing are revolutionary in practice. As Hawken himself mentions several times, he wants to reinvent or change the whole structure of business. Structural changes on this order are always revolutionary, often violent and never easy. The current industrial interests are dangerous and will not change because of moral exhortations or even good ideas like the ones Hawken presents. The challenge for revolutionaries who unite with this program is to build those ties in ways that will sustain the movement through some very tough times.

Ivan Handler is a mathematician and software integrator living in Chicago. He is the information systems director for Networking for Democracy, a Chicago-based cooperative assisting grassroots organizations with media and computer skills.