Realist utopias? Green alternatives to capitalism
While environmental economists have argued that environmental problems can be measured and added to production costs to neatly ‘internalise’ otherwise hidden externalities, green economists are sceptical. Even Jonathon Porritt (2005) in a recent book which seems superficially to defend capitalism notes that our existing economic system is unsustainable and we need a rather different form of capitalism. Markets seem to have a built-in growth imperative; while markets evolve and the system becomes more ornate with finance capital including shares and hedge funds, a basic principle remains. In a market, access to goods and service is via money. To get money one has to sell a commodity; for most of us this is our labour. There is a tendency to monetise ever more areas of life: a rainforest can be sold to farmers to grow soya or made to make money through various forms of intensive cultivation. The principle of producing and consuming more and more for ever and ever seems economically vital yet ecologically suspect. One approach to dealing with this dilemma has been to invoke natural capitalism, looking at ways of producing more while using fewer resources. This approach may be aided by an economy which trades increasingly in knowledge. However the principle of an economy that can only survive with constant accumulation tends to build in an anti-ecological trend. If we can cut down a forest, sell the timber and then use the land cleared as a parking lot, this creates economic growth; if we leave it to the birds this does not facilitate accumulation. The growth imperative of capitalism has led to the search for alternative forms of economic regulation. Anti-capitalism from Marx and before has a lengthy history. To some state intervention seems a way of achieving an alternative economic system. I was intrigued to read in Andrew Simm’s interesting Ecological Debt (2005) book that while capitalism was unsustainable and needed to be transcended, the fact that the UK economy Environmental Politics, Vol. 16, No. 3, 518 – 522, June 2007
Even more sense and sustainability
In this essay, I intend to review the core text that underpins the work of the education team at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (http://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation. org/). I will show that while it is strong on some technical aspects of sustainability literacy, it is seriously deficient with regard to critical aspects. Suggestions will be made as to how this deficiency might be remedied. I should perhaps start by acknowledging that I have known Ken Webster and Craig Johnson for many years. Ken and I worked together on Reaching Out, the World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF’s) programme of continuing professional development for teachers, in the 1990s (Huckle 1998). Earlier I had worked with Craig, then a WWF education officer, on curriculum development projects, including What We Consume (Huckle 1988a). Ken’s ability to engage teachers with new and challenging ideas in ways that capture their interest and prompt change in the classroom is an inspiration to fellow writers and workshop facilitators. Craig was a key member of a strong WWF team led by Peter Martin that did much to steer environmental education towards education for sustainable development (ESD). A continuing creative tension in Reaching Out courses was that between Ken’s approach based in an ecological worldview, systems thinking and new economics and my approach based on political ecology, critical theory and eco-socialism. While Ken wished to re-orientate systems of thinking, production and education in line with ecological principles, I wished to re-orientate systems of production, governance and education in line with principles of democracy in the belief that ecological principles would be likely to follow. Our views were, and remain, partly contesting and partly complementary and Ken’s recent work provides an opportunity to examine this tension in greater depth.
Determination of Optimal Ball-Burnishing Parameters for Plastic Injection Moulding Steel
The objective of this study is to determine the optimal plane ball-burnishing parameters for plastic injection moulding steel PDS5 on a machining centre by utilising the Taguchi’s orthogonal array method. The design and manufacture of a burnishing tool are described. Four burnishing parameters, namely the ball material, burnishing speed, burnishing force and feed, were selected as the experimental factors in Taguchi’s design of experiments to determine the optimal burnishing parameters which have the dominant influence on surface roughness. The optimal burnishing parameters were found after carrying out the experiments specified by Taguchi’s L18 orthogonal table, by the analysis of variation, and by a full factorial experiment. The optimal plane burnishing parameters for the plastic injection moulding steel PDS5 were a combination of a tungsten carbide ball, a burnishing speed of 200 mm/min, a burnishing force of 300 N and a feed of 40 μm. The surface roughness Ra of the specimen can be improved from about 1 μm to 0.07 μm by using the optimal burnishing parameters for plane burnishing.