Say Yes to Local Self Reliance But No to Localism

Reader Contribution by Stan Cox
article image

Growing some of one’s own food, conserving and generating the home energy supply, being part of a thriving local economy, and other moves toward self-reliance are all important, laudable goals with, as far as I can see, no ill side effects. However, in North America and Europe, there is now a strong trend among progressive thinkers and activists toward dependence on localism as the means of reversing the global ecological crisis and achieving global economic justice. That’s just not going to happen.

Recently, on Al Jazeera’s opinion page, I attempted to make that case: that as important as it is to improve life locally, such efforts will not work their way up through the world’s economy to solve our biggest problems. I argued that retreating into a romanticized vision of the local life means latching onto one of capitalism’s symptoms — the eclipsing of local economies and governments by more powerful transnational forces — and treating it as if it’s the disease itself.

I cited the 2012 book No Local: Why Small-Scale Alternatives Won’t Change the World by Greg Sharzer, which goes into deep detail on the disconnect between local solutions and global problems. In it, Sharzer writes, “The problem with localism is not its anti-corporate politics, but that these politics don’t go far enough. It sees the effects of unbridled competition but not the cause.”

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368