Philipp P. Thapa

Effective climate protection will increasingly be possible only through massive restrictions on freedom. Against this background, some people demand a system change and consider the necessity of eco-authoritarianism to enforce a full brake on climate change. Others see the threat of an eco-dictatorship already partly realised by the judicial recognition of a right to climate protection. The authors analyse the concept of eco-authoritarianism, showing that it is necessary to distinguish between authoritarian measures or institutions and an authoritarian regime. Eco-authoritarian policies may be desirable as a measure with clear boundaries in scope and duration, to protect the well-being of citizens and the democratic systems. Such policies, however, do not necessarily pose a threat to the free democratic order. With regard to the German constitution, the authors show that the law is resilient both against an unhindered progression of climate change and against a change of the political system to a full-fledged eco-authoritarian regime. Neither the constitutional obligation to protect the climate nor the social reality of ecological boundaries necessarily lead to an “eco-dictatorship”.

Utopianism as a form of thinking has always been part of environmentalism, but environmental philosophers have largely refrained from engaging with it. A philosophical conception of ecological utopianism, or ecotopianism for short, could make the subject matter accessible to further philosophical reflection. As a highly generalised conceptual framework and terminology, it could also support interdisciplinary communication in the diverse field of utopian studies and practice, including today’s environmental movements. After offering evidence of utopian thinking in environmental discourse, I outline a conception of utopianism and ecotopianism that is based on the processual paradigm of contemporary utopian theory and compatible with Deweyan pragmatism.