Building an Ecosocialist Movement

8th December 2024

I am an ecosocialist organiser from Pakistan and I am currently based in Germany. I have organised for over a decade with different social and climate justice struggles both in the Global South. I am currently organising with the Working Class Climate Alliance to build a global network of working class groups and communities for an international class war against the destruction of our planet.

Let us first dive into the heart of resistance – not as a linear progression, but as a dynamic, dialectical process of constant transformation. Dialectics is not just an abstract academic term — it is the lifeblood of every struggle for justice. It is the living process through which movements learn, adapt, and fundamentally reshape themselves. Resistance is not a monologue; it is a dialogue that evolves through confrontation and contradiction. In this sense, movements do not merely react to oppression — they create: they generate new forms of understanding, strategies, and ways of being.

Take the anti-colonial struggles of the 20th century. These were not simply about the removal of colonial administrators. They were profound acts of transformation that reimagined the very concepts of nationhood, collective organisation and self-determination. Leaders and movements did not just dismantle colonial regimes; they challenged the systems of thought and structures of domination that upheld them. In doing so, they cultivated new visions of justice, freedom, and dignity that continue to resonate today.

Contradictions are the driving force of this dialectical process. They are not barriers they are the engines of transformation. Consider the workers in the Global South who resisted the structural adjustment programs during the late 20th century. These struggles were not confined to opposition against economic policies; they illuminated the deeper contradictions of global capitalism. Out of these movements emerged transnational solidarities that reimagined the possibilities of economic justice and democracy. The protests at the World Trade Organisation meeting in Seattle in 1999 for example, did not appear in isolation. They were the culmination of decades of resistance in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, where the groundwork for confronting neoliberalism had already been laid.

This process of transnational learning and mutual transformation has been fundamental to every major movement. Consider the civil rights movement in the United States. Its leaders drew inspiration from anti-colonial struggles in Africa, resistance movements in Asia, and global critiques of racial capitalism. Malcolm X’s transformation after his travels to Africa and the Middle East, or Martin Luther King Jr.’s increasing focus on the intersections of racial and economic justice, were not merely personal epiphanies. They were part of a larger dialectical process — a global exchange of ideas and strategies that reshaped how these leaders and their movements understood their struggle.

The same applies to feminist movements. Feminism in the Global North was profoundly reshaped by critiques from women of colour, anti-colonial feminist thought, and voices from the Global South. The very concept of intersectionality, which has become central to feminist discourse today, emerged not from theoretical abstraction but from lived experiences of resistance. It arose from the realities of women navigating the overlapping violence of race, class, gender, and colonialism.

Today, these dialectical processes are more evident than ever. Consider the pro-Palestine student movements sweeping across campuses worldwide. These are not merely acts of solidarity; they represent a reimagining of collective resistance in the 21st century. These students are challenging institutional power, producing new forms of political knowledge, and building alliances that transcend borders. They are not simply responding to a moment — they are shaping a new political consciousness for the future.

Resistance, then, is not static. It is not just a reaction — it is an act of creation. When movements in the Global North and Global South connect, they spark this dialectical process. They confront contradictions, learn from one another, and forge new possibilities. History teaches us that no struggle becomes decisive in isolation. It is in the connections — the conversations across borders and experiences — that resistance transforms not only the systems it opposes but also the world it seeks to create.

Building Ecosocialist Movements:

Ecosocialist Information and Communication Centres:

Building ecosocialist movements requires us to develop profound, nuanced strategies of organisation and resistance. We must create infrastructures of solidarity that are simultaneously local and global, flexible and principled. This means developing communication networks that genuinely centre the experiences of marginalised communities, particularly those in the Global South who have been at the forefront of ecological and social struggles.

Our organisational approaches must be as dynamic as the challenges we face. We need structures that are decentralised or decentralised yet coordinated, that allow for local autonomy while maintaining collective strategic direction. This is not about creating uniform templates, but about developing adaptive, responsive networks of resistance and transformation.

Ecosocialist Political Education:

Political education becomes crucial in this context. We are not simply transmitting information, but creating transformative learning environments. Our educational approaches must connect theoretical understanding with practical struggle, challenge traditional hierarchies of knowledge, and create spaces where diverse experiences can generate collective wisdom.

Ecosocialist Alternative Economy:

The economic alternatives we develop are not merely theoretical models, but living laboratories of transformation. Worker cooperatives, community-owned renewable energy projects, alternative economic indicators – these are more than economic strategies. They are practical demonstrations of our capacity to create different ways of organising economic life.

Ecosocialist Community Building:

Our struggle confronts global ecological capitalism at multiple levels. We intervene in local community organising, in workplace struggles, within educational institutions, through digital communication networks, and on global solidarity platforms. Each of these becomes a site of potential transformation, a space where we can generate collective counterpower.

The challenges are profound. We must develop organisational resilience that can withstand institutional violence. We need technological approaches that challenge surveillance infrastructures. We must create truly intersectional organising practices that recognise the complex, interconnected nature of systemic oppression. But our greatest strength lies in our capacity for collective imagination. We are not just fighting against ecological destruction. We are creating new ways of being, knowing, and relating. Our movement is an ecosystem of resistance, constantly learning, adapting, transforming.