Joel Kovel facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Joel Kovel
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Kovel in 2009
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| Born | Joel Stephen Kovel August 27, 1936 Brooklyn, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Died | April 30, 2018 (aged 81) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Scholar, writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Website | |
| joelkovel.com (archived) | |
Joel Stephen Kovel (born August 27, 1936 – died April 30, 2018) was an American thinker and writer. He is known for helping to create a big idea called eco-socialism. This idea mixes caring for the environment with ideas about fairness for everyone in society. Kovel first trained as a psychoanalyst, which is like a type of therapist. But he later left that field in 1985 to focus on his other work.
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Early Life and Education
Joel Kovel was born on August 27, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York. His parents were Jewish immigrants. He went to Baldwin Senior High School (New York) in New York.
In 1957, he earned his first degree from Yale University. He then went on to get his medical degree (M.D.) in 1961 from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Later, in 1977, he also finished his training at a psychoanalytic institute in Brooklyn.
Career Highlights
Working as a Professor
From 1977 to 1983, Kovel was in charge of training new doctors in psychiatry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He also became a professor there. From 1980 to 1985, he taught about Marxism and Sigmund Freud at the New School for Social Research.
In 1986, Kovel decided to leave the field of psychiatry. He then became a visiting professor at the University of California, San Diego. He also taught for short periods at San Diego State University.
In 1988, Kovel started teaching at Bard College. In 2009, his job was not renewed. Kovel believed this was because of his political views, especially about Zionism. However, the college president said it was part of a plan to have fewer part-time teachers. Kovel left Bard College in 2009.
Political Involvement
Kovel became active in politics during the 1960s. This was because of the Vietnam War. He started to study the ideas of Karl Marx. This led him to call himself a "Marxist psychoanalyst." He also supported the Sandinista Revolution in Nicaragua.
By the late 1980s, Kovel became very involved with the environmental movement. He joined the Green Party of the United States. He even ran for the U.S. Senate in New York in 1998. In 2000, he tried to become the Green Party's candidate for president.
Kovel was also an editor for a magazine called Socialist Resistance.
Personal Life
Joel Kovel was married twice. First, he married Virginia Ryan, a nurse, and they had two children. Later, they divorced. He then married DeeDee Halleck, and they had one daughter.
Kovel passed away on April 30, 2018, in New York City. He was 81 years old. He died from pneumonia and a brain condition.
Kovel's Main Ideas
What is Eco-socialism?
In 2001, Kovel worked with Michael Löwy to write An Ecosocialist Manifesto. This book helped define what eco-socialism means. It's a way of thinking that connects environmental problems with problems in society caused by capitalism.
Problems with Capitalism
Kovel believed that capitalism and its constant need for growth hurt the environment. He thought that companies always need to make more money. This means they have to keep expanding and selling more. But our planet has limited resources.
He and Löwy said that capitalism's growth causes "crises of ecology." This happens through too much industry and pollution. It also leads to "societal breakdown" through imperialism and globalization. They believed capitalism turns nature into something just for making money. It also treats many people as just workers.
Kovel used the Bhopal disaster as an example. This was a terrible industrial accident. He explained that market forces can make companies cut costs. This can lead to less safety and more environmental problems.
Use Value vs. Exchange Value
Kovel followed Karl Marx's ideas about "use value" and "exchange value."
- Use value is how useful something is to us.
- Exchange value is how much money something can be sold for.
Kovel said that in a market economy, things are made to be sold for money, not just because they are useful. This means we keep making things we don't really need. He felt this has gone too far. Important activities like caring for family are not paid, but unnecessary economic activities make some people very rich.
Role of Governments and Big Organizations
Kovel thought that capitalist expansion works with "corrupt governments." These governments stop people from speaking out against the system. He believed that big international organizations, often led by Western countries, control poorer nations.
Kovel also said that capitalism causes conflict and even war. He felt that the "war on terror" was caused by the need for oil. Capitalist nations need oil for industry. This leads to conflicts with countries where oil is found.
He believed that governments trying to control markets won't solve the problem. This is because it would mean limiting how much money can be made. He also thought that fighting terrorism won't work if it means keeping the "logic of empire."
Different Green Ideas
Kovel also looked at other ideas within the environmental movement. He felt that many green groups were not against capitalism enough. He thought they tried to work within the current system.
He criticized ideas like carbon trading. He called it a "capitalist shell game." He felt it turned pollution into a way to make more money. He also thought that some local environmental efforts were too focused on individuals. He said they could be used by capitalism, like some recycling projects.
Kovel believed that technology alone cannot solve social problems. He said that even if we had "free energy," it could lead to more cars and more pollution. He warned against relying only on renewable energies. He felt it was more important to change society to use less energy first.
Other Critiques
Kovel also disagreed with:
- Green economics: He felt it didn't want big social changes.
- Community-based economics: He thought these were too small-scale to make a big difference.
- Deep ecology: He felt it sometimes went too far in trying to protect nature. He said it could lead to removing people from their homes to create wilderness areas.
- Bioregionalism: He worried that this idea of self-sufficient regions could lead to conflicts and isolation.
- Eco-feminism: While supporting gender equality, he criticized some types that didn't focus enough on capitalism.
- Social ecology: He saw it as similar but different. He felt it focused too much on hierarchy itself, rather than capitalism.
- Past socialisms: He believed that earlier socialist movements failed because they became too controlling. He said they copied capitalism's focus on production instead of true freedom for workers.
Kovel's Solutions
How to Make Change Happen
Kovel believed in peacefully changing capitalism and the state. He wanted people to own things together. He also wanted to bring back the idea of the Commons, which means shared resources.
He thought that working-class people should be involved in creating eco-socialist parties. But he also felt that many different groups and individuals could help. He called these "prefigurative" projects. These are small actions that show what a future, better society could look like.
Kovel said that people should criticize the capitalist system. They should also challenge the idea that there's no other way. This would make people want to fight for change.
Practical Steps
Kovel suggested several short-term actions:
- Organizing workers to change how labor is valued.
- Forming cooperatives, where workers own the business together.
- Creating local currencies to reduce the power of money.
- Supporting "radical media" that challenge consumerism.
- Focusing on local politics first.
He believed in building projects based on "use values." These would show what a society without capitalism could be like. Examples include Indymedia, open-source software, and Wikipedia. These projects are about sharing and working together.
Global Change
Kovel believed that change needed to happen worldwide. He saw that workers around the globe were already fighting for their rights. He thought that these efforts should lead to a "consciously 'Ecosocialist Party'." This party would be based on local communities working together.
He hoped that even people from capitalist systems, like the police, would eventually join the revolution. This would signal a big turning point.
The Eco-socialist Revolution
Kovel used the term "eco-socialist revolution" to describe the change to an eco-socialist world. In this new society, he imagined that:
- People whose work helps the environment (like nurses or farmers) would be key.
- Money would still be used for trade, but not for making more money on its own.
- There would be no more international speculation (risky investments) in money.
- The debts of poorer countries would be canceled.
- Military aid to corrupt leaders would stop.
He also imagined a World People's Trade Organization. This group would be run by ordinary people. It would set fair prices for goods. These prices would encourage environmentally friendly production. They would also make long-distance transport more expensive to reduce pollution.
Kovel wanted "ecological production." This means making things in a way that is good for the environment and for people. He imagined work becoming enjoyable, like a hobby. People would choose their work freely. This would remove exploitation and unfair power.
He believed that basic needs like childcare would be seen as valuable work. Income would be guaranteed for everyone. Markets would become unnecessary. Communities would decide together how to share resources.
Kovel also thought that work and culture would mix. He gave an example of an 18th-century community where workers played music in the fields.
Kovel focused on a modified idea called "usufruct." This is a legal term. It means having the right to use and enjoy someone else's property, as long as you don't damage it. Kovel believed that in an eco-socialist society, everyone would have the right to use things needed for their creativity. This includes their own home and personal items.
However, he felt that too much private property leads to problems. He thought that people are happier when they share. He believed that eco-socialism would mean people enjoy things for their usefulness, not just for owning them. This would stop the "craving" for having things and keeping others from having them. He hoped that the idea of "owning the planet" would be replaced with usufruct.
Criticism
Some critics, like Doug Boucher and others, have said that Kovel's ideas were too focused on "catastrophe." They felt he didn't give enough credit to how people fight for change. They also thought he overlooked the good things that capitalist governments and labor movements have done. They argued that environmental socialism should be built on hope, not fear.
Books by Joel Kovel
Kovel wrote many books. His book White Racism (1970) was nominated for a major award. Some of his other works include:
- A Complete Guide to Therapy (1979)
- The Age of Desire (1982)
- Against the State of Nuclear Terror (1982)
- In Nicaragua (1986)
- The Radical Spirit: Essays on Psychoanalysis and Society (1988)
- History and Spirit (1991)
- Red Hunting in the Promised Land (1994)
- The Enemy of Nature (2002)
- Overcoming Zionism (2007)
He was also the editor-in-chief of a magazine called Capitalism, Nature, Socialism. His last book, published in 2017, was his life story called The Lost Traveller's Dream.
