Is Freedom Compatible with a Politics of Scarcity?

Traditional political theory, in both liberal and republican varieties, assumes away resource constraints and biophysical limits that are repositioned at the centre of green political thought. Some theorists advocate a new ecological ethic of responsibility, arguing that our collective technological practice constitutes a new type of human action. Traditional ethics and politics do not take account of of the scale across space and time of the cumulative impacts of human activities on nature (Jonas 1985, 23). Others argue that republicanism is compatible with environmentalism despite acknowledging that it is an anthropocentric philosophy (Pettit 1999, 135-138). In this paper, I argue that the challenge for a green republicanism is not just to guarantee freedom as non-domination, or as the route to ‘democratic self-mastery’ (Pettit 1999, 11), but instead that of reconceptualising political freedom within a politics of collective restraint, scarcity and responsibility. For instance, keeping within the global carbon budget consistent with the Paris Agreement probably requires a zero-growth pathway for the aviation sector. Otherwise deeper emissions cuts would have to come from other sectors that are arguably more important for meeting basic needs, such as agriculture or ground transportation. In theory, curbs on flying do not automatically restrict freedom of movement as long as we are still free to walk across borders. But an ecologically sustainable society might require policies that ensure that collective restraint, in the face of the dominating and corrupting effects of corporate power, is effective in combating disaster. This paper explores the implications for both freedom of Personal Carbon Trading schemes, in which citizen would receive an allowance (of aviation-related carbon emissions) that could be traded with others. I argue that restraint, responsibility and freedom are compatible if the distribution of emissions allocation is fair, participatory and allocated on an equal-per-capita basis in a solidaristic framework.