The Three Ecologies Book

In Three Ecologies, Guattari sets out to to refocus and reconsider our ways of opposing capital and the ways in which we consider resistance, through the development of a triangular ecological concept of ecosophy. Ecosophy includes the elements of mental, social and environmental ecology, however the principal focus is on the subjective and individual experience and the ways in which it can be reconstructed to set the tone for change and to influence the social and environmental dynamics in the context of an environment that is gradually being destroyed by the 'infinite growth' policy of capital.

In the context of an environmentally destructive post-industrial capitalist world where capital has become delocalized and deterritorialized and its ideological hammer, the mass media, bares down on us stronger than ever, Guattari argues for a ethico-aestethic reconstructions (resingularization) of our notion of our subjectivity as a starting point for resistance. Guattari, influenced clearly by the Situationists and individualist anarchists, argues that subjectivity exists both within and without us, and this outward subjectivity has become captured (via mass media) and put in a repetitive, ideological loop of capitalism creating a mental manipulation through creating a collective subjectivity that permeates our sensibilities, attitudes and minds that massifies and homogenizes our desires and aspirations.

Guattari argues that the human experience of subjectivity is influenced by refrains, small, almost molecular moments in our lives that can have the potential of changing our lives forever. He gives the example of him learning how to drive that would later end up in getting a divorce and the positive outcome of this as a refrain. However, if refrains occurred freely and openly before, they have now been captured by the manufactured pop culture of mass media, a skylarks song has been replaced by commercial rock music or the advertisement jingle. This has lead to a deterioration of our sense of self, leading to multiple mental health issues as well as a destruction of our social bonds of community as people are force-fed more and more ideology of consumerist''individuality''. Desire must be liberated from capitalist control and manipulation. Furthermore, as creators and inhabitants of phantasms or illusions or fantasies, these fantasies have often been subjected to manipulation by the same processes mentioned above, however, Guattari argues for reconstructing these channels, an ecology of the phantasm where human fantasies can come to life in non-violent and productive ways

As a solution to this, Guattari argues that these templates and moulds should be rejected, that grand narratives and scientific supremacy must be sidelined and instead an ethical and aestethic approach must be taken to resingularize our subjectivity, much like an artist is constantly reinventing himself and trying new things, likewise we must liberate ourselves from these schemes of life and start painting radically different ''life paintings''. He argues for continual experimentation, rejection of patterns and loops and the cultivation of our unconscious ''like a garden'' through seeking authentic refrains, outside of the bounds of mass culture. (the Situationist concept of Détournement is given as an example). We must continually reconstruct our experience of life and recognize the inter-connectedness of our lifes as being at the crossroads of multiples territories both social and environmental, concepts like time, sexuality and our bodies should be revisited and revised.

On the level of social ecology, he argues for spontaneous, localized movements of revolt that are autonomous, non-hierarchical and flexible, dissolving and reappearing as needed. These affinity groups should start from the subjective individual experience and scope of desires and pursue a common goal autonomously but in collaboration with other groups that share this goal, while dissolving and reforming to adapt to the changing economic and political environment and to individual needs. There is a clear influence of individualist anarchist thought, leading back to the Stirnerist concept of the union of egos, however unlike Stirner, Guattari gives a more detailed and coherent explanation of the concept and its functioning or its need for that matters.
He propoeses the concept of dissensus, of a ''fluid solidarity'' and ''unified disunity'', where dissident subjectivities embodied in various movements (women's , gay and minority rights activits, political movements of various focuses etc.) organized collectively and non-hierarchically work together while keeping a flexible frame where their existence as a movement flows in and out, groups forming and reforming according to resistance by the State and capital and to their needs.

The final goal of this is the overthrow of capital and the aversion of a chain of environmental disaster with the focus of subjectivity of individuals on the locus of nature and the environment and as a reference point for reform and change. Guattari argues of participatory, autonomous democracies, for universal basic income, for creating a post-media environment where media si decentralized and in the hands of those who will consume its products, the creation of a Third Sector of non-State and non-private economic entities that do not work for profit but for social gain and enrichment.

A special note should be made to the obvious parallels to the writings of Murray Bookchin and his concepts of social ecology, though unlike Guattari, Bookchin does not abandon the Marxist and Anarchist theoretical foundations of class-conflict and he has denounced the likes of Guattari and Deleuze as ''lifestylists'' and his conception of change focus far less on the individual. However, there is much to be gained from reading these two together and borrowing from Guattari, in my opinions two valuable concepts.

First, the ways in which we need to reconsider our individuality and subjectivity are essential and nourishing while not abandoning our social responsibilities and solidarity is very well layed out in the book, borrowing from psychoanalysis and philosophy and constructing a notion of an ever reconstructing subjectivity. Second, the flexibility of autonomous organizations and the need for it in the context of the elimination of old dualities and death of grand narratives in a postmodern age. This ''fluidarity'' and ''dissensus'' are concepts that activists and organizers should take a second look at and reconsider the long-term and static movements that are prone to bureaucratization and stagnation as well as in avoiding the loss of initial goals to deviations and divergences along the line.