Saral Sarkar was born in 1936 in West Bengal, India. After graduating from the University of Calcutta, he studied German language and literature for five years at the Goethe Institute, in India and Germany. From 1966 to 1981 he taught German as a lecturer at the Goethe Institute, Hyderabad, India. Since 1982 he has been living in Cologne, Germany, where he has been active in the ecology and peace movement, – for a time as a member and local secretary of the Green Party. Between 1997 and 2005, Sarkar was active in the anti-globalization movement. Over the years, he has taken part in many debates and discussions on green, left, and alternative politics, both through speaking and writing in English and German. He gave lectures at many conferences in several European countries, India, China and the USA. He has also published widely in journals of these countries. In the 1980s, the United Nations University commissioned Sarkar to write an authoritative historical study of the Green-alternative Movement in West Germany. The result of this study was published by the United Nations University Press (Tokyo) as a two-volume work – Green-Alternative Politics in West Germany – in 1993 and 1994. Sarkar’s most important work “Eco-Socialism or Eco-Capitalism? – A Critical Analysis of Humanity’s Fundamental Choices” has appeared in English, German, Chinese, and (in internet) French.
For Saving the Earth We Need to Tell the Whole Truth: An Eco-Socialist’s Response to Richard Smith
In his article, Richard Smith calls upon his readers to “change the conversation”. He asks, “What are your thoughts?” He says, if we don’t “come up with a viable alternative, our goose is cooked.” I fully agree. So I join the conversation, in order to improve it.
December 5, 2017
The Ecology Movement is not a Social Movement — A Response to John Foran’s Article on the How-Question
And since without the promise of social justice and without global economic equality no poor person, nor any poor nation, would accept an ecology movement that inevitably entails economic contraction, it is necessary to enlarge the ecology movement to a global eco-socialist movement.
February 2, 2017
Saving the Planet, American Style — A Critical Review, and Some Thoughts and Ideas
Planet Earth, our habitat, is in dire straits And our world is suffering from various crises, conflicts and problems. There is hardly any sign that something is seriously being done to solve these problems.
October 13, 2016
1 thought on “Saral Sarkar”