Description
Book Synopsis
Facing global climate crisis, Marx's ecological critique of capitalism more clearly demonstrates its importance than ever. This book reconstructs the history of Marxism from an ecological perspective to open up a whole new idea of Marx's post-capitalism that is radically different from other alternatives proposed in recent political ecology.
Trade Review
'Marx in the Anthropocene is a deeply restorative project, both analytically and politically. Through a detailed examination of Marx's notebooks on the natural sciences, Kohei Saito reminds us why Marx insisted that the relationship between nature and capitalism was fundamentally unsustainable. The book restores to us a forgotten Marx, one who is eager to learn from precapitalist societies, one who is beginning to see destruction in development. Taking his lead from this longneglected Marx, Saito then builds a powerful argument for degrowth communism, a theoretical approach that aims to reorganize the very notion of abundance to fit the common weal, rather than fit an abstract notion of luxury communism. Marx in the Anthropocene reminds us, again, why anticapitalism is the nutrient that must be urgently added to nature'' Tithi Bhattacharya, author of Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto
'A masterpiece. This is the book we have been waiting for. Saito draws on Marx to deliver a thrilling synthesis of degrowth and ecosocialism. Herein lies the secret to post-capitalist transition. A must-read for every socialist and every environmentalist -it will change both forever' Jason Hickel, author of Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World
'After his brilliant essay on Marx's ecology, Kohei Saito shows in his new pathbreaking book how different Marxist thinkers tried to deal with the environmental, challenges, from an anti-capitalist perspective. As in his previous essay, Saito is able to grasp Marxism as thought in movement, and not as a closed system. His courageous appeal for a 'degrowth communism' is a decisive contribution for an ecological Marxism of our times, a communism for the Anthropocene' Michael Löwy, author of Ecosocialism: A Radical Alternative to Capitalist Catastrophe
Table of Contents
Dedication; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Marx's Ecological Critique of Capitalism and its Oblivion: 1. Marx's theory of metabolism in the age of global ecological crisis; 2. The intellectual relationship of Marx and Engels revisited from an ecological perspective; 3. Lukács's theory of metabolism as the foundation of ecosocialist realism; Part II. A Critique of Productive Forces in the Anthropocene; 4. Monism and the non-identity of nature; 5. The revival of utopian socialism and the productive forces of capital; Part III. Towards Degrowth Communism: 6. Marx as a degrowth communist; 7. The abundance of wealth in degrowth communism; Conclusion; References; Index.
