Ecology Against Capitalism

John Bellamy Foster

Leading theorist of Marxist perspective on ecology

Realms of ecology & capitalism opposed to each other

• Crisis NOT caused by: human nature, modernity, industrialism, economic development

• Problem = social relations of CAPITALISM• Environmental problems can be overcome without abandoning prospect

of human progress• Fundamental social change to make sustainable relations to environment

possible

Capitalism =

Impossible: Infinite expansion within finite environment Potential catastrophic conflict between global capitalism &

global environment

Capitalist economic focus = economic growth at any cost, including exploitation & misery of majority of world’s population

Rapid absorption of energy & materials + dumping of more & more wastes in environment

Planning v Capitalist Anarchy

• Economic planning to include: water resources, rationing & conservation of non renewable resources, disposal of wastes, effects of population growth, location of industrial projects

• Planning to create: “Intergenerational Environmental Equity”

Global Warming

• Failure of Kyoto Protocol to significantly address problem suggests capitalism unable to reverse course

• Emphasis on profits obtained from fossil fuel consumption & form of development geared to auto-industrial complex will threaten, within a few generations, planet itself

Capitalism has no environmental correcting mechanism

False argument 1: As ecological resources become scarce, economywill respond by moving toward preservation. But nofunctional relationship exists to do this

False argument 2: Possible to solve problem via “polluter paysprinciple”. But ecological reforms, like allothers are limited because moment they begin toaddress fundamental nature of system itself, they arequickly curtailed by vested interests

Solution = Socialism

• Stark choice = reject “the gods of profit” as holding out solution to ecological problems

• Solution = more harmonious co-evolution of nature & human society, as essential element in building more just & egalitarian social order

• Alternative = ecological & social crisis rapidly spinning out of control, with irreversible & devastating consequences for humans & other species

No Solution in Capitalist Economics

Human society & human economy exist within larger biosphere

Undermining conditions of life bound to undermine conditions of production itself

Nature not a commodity: attempting to treat it as such & make it subject to laws of self regulating market is irrational, leading to overexploitation of biosphere by failing to reproduce the conditions necessary for its continued existence

Socialist Solutions for 21st Century

• System of production organised democratically in accordance with needs of direct producers & reflecting emphasis on fulfillment of totality of human needs

• Production non-alienating only if promotes welfare of every individual as way of promoting welfare of all, & only if fulfills human need for sustainable, ie non-exploitative relation to nature

• Struggle for environmental justice – struggle over interrelationship of race, class, gender, & imperial oppression & depredation of environment – likely to be defining feature of the 21st century

“Treadmill of Production”

• Fiction: Morality of individual is key to morality of society - individuals simply change moral stance to nature & alter own consumption & energy use

• Fact: “Treadmill of production” is main enemy of environment. To generate profits, treadmill relies on energy-intensive, capital-intensive technology, allowing it to economise on labor inputs

• Present trajectory: Increased production & more substitution of energy & machines for labor mean more rapid depletion of high quality energy sources & other natural resources, & larger amounts of waste dumped (increasingly toxic) into environment

The “Higher Immorality”

• Fiction: Appealing to ethics of individuals at top of social pyramid & to corporations

• Fact: “Treadmill of Production” & the “Higher Immorality” are built into our society. Individual corporate manager is merely cog in wheel of system

• Resistance to treadmill of production therefore has to come mainly from lower echelons of society, & from social movements rather than individuals

Common Morality Vs Higher Immorality

Ecological approach to economy means having enough, not more.

First priority = people, especially poor people, rather than production. Importance of meeting basic needs & long-term security = Common Morality to combat Higher Immorality of the treadmill

Only by committing itself to environmental justice (environmental concerns & social justice) can environmental movement avoid being cut off from classes of individuals most resistant to treadmill on social grounds

“Sustainable Development”

• Market mechanism so central to culture that dominant perspective on ecological crisis requires accept notion that further extension of market relations offers technical answer to all environmental problems

• Sustainable development = Reconciliation between economy & environment can be achieved without altering main features of Economic Treadmill (profits, competition, ever increasing productivity, economic growth, economic inequality, high levels of consumption, individual self-interest not needs of larger social communities)

Capitalism and the world environment

• Human history at turning point: result of fundamental change in relationship between human beings & environment

• Scale of humanity transforming energy & materials reached level that rivals elemental natural processes

• Sustainability of both human civilisation & global life processes depends not on slowing down dire trends, but their reversal

Reform or Revolution?

Opposition forces always emerge forcing capitalist system to moderate worst tendencies

Capitalists can’t accept changes resulting in destruction of system itself. Before reform movements threaten accumulation process as whole, counter-forces set in motion to head off necessary elemental changes

Fundamental political conundrum of Green politics = where radical change is called for, little is accomplished within system & underlying crisis intensifies over time. Impossible to prevent world’s environmental crisis getting progressively worse unless root problems of production, distribution, technology & growth dealt with on GLOBAL scale

Capitalism unsustainable: ecologically, economically, politically & morally: MUST BE SUPERCEEDED

Imperialism & the fight for the environment

• Excesses of advanced capitalist states, & their impact on periphery of world economy: heart of capitalist world system where problem of unsustainable development is most acute

• Ecological struggles therefore connected inseparably to struggle against imperialism: takes on new meaning when viewed in terms of exploitation of earth’s resources

Social & ecological justice for Third World

New ecological conscience says being green about having enough, not always more. Doesn’t mean abandonment of populations at bottom of world system, for whom genuine economic development remains essential

Ecology & social justice cannot be separated

Limits of environmentalism without class

• Fiction: Many environmentalists think Working Class & Capitalist Class to blame for global environmental crisis & Greens represent new paradigm derived from nature’s own values (“not right or left”)

• Fiction: Environmentalism can stand above & beyond the class struggle

• Fact: Earth movement of this kind will hinder overall green goal of forming sustainable relationship between human beings & nature by splitting popular forces & creating more opposition to environmental cause

• Fact: Route to create mass environmental movement is one that seeks to break seemingly intractable conflict between jobs & environmental protection - “Ecological Conversion” as key concept

Environmental Revolution needed

Everything depends on social struggle & movements & organisations people able to build

Current historical conjuncture requires “Environmental Revolution” on scale of earlier agricultural & industrial revolutions; must transcend present biosphere culture of capitalism & its Higher Immorality

Replacing it with world of ecological & cultural diversity: world of more complex & universal freedom rooted in a communal ethic & in accord with earth & its habitat

The Goal = A New Society

Only Solution = transformation of social relations of production in direction of socialism

New Society governed not by search for profit but by people’s genuine needs & requirements of socio-ecological sustainability