Marx and the Earth: An Anti-Critique

326 Pages·2016·1.22 MB·English

by  John Bellamy Foster and Paul Burkett

MarxandtheEarth
Historical Materialism
Book Series
EditorialBoard
SébastienBudgen(Paris)
SteveEdwards(London)
JuanGrigera(London)
MarcelvanderLinden(Amsterdam)
PeterThomas(London)
volume115
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/hm
Marx and the Earth
AnAnti-Critique
By
JohnBellamyFoster
PaulBurkett
WiththeEditorialAssistanceof
RyanWishart
leiden | boston
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Names:Foster,JohnBellamy,author.|Burkett,Paul,1956May26-author.
Title:Marxandtheearth:ananti-critique/byJohnBellamyFoster,PaulBurkett;withtheeditorial
assistanceofRyanWishart.
Description:Leiden;Boston:Brill,[2016]|Series:Historicalmaterialismbookseries,ISSN1570-1522;
volume115|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.|Descriptionbasedonprintversionrecord
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Identifiers:LCCN2015041827(print)|LCCN2015045104(ebook)|ISBN9789004288799(e-book)|ISBN
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Subjects:LCSH:Communismandecology.|Marx,Karl,1818-1883.
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Contents
Preface vii
Introduction 1
ThreeStagesofEcosocialistAnalysis 1
TheDebateonMarxandEcologyaDecadeandaHalfLater 12
Marx’s‘MajorEcologicalFlaw’:TheTanuroThesis 15
MarxandtheForeshorteningofIntrinsicValue:TheKovel
Thesis 34
Marx,Aesthetics,andtheSensuousValueofNature 50
1 TheDialecticofOrganicandInorganicRelations 57
TheCritiqueof‘Marx’sInorganicBody’ 58
TheOrganic/InorganicDistinctionandHegel’sPhilosophyof
Nature 65
Marx’sDialecticofOrganic/Inorganic:TheConditionsofHuman
Existence 70
TheEcologicalTransformationofMarx’sNature-Dialectic 78
InstrumentalismandTeleology:ContradictionsintheEcological
CritiqueofMarx 83
TowardEcologicalMaterialism 88
2 TheOriginsofEcologicalEconomics:PodolinskyandMarx-Engels 89
Podolinsky:LifeandWork 93
DevelopmentofPodolinsky’sProject 99
AccumulationofEnergyonEarth 102
ProblemswiththeQuantitativeEnergyAccumulation
Approach 103
Podolinsky’sAnalysisasaBasisforValueTheory 106
ValueandNature:MarxandSieberversusPodolinsky 107
Podolinsky’sPerfectMachineArgument 110
ShortcomingsofthePerfectMachinePerspective 113
Marx’sNotesonPodolinsky 117
Engels’sCommentsonPodolinsky 122
ElaborationsinDieNeueZeit 131
Stoffwechsel 134
vi contents
3 ClassicalMarxismandEnergetics 137
Introduction 137
LabourPoweranditsValue 139
EnergyandSurplusValue 144
CapitalistIndustrialisationandThermodynamicsinMarx’s
Capital 150
EntropyandtheMetabolicRift 160
4 Engels,Entropy,andtheHeatDeathHypothesis 165
Introduction 165
TheSecondLawandtheHeatDeathoftheUniverse 170
TheHeatDeathHypothesisandNineteenth-CenturyPhysics 186
Marxism,theEntropyLaw,andEcology 197
Conclusion:TheDialecticsofNatureandSocietyandtheSecond
Law 199
5 TheReproductionofEconomyandSociety 204
Introduction 204
EcologicalEconomistsonMarx’sReproductionSchemes 205
ProductionandCircularFlowsinthetableauéconomique 206
Marxonthetableauéconomique 209
Production,NatureandMonetaryFlowsinMarx’sSchemes 211
TheAnalyticalBackgroundforMarx’sSchemes 214
TheReproductionSchemesandEnvironmentalCrises 218
Conclusion 221
Conclusion:MarxandMetabolicRestoration 222
Marx’sEcologyafterMarx(andafterEngels) 224
Marx,Metabolism,andOpen-SystemEconomics 232
AgainstEnergeticism 236
MetabolicRestoration:TowardSustainableHuman
Development 239
Appendix1:SergeiPodolinsky,‘SocialismandtheUnityofPhysical
Forces’(TranslatedfromtheItalian) 243
Appendix2:SergeiPodolinsky,‘HumanLabourandtheUnityofForce’
(TranslatedfromtheGerman) 262
Bibliography 288
Index 310
Preface
Ecologyasafieldofinquirycanbetracedbacktothebeginningsofcivilisa-
tion.Butitsmoderndevelopmentdatesbacklargelytotheriseofcapitalism
in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and especially to the emergence
ofindustrialcapitalisminthelateeighteenthcentury.Theword‘ecology’was
firstintroducedin1866intheworkofGermanzoologistErnstHaeckel,where
it was used synonymously at first with what Charles Darwin called the ‘eco-
nomy of nature’.1 Karl Marx, while not himself employing the term ‘ecology’,
which had little currency in his day, introduced the notion of ‘social meta-
bolism’ (or socio-ecological metabolism), defining the labour process as the
metabolicrelationbetweenhumansandnature.2Inthiswayheprovidedan
ecologicalperspectivethatwastounderpinhisentirecritiqueofpoliticaleco-
nomy.Asimilarconceptionofmetabolicrelationswastounderlietheconcept
ofecosystemasdevelopedbyearlytwentieth-centurysystemecologists.Given
thishistoricalbackground,itshouldnotbesurprisingthatMarx’sapproachto
thesocialmetabolismandhisconceptofmetabolicrift(orecologicalcrisis)
haveincreasinglybeenseenascentraltothepolitical-economiccritiqueofthe
alienationofnatureundercapitalism,constitutingthesinglemostimportant
legacyofsocialscienceinthisrealm.
This understanding of the ecological foundations of Marx’s critique was
put forward in our previous work, particularly Marx and Nature (Burkett)
and Marx’sEcology (Foster), and is now widely accepted.3 Yet, there remain
anumberofcriticisms,mostofrecentorigin,levelledatMarxandEngelsfor
theirsupposedecologicalflaws.Thepresentworkisdesignedtoaddressthese
latest criticisms, which mainly emanate from self-characterised ‘ecosocialist’
(or what we call ‘first-stage ecosocialist’) thinkers. Because of the nature of
the present work as a response to ecological critiques of Marx and Engels,
we have given it the subtitle An Anti-Critique. The concept of ‘anti-critique’
hasaclearhistoryandmeaninginhistoricalmaterialism,derivingprincipally
fromRosaLuxemburg’sfamousTheAccumulationofCapital:AnAnti-Critique
(1915)–usuallyreferredtobyitssubtitle(toavoidconfusionwithLuxemburg’s
majoreconomicwork).4Butthenotionofanti-critiquecanbeseenashavingits
1 Darwin1964,p.62.OnHaeckel’suseofecology,seeFoster2000,p.195.
2 MarxandEngels1988a,pp.54–66.
3 Burkett2014;Foster2000.
4 Luxemburg1972;Bukharin1972.
viii preface
rootsevenearlierinEngels’sHerrEugenDühring’sRevolutioninScience(1878),
betterknownasAnti-Dühring.5
Anti-DühringwasoneoftheformativeworksofMarxism.Itwasfrequently
seenintheearlyyearsofthesocialistmovementasthesinglemostimportant
work after Marx’s Capital itself. Marx and Engels’s writings prior to the pub-
lication of Anti-Dühring were seen as primarily economic and political. The
connectionoftheiranalysistothebroaderareasofphilosophyandsciencewas
largelyunknowneventotheirearliest,closestfollowers.6Itwasthisseeming
gap in historical-materialist analysis that allowed Eugen Dühring’s develop-
ment of a larger socialist and naturalistic philosophy to attain considerable
influence,duetohiscrossingofallboundariesofthought.Dühringcreateda
theoreticalsystem(onethathaslongceasedtodrawanyinterest)thatsought
simultaneouslytoexplainsuchdisparaterealmsasphilosophy,economics,his-
tory,andthephilosophyofscience,whiledirectlychallengingthepreeminence
ofMarxandEngelsassocialistthinkers.Consequently,MarxandEngelscon-
cludedthattherewasnochoicebuttoconfrontDühring’sanalysisdirectly:a
taskthatfelltoEngels.
AsEngelsobservedinhissecondprefacetoAnti-Dühring,hewas‘compelled
tofollow’Dühring‘whereverhewentandtoopposemyconceptionstohis.In
theprocessofcarryingthisoutmynegativecriticismbecamepositive;itwas
transformedintoamoreorlessconnectedexpositionofthedialecticalmethod
andofthecommunistworldoutlookrepresentedbyMarxandmyself’.7Inhis
originalpreface,Engelsnotedthathewasforcedtoengageincontroversiesin
areaswherehisownideasandknowledgeremainedundeveloped.8Itwasthis
traversingoftheforestofmodernthought(eventhoughthetreeswereoften
obscured)thatgaveAnti-DühringitsgreatoverridingimportanceforMarxists
intheearlysocialistmovement,andwhichturnedanegativeanti-critiqueinto
apositiveone. Anti-Dühringwithallofitsfaults–ofwhichEngelswasalltoo
aware–becamethewidest-rangingpresentationofMarxandEngels’soverall
historicalmaterialism.
Luxemburg’sAnti-CritiquewasareplytosocialistcriticsofherAccumulation
ofCapital,inwhich,buildinguponMarx’sanalysesofcapitalistreproduction
andaccumulation,shehadsoughttodeveloptheconnectionsbetweenimper-
5 MarxandEngels1975a,Vol.25,pp.xi–309.
6 ThiswaspartlyduetothefactthatsuchworksasMarx’sEconomicandPhilosophicalManu-
scriptsandtheGrundrisse,aswellasMarxandEngels’sTheGermanIdeology,wereatthat
timeunpublishedandunknown.
7 MarxandEngels1975a,Vol.25,pp.8–9.
8 MarxandEngels1975a,Vol.25,p.7.
preface ix
ialismandeconomiccrises.Shewroteher Anti-Critiquewhileinprisonover
her opposition to the First World War. It was only published posthumously,
in1921,twoyearsafterherbrutalmurderbyreactionaryforces.Thenatureof
thedebateovereconomiccrisesandimperialismwithwhichherAnti-Critique
wasassociatedmadeitemblematicofthedeepdivisionswithinGermanSocial
Democracyatthetime–inthecontextoftheFirstWorldWarandtheRussian
Revolution.
Itisthissenseofanti-critique,associatedwithEngelsandLuxemburg–but
not meant in any way to rival their great achievements – that we have tried
toretaininthepresentbook.Theecologicalproblemisthegreatproblemof
thetwenty-firstcentury.Weareinaperiodofplanetarycrisisandstrugglethat
isunprecedented.Completelynewchallengeshavearisen.Howwechooseto
moveforwardonecologicalquestionsisfundamentaltothefutureofsocialism
andhumanity.Inourview,theunderlyingbasesforarevolutionarymaterialist-
dialectical critique adequate to the ecological challenges of our time are to
befoundintheclassicalMarxiantradition.Thisisbecauseofthedepthand
rangeofitscritiqueofcapital,whichopposestothepresentsystemofeconomic
commodityexchangeanalternativeconceptionofsocietybasedonsustainable
humandevelopment.
TakingourcuefromEngelsandLuxemburg,wehavethusgraduallycometo
seeourowneffortstodefineahistorical-materialistecology,inoppositionto
thoseecosocialistswhowanttodumpthegreaterpartoftheclassicalMarxist
legacy, as taking on the overall character of an anti-critique. Moreover, what
started out by necessity as a negative response to charges directed at Marx,
endedupuncoveringuntolddepthsintheclassicalMarxianecologicalcritique
ofcapitalism,arisingoutofthematerialistanddialecticalmethodofMarxism
itself,andthereforetakingonapositivecharacter.Inthisview,thephilosophy
ofpraxisassociatedwithMarxisminitsmostrevolutionarysenseoffersimport-
antnewweaponsinthedefiningstrugglesofourtime,pointingtotheneedfor
asocietyofsustainablehumandevelopment,i.e.socialism.
Inpreparingthisbookwehavedrawnconsiderablyonpreviouslypublished
writings. Chapter 1 is adapted from an article by the same title in Organiza-
tionandEnvironment13,no.4(December2000):403–25.Chapters2and3each
drawonpartsofthreepreviouspublishedarticles:(1)‘EcologicalEconomics
and Classical Marxism: The “Podolinsky Business” Reconsidered,”’ Organiza-
tionandEnvironment 17, no. 1 (March 2004): 32–60; (2) ‘Metabolism, Energy,
and Entropy in Marx’s Critique of Political Economy: Beyond the Podolin-
sky Myth,’ TheoryandSociety 35, no. 1 (February 2006): 109–56; and (3); and
“ThePodolinskyMyth:AnObituary:AnIntroductionto“HumanLabourand
UnityofForce”bySergeiPodolinsky,”HistoricalMaterialism16(2008):115–61.
x preface
Chapter4isadaptedfrom‘ClassicalMarxismandtheSecondLawofThermo-
dynamics:Marx/Engels,theHeatDeathoftheUniverseTheory,andtheOri-
ginsofEcologicalEconomics,’OrganizationandEnvironment21,no.1(March
2008): 1–35. Chapter 5 is an edited version of ‘Marx’s Reproduction Schemes
andtheEnvironment,’EcologicalEconomics49,no.4(2004):457–67.Thetwo
appendixes,consistingofEnglish-languagetranslationsoftheItalianandGer-
manversionsofPodolinsky’sarticles(whichaccompaniedouranalyses),first
appeared,respectively,inOrganizationandEnvironment17(March2004):61–75
(translatedbyAngelodiSalvoandMarkHudson),andHistoricalMaterialism
16(2008):163–83(translatedbyPeterThomas).
Our intellectual debts in the present book are manifold. Our first and
greatestdebtistoRyanWishart,whosenameisincludedonthetitlepage.Ryan
editedchapters2–4ofthisbook,soastocreateacoherent,sequentialargu-
mentoutoffourseparatearticlesthatwerenecessarilyrepetitivewhenplaced
oneagainsttheother.Allofthismaterialneededtobemassivelyeditedand
reorganisedtoformthebackboneofthepresentbook.Healsohelpedwiththe
editingofthebookasawhole.ItisliterallytruethatwithoutRyan’seditorial
efforts,thisworkwouldnothavecomeintobeing.Wewouldalsoliketothank
JordanFoxBesekwhocontributedtothefinaleditinginthepreparationofthe
book.
Sebastian Budgen and Peter Thomas have been supportive of this project
fromthebeginning;thelattertranslatedtheGermanversionofPodolinsky’s
manuscriptonhumanlabourintoEnglishinassociationwithHistoricalMater-
ialism.AngeloDiSalvotranslatedtheItalianversionintoEnglishwiththehelp
of a rough translation from the French by Michael Hudson. Mikhail Balaev
translatedPodolinsky’sletterstoLavrovof24March1880and4June1880from
theRussian.LeontinaHormeltranslatedthetableofcontentsoftheRussian
versionofPodolinsky’smanuscriptforus.Weareimmenselygratefulforthe
helpprovidedbyallofthesescholars.
Wewouldalsoliketothankthemanyfriendsandcolleagueswhogaveus
encouragement in this project, including, most notably, Brett Clark, Hannah
Holleman,JohnJermier,R.JamilJonna,FredMagdoff,JohnMage,JohnJ.Simon,
andRichardYork.
Most of all, we would like to thank our life partners, Carrie Ann Naumoff
andSuzanneCarter,whoarepartofourcircleoflifeandwhoseimprintisthus
(indirectly)oneverypage.
12December2014
Eugene,Oregon
TerreHaute,Indiana