The Ecology of Destruction
In: Monthly review: an independent socialist magazine, Band 58, Heft 9, S. 1-14
Abstract
An analysis of the "ecology of destruction" opens with a brief look at the film Burn! (1969) to shed some light on capitalism's "destructive creativity," manifest in class exploitation, imperialism, war, & ecological degradation, & its shift into what Istvan Meszaros (2001) called "destructive uncontrollability." It is said that a new historical period emerged between the 1992 & 2002 Earth Summits, with consideration moving from whether ecological & social disaster would occur to just how bad such catastrophes would be. Attention is given to the assertions of ecologists who see an imminent ecological crisis, particularly in the form of global warming. It is contended that to ameliorate the impact of global warming, radical changes, far different from solutions linked to the dominant ideology of the ruling class, are required; ie, the capitalist economy cannot remain the same. Three interrelated ideas from Marx & the critique of capitalist political economy are outlined: (1) the treadmill of production, (2) second contradiction of capitalism, & (3) the metabolic rift. Focus is on the metabolic rift. It is argued that any revolutionary social change must be accompanied by a revolutionary restoration of the human metabolic relation to nature such that equality & sustainability coevolve. D. Edelman
Themen
Environmentalism, Environmental Degradation, Sustainable Development, Imperialism, Social Change, Films, Political Economy, Capitalism, Marxist Analysis
Sprachen
Englisch
Verlag
Monthly Review Foundation, New York NY
ISSN: 0027-0520
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