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Explores the concepts of ecological historical materialism that explains within the same framework the human social interactions with nature & the response of social actors to the problems the interactions create. Although Marx & Engels were the key figures in the development of the concepts of historical materialism, it has been enriched by the cultural thought of Western Marxism & critical theory, black & Third World Marxists, materialist feminists, & by ecological critical revisionists. The enriched historical materialism serves as an explanatory theory & as a source of normative orientations, political strategies, & future ideals. This article presents the reworked historical materialism that can provide explanatory views of environmentalism & nature, & where possible it compares the results with that of constructionist & reflexive modernization approaches. Broad coalitions that can apply these concepts are needed for the creation of a better global future. L. A. Hoffman

Explores the concepts of ecological historical materialism that explains within the same framework the human social interactions with nature & the response of social actors to the problems the interactions create. Although Marx & Engels were the key figures in the development of the concepts of historical materialism, it has been enriched by the cultural thought of Western Marxism & critical theory, black & Third World Marxists, materialist feminists, & by ecological critical revisionists. The enriched historical materialism serves as an explanatory theory & as a source of normative orientations, political strategies, & future ideals. This article presents the reworked historical materialism that can provide explanatory views of environmentalism & nature, & where possible it compares the results with that of constructionist & reflexive modernization approaches. Broad coalitions that can apply these concepts are needed for the creation of a better global future. L. A. Hoffman

THE AUTHOR REJECTS GRAFSTEIN'S CLAIM THAT MARXISM IS A "PARTICULAR EMPIRICAL THEORY" THAT "NEEDS FETISHISM OF A SORT" AS FALSE, ARGUING THAT HISTORICAL MATERIALISM IS A CRITICAL OR DIALECTICAL THEORY THAT DIFFERS IN KIND FROM FETISHIZING THEORIES OF THE SCIENTIFIC TYPE. THE AUTHOR ARGUES FURTHER THAT THE TRUTH OF HISTORICAL MATERIALISM IS VOUCHSAFED NOT MERELY BY THE EMPIRICAL ACCURACY OF ITS PREDICTIONS BUT BY ITS ABILITY TO ARTICULATE THE REAL OR RATIONAL INTERESTS OF THE ECONOMIC AGENTS TO WHOM IT IS ADDRESSED.

Michael Mann's 'The Sources of Social Power', reviewed here, challenges Marxist historical materialism on its own ground by seeking to establish the ecological, logistical and ideological dimesions of power as they can be observed in human societies from the dawn of history to the early modern epoch. (CP)

This book challenges the widely-held view that Marxism is unable to deal adequately with environmental problems. Jonathan Hughes considers the nature of environmental problems, and the evaluative perspectives that may be brought to bear on them. He examines Marx's critique of Malthus, his method, and his materialism, interpreting the latter as a recognition of human dependence on nature. Central to the book's argument is an interpretation of the 'development of the productive forces' which takes account of the differing ecological impacts of different productive technologies while remaining consistent with the normative and explanatory roles that this concept plays within Marx's theory. Turning finally to Marx's vision of a society founded on the communist principle 'to each according to his needs', the author concludes that the underlying notion of human need is one whose satisfaction presupposes only a modest and ecologically feasible expansion of productive output

Particular societies exist in an environment that is both physical and geopolitical. Unsuccessful societies if they survive will tend to adopt structures of their successful rivals, either through assimilation or crisis. Some states will select a developmentally better structure than the dominant culture possession and this will be diffused by emulation or conquest. (SJK)

In this article I put forth a new interpretation of historical materialism titled the supervenient interpretation. Drawing on the insights of analytical Marxism and utilizing the concept of supervenience, I advance two central claims. First, that Marx's synchronic materialism maintains that the superstructure supervenes naturally on the economic structure. Second, that diachronic materialism maintains that the relations of production supervene naturally on the forces of production. Taken together, these two theses help bring to the fore the central tenets of historical materialism. Furthermore, they help resolve what I call the problem of reductionismand the problem of verification.

Why does the world have the pattern of patriarchy it currently possesses? Why have patriarchal practices and institutions evolved and changed in the ways they have tended to over time in human societies? This paper explores these general questions by integrating a feminist analysis of patriarchy with the central insights of the functionalist interpretation of historical materialism advanced by G. A. Cohen. The paper has two central aspirations: first, to help narrow the divide between analytical Marxism and feminism by redressing the former's neglect of the important role female labor has played, and continues to play, in shaping human history. Second, by developing the functionalist account of historical materialism in order to take patriarchy seriously, we can derive useful insights for diagnosing the emancipatory challenges that women face in the world today. The degree and form of patriarchy present in any particular society is determined by the productive forces it has had at its disposal. According to historical materialism, technological, material, and medical advances that ease the pressures on high fertility rates (such as the sanitation revolution, vaccinations, birth control, and so on) are the real driving forces behind the positive modulations to patriarchy witnessed in the twentieth century.