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The End: Marx, Darwin, and the Natural History of the Climate Crisis
A radical new interpretation of Marxism provides new insights into our planetary crisis by reading Karl Marx alongside Charles Darwin.
Karl Marx wrote the most important critique of capitalism, Capital, in London during the 1860s, at the very moment that Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species had shattered humanity’s conception of ourselves. In this path-breaking study, Joel Wainwright demonstrates that Capital was deeply influenced by Marx’s reading Darwin’s Origin of Species. Marx’s thinking about history and nature changed, generating his distinctive ecological critique of capitalism as a social formation. This is why Marx called Capital a study of natural history and the book concludes, of all things, by proposing a new scientific law of human population.
Prospect of an End is not only a study in revolutionary 19th century thought. Wainwright applies Marx’s natural historical approach to some of the great questions of our How did capitalism emerge? When did the Anthropocene begin? And how might we confront the planetary climate crisis?
Karl Marx wrote the most important critique of capitalism, Capital, in London during the 1860s, at the very moment that Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species had shattered humanity’s conception of ourselves. In this path-breaking study, Joel Wainwright demonstrates that Capital was deeply influenced by Marx’s reading Darwin’s Origin of Species. Marx’s thinking about history and nature changed, generating his distinctive ecological critique of capitalism as a social formation. This is why Marx called Capital a study of natural history and the book concludes, of all things, by proposing a new scientific law of human population.
Prospect of an End is not only a study in revolutionary 19th century thought. Wainwright applies Marx’s natural historical approach to some of the great questions of our How did capitalism emerge? When did the Anthropocene begin? And how might we confront the planetary climate crisis?
- GenresPhilosophyPolitics
352 pages, Paperback
Published November 25, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 31, 2025
The good is its treatment of Marx and Darwin as contemporaries, both it terms of how their thoughts fit into the greater field of human endeavor and the specific effects that the latter had on the former (even as I tend to feel that fashion is as good an explanation as ideology there). There is insight here.
The bad is the rambling. Best looked at in terms of the fact that the three things - Marx, Darwin, and Climate - are never able to remain all in focus simultaneously, the book is full of non-discursive discursions. These are discussions that usually make sense in context (some of those that look to re-explain all of Marxism get a bit sour) but make the book unusable. I had hoped to write a short summary of what is going on here, looked at my notes, and realized that would never happen. I am not adverse to the idea that the ideas here require that much supplementation, but if so it makes the text more reference book than thesis.
The ugly here is the history. And the science. But for me the history. Yes, I get it, it is a philosophy book, but if the intent here is to use philosophy to come to resolutions about real-world behavior, then the empirical here, which does not contradict so much as goes underneath the argument, makes it difficult for me to take seriously.
My thanks to the author, Joel Wainwright, for writing the book, and to the publisher, Verso Books, for making the ARC available to me.
The bad is the rambling. Best looked at in terms of the fact that the three things - Marx, Darwin, and Climate - are never able to remain all in focus simultaneously, the book is full of non-discursive discursions. These are discussions that usually make sense in context (some of those that look to re-explain all of Marxism get a bit sour) but make the book unusable. I had hoped to write a short summary of what is going on here, looked at my notes, and realized that would never happen. I am not adverse to the idea that the ideas here require that much supplementation, but if so it makes the text more reference book than thesis.
The ugly here is the history. And the science. But for me the history. Yes, I get it, it is a philosophy book, but if the intent here is to use philosophy to come to resolutions about real-world behavior, then the empirical here, which does not contradict so much as goes underneath the argument, makes it difficult for me to take seriously.
My thanks to the author, Joel Wainwright, for writing the book, and to the publisher, Verso Books, for making the ARC available to me.
January 28, 2026
The End, by Joel Wainwright, offers a very interesting take on Marx's change in ideas from early to late. In doing so, Wainwright also offers some broad ideas for making change based on how he interprets Marx.
I'll admit that it has been years since I've read Hegel or Marx, with a few short exceptions for both. While this doesn't affect getting a grasp on the arguments he makes, I would like to go back and reread some of the works, mostly Marx, with this new perspective in mind. Fortunately I have read some Darwin more recently for a project I was working on, so those areas were easier for me to keep up with.
The arguments are laid out relatively well, though if you're weak on connecting less obvious points you might wan to take your time and digest each section before moving on, or take good notes. Most of the book falls heavily into the theory you expect from some academic works, but it isn't inaccessible if you read with an open mind to new ideas. In the last part he aims to express his ideas in "relatively practicable terms." I'll admit he did make it more straightforward but it was far from a simple explanation. That said, if you didn't lose your footing during the first seven chapters, the eighth will help clarify some points for you. I do think this is one of those books that will reward a second reading, if you were reading to gain insight and not expecting to grasp some complex argument on one quick reading.
I also went back and reread some sections of the book he mentions, Climate Leviathan, which he wrote with Geoff Mann. This volume does help support much of what is there, and while it may go a bit further I think what it did was go a little deeper into some of their thinking. I would suggest reading both, though I'm not sure the order will matter very much.
Recommended for both academics interested in Marx as well as those wanting to figure out how we can escape almost certain extinction because of our self-righteous sense of superiority over other creatures and the world itself.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
I'll admit that it has been years since I've read Hegel or Marx, with a few short exceptions for both. While this doesn't affect getting a grasp on the arguments he makes, I would like to go back and reread some of the works, mostly Marx, with this new perspective in mind. Fortunately I have read some Darwin more recently for a project I was working on, so those areas were easier for me to keep up with.
The arguments are laid out relatively well, though if you're weak on connecting less obvious points you might wan to take your time and digest each section before moving on, or take good notes. Most of the book falls heavily into the theory you expect from some academic works, but it isn't inaccessible if you read with an open mind to new ideas. In the last part he aims to express his ideas in "relatively practicable terms." I'll admit he did make it more straightforward but it was far from a simple explanation. That said, if you didn't lose your footing during the first seven chapters, the eighth will help clarify some points for you. I do think this is one of those books that will reward a second reading, if you were reading to gain insight and not expecting to grasp some complex argument on one quick reading.
I also went back and reread some sections of the book he mentions, Climate Leviathan, which he wrote with Geoff Mann. This volume does help support much of what is there, and while it may go a bit further I think what it did was go a little deeper into some of their thinking. I would suggest reading both, though I'm not sure the order will matter very much.
Recommended for both academics interested in Marx as well as those wanting to figure out how we can escape almost certain extinction because of our self-righteous sense of superiority over other creatures and the world itself.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews