The Ecological Revolution: Making Peace with the Planet

by John Bellamy Foster

Since the atomic bomb made its first appearance on the world stage in 1945, it has been clear that we possess the power to destroy our own planet. What nuclear weapons made possible, global environmental crisis, marked especially by global warming, has now made inevitable—if business as usual continues.
The roots of the present ecological crisis, John Bellamy Foster argues in The Ecological Revolution , lie in capital’s rapacious expansion, which has now achieved unprecedented heights of irrationality across the globe. Foster compellingly demonstrates that the only possible answer for humanity is an ecological a struggle to make peace with the planet. Foster details the beginnings of such a revolution in human relations with the environment which can now be found throughout the globe, especially in the periphery of the world system, where the most ambitious experiments are taking place.
This bold new work addresses the central issues of the present global warming, peak oil, species extinction, world water shortages, global hunger, alternative energy sources, sustainable development, and environmental justice. Foster draws on a unique range of thinkers, including Karl Marx, Thomas Malthus, William Morris, Albert Einstein, Hannah Arendt, Rachel Carson, Vandana Shiva, and István Mészáros. The result is a startlingly radical synthesis, which offers new hope for grappling with the greatest challenge of our what must be done to save the earth for humanity and all living species.

Genres: Ecology, Environment, Nonfiction, Politics

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

John Bellamy Foster is a professor of sociology at the University of Oregon, editor of Monthly Review and author of several books on the subject of political economy of capitalism, economic crisis, ecology and ecological crisis, and Marxist theory.

Reviews

[Edward Wardell-Yerburgh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read his papers instead of this book. They explain the same concepts with less words

[Yens · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 stars

[Brian Napoletano · Rating 3 out of 5]

Foster appears to have invested significant effort into his investigation of Marx's treatment of ecological issues, and both the beginning and the ending of his book make a strong case for uniting the call for a social revolution to the call for an ecological one. Much of the middle of the book, however, seems to focus almost exclusively on the ecological philosophies of Marx, Engels, and other classical socialist thinkers. While a discussion of the classical relationship between ecology and socialism was appropriate, I was hoping to find a more extensive discussion of how contemporary socialism would address pending ecological catastrophes. Climate change was discussed in considerable depth, but other issues -- deforestation and other land use issues, freshwater resources, and biodiversity inter alia -- did not receive as much attention as their urgency merits. Perhaps this text would be more appropriate for a sociologist, as I expect that many of my colleagues in the ecological sciences would be already familiar with the ecological concepts described and somewhat confused by the detailed discussion of Marx's ecology. Even I had to consult other resources to follow the discussion at several points, although my knowledge of Marxism is admittedly sparse. I did find the book informative, and it has improved my understanding of the role that socialism could play in ecological reform.

[Grumpybastard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is actually a collection of related essays regarding environmentalism from a Marxist perspective. Thus, there are repetitive parts where he will describe something elucidated in previous chapters, such as explaining Marx's theory of metabolic rift between humans and the earth, as well as some quotes listed 2 or 3 times throughout the book. Considering the somewhat dense subject matter, I actually found this helpful for learning and remembering. Also, each chapter is self-contained; one does not lead into the next.
The chapter "Marx's Theory of Metabolic Rift," is alone worth buying the book. It explores many of the ecologically-related criticisms of Marx - like that he somehow wore "blinders" that kept him from considering nature and ecology - and disproves them one by one by drawing on his and Engels' writings. It also explains how ecological critiques were slowly discarded by later Marxist ideologues, especially in the Soviet Union and China, where "the expansion of production at virtually any cost became the overriding goal of the Communist movement."
Another fantastic chapter is Chapter 7, "A Planetary Defeat: The Failure of Global Environmental Reform, 1992-2009." It explores how the hopes of the '92 Rio Earth Summit were smashed, illustrating how environmental movements who wish to work within the system of neoliberal capitalism will (and did) inevitably fail. It is a scathing indictment of "green capitalism." I will share an excellent quote from this chapter:
"There is no doubt that the intention of these proposed reforms was to promote social and environmental justice. Yes such proposal sought to strike a chord with neoliberal institutions while leaving the underlying logic of the system intact. One thing should have been clear to those not blind to the harsh reality of 21st century capitalism: the WTO and its sister institutions or simply unable to promote sustainability, since this would have contradicted their whole reason for existence. Their role was to facilitate the accumulation of global capital and to protect the big Banks and Financial Centers up north. A 'balance of power' strategy that sethe UN system institutions against Bretton Woods institutions was bound to come up short since it was predicated on the same illusion that real power was based in these institutions rather than in the vested interests they served."
The lesson we learn from the failure of these environmental summits is that there is "no possibility for an effective movement for social justice and sustainability separate from the Revolutionary struggle to create an alternate society."
For those who enjoy this book, I would also recommend Joel Kovel's book "The Enemy of Nature: The End of Capitalism Or The End of The World?"
In summary, an excellent- if often repetitive - book.

[Ramin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting and important book, and it's worth reading. The first half is about major environmental problems, most of them global ones and most related to climate change. The chapter about Rachel Carson is a particularly good one. Environmental movements and attempts at environmental reform (such as at the Rio UN summit) are discussed as well. The next section deals with environmental and ecological aspects of Marxism and socialism, with a focus on the concept of humanity's "metabolic rift" with nature. (For readers interested in the origin of this concept in Marx's writings, I recommend reading "Marx's Ecology".) The final section consists of two chapters about "ecological revolution" in the context of a human revolution against capitalism, which may be required to avoid the compounding crises of climate change.

Unfortunately, most of the chapters of this book are adapted from articles written about different issues at different times, and they do not appear to be edited sufficiently well to fit together into a cohesive and consistent book. Foster occasionally repeats himself, such as when he explains the Jevons Paradox of resource efficiency and when he discusses the discoveries of the soil chemist Justus von Liebig. He also occasionally contradicts himself, for example when he criticizes ecological contradictions of capitalism (and how capitalism undermines itself by consuming necessary resources), but in another chapter criticizes those who focus on this limited concept, because capitalism adapts to environmental degradation rather than attempting to abate it, and because with this focus one can miss environmental problems that don't directly or immediately affect the interests of capital, such as the depletion of the ozone layer and the extinction of numerous species.

This is an interesting book to read, but Foster has written better ones. It's better to think of this as an edited volume of an assortment of articles, rather than a cohesive book making a single argument.

[Litbitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like and agree with Foster's central concept, that environmental sustainability is impossible under the current neo-conservative capitalist system. What I disliked was the setup and the focus of the book. If half of the chapters had been cut out, the title would have been appropriate and I might have bumped it up to a 4 star, but a significant portion of the book is dedicate to the academic pursuit of defending Marx's environmental awareness and understanding of holistic sustainability. I don't care whether Marx was an environmentalist or not; just tell me how socialism can help us maintain a biodiverse and healthy environment. Additionally, these chapters seem to have been written as separate pieces, and no one saw fit to edit them once they were in book form, so there is waaaaaaay too much repetition of concepts, and even direct quotes.
Skip over the Marx chapters or read some of his articles. He has excellent ideas and analysis, I'm just unimpressed with the way they're put together here. If I weren't compulsive, I wouldn't have finished the book.