Dedication; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Introduction; Part I. Marx's Ecological Critique of Capitalism and its Oblivion: 1. Marx's theory of metabolism in the age of global ecological crisis; 2. The intellectual relationship of Marx and Engels revisited from an ecological perspective; 3. Lukács's theory of metabolism as the foundation of ecosocialist realism; Part II. A Critique of Productive Forces in the Anthropocene; 4. Monism and the non-identity of nature; 5. The revival of utopian socialism and the productive forces of capital; Part III. Towards Degrowth Communism: 6. Marx as a degrowth communist; 7. The abundance of wealth in degrowth communism; Conclusion; References; Index.
The book reveals unknown aspects of Marx's vision of post-capitalism that is adequate to the Anthropocene.
Kohei Saito is an associate professor at University of Tokyo. His book Karl Marx's Ecosocialism: Capital, Nature and the Unfinished Critique of Political Economy (Monthly Review Press, 2017) won the Deutscher Memorial Prize. His second book, Capital in the Anthropocene (Shueisha, 2020), has sold over 400,000 copies in Japan and received the Asia Book Award.
'Marx in the Anthropocene is a deeply restorative project, both
analytically and politically. Through a detailed examination of
Marx's notebooks on the natural sciences, Kohei Saito reminds us
why Marx insisted that the relationship between nature and
capitalism was fundamentally unsustainable. The book restores to us
a forgotten Marx, one who is eager to learn from precapitalist
societies, one who is beginning to see destruction in development.
Taking his lead from this longneglected Marx, Saito then builds a
powerful argument for degrowth communism, a theoretical approach
that aims to reorganize the very notion of abundance to fit the
common weal, rather than fit an abstract notion of luxury
communism. Marx in the Anthropocene reminds us, again, why
anticapitalism is the nutrient that must be urgently added to
nature'' Tithi Bhattacharya, author of Feminism for the 99%: A
Manifesto
'A masterpiece. This is the book we have been waiting for. Saito
draws on Marx to deliver a thrilling synthesis of degrowth and
ecosocialism. Herein lies the secret to post-capitalist transition.
A must-read for every socialist and every environmentalist -it will
change both forever' Jason Hickel, author of Less is More: How
Degrowth Will Save the World
'After his brilliant essay on Marx's ecology, Kohei Saito shows in
his new pathbreaking book how different Marxist thinkers tried to
deal with the environmental, challenges, from an anti-capitalist
perspective. As in his previous essay, Saito is able to grasp
Marxism as thought in movement, and not as a closed system. His
courageous appeal for a 'degrowth communism' is a decisive
contribution for an ecological Marxism of our times, a communism
for the Anthropocene' Michael Löwy, author of Ecosocialism: A
Radical Alternative to Capitalist Catastrophe
'the way Saito mobilises Marxist theory to make a plea for 'the
abundance of wealth in degrowth communism' … is as precise as it is
gripping' Timothée Parrique, The Conversation
'In this refreshing and highly significant work, Kohei Saito draws
on only recently published writings from Marx's later notebooks on
science and nature which reveal a less Promethean Marx … essential
reading for all serious Marxists.' John Green, Morning Star
'To bring Red and Green together … Marx in the Anthropocene directs
attention first at environmentalists, then at Marxists, and
concludes with a synthesis, making the case for degrowth communism.
Throughout the text, the central figure is Marx himself, whom Saito
recasts as a deeply ecological thinker and one who argues that
destroying the environment is an inherent feature of capitalism.
While drawing on familiar texts such as Capital and Critique of the
Gotha Program, Saito's most original contribution to the ecological
Marx is to uncover what he calls Marx's 'ecological notebooks' -
largely compiled after the publication of Capital - documenting his
particular attention to the natural sciences, the idea of a
steady-state metabolism, and non-Western societies. Saito argues
that Marx was on his way to developing a theory towards degrowth
communism and away from the more productivist and Promethean Marx
that has been the more popular conception of Marx and Marxism.' Los
Angeles Review of Books
'Saito's work - both in Marx and the Anthropocene and his earlier
book Karl Marx's Ecosocialism … stands out for its use of a copious
collection of notes that Marx took after 1868 from his readings on
biology, botany, chemistry, geology, minerology, and other fields
of the natural sciences … Drawing on these newly discovered late
works, Saito illuminates a formerly invisible dimension of Marx's
thought - and not a moment too soon as our world begins to catch
flame … The days when Marx's ideas were assumed to be incompatible
with environmentalism and in need of greening are thankfully past,
thanks in no small part to Saito's contributions.' Protean Magazine
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