Foster JB - Marx's Grundrisse and the Ecological Contradictions of Capitalism

《Foster JB - Marx's Grundrisse and the Ecological Contradictions of Capitalism》由会员上传分享，免费在线阅读，更多相关内容在教育资源-天天文库。

1、6Marx’sGrundrisseandtheecologicalcontradictionsofcapitalismJohnBellamyFosterIntroductionInTheEighteenthBrumaireofLouisBonaparteMarxfamouslywrote:‘Menmaketheirownhistory,buttheydonotmakeitjustastheyplease;theydonotmakeitundercircumstanceschosenbythemselves,bu

2、tundercircum-stancesdirectlyencountered,givenandtransmittedfromthepast’(Marx1979:103).Thematerialcircumstancesorconditionsthathewasreferringtohereweretheproductofbothnaturalandsocialhistory.ForMarxproductionwasarealmofexpandingneedsandpowers.Butitwassubjecta

3、talltimestomateriallimitsimposedbynature.Itwasthetragedyofcapitalthatitsnarrowlogicpropelleditinanunrelentingassaultonboththesenaturallimitsandthenewsocialneedsthatitbroughtintobeing.Byconstantlyrevolutionizingproductioncapitaltransformedsociety,butonlybycon

4、tinuallyalienatingnaturalnecessity(conditionsofsustainabilityandreproduction)andhumanneeds.Recentresearchhasrevealedthatanecological–materialistcritiquewasembeddedinallofMarx’sworkfromTheEconomicandPhilosophicalManu-scriptsof1844tohisEthnologicalNotebooksoft

5、helate1870stoearly1880s(seeBurkett1999;Foster2000;Dickens2004).Thiscanbeseeninhismaterial-istconceptionofnatureandhistory,histheoryofalienation(whichencom-passedthealienationofnature),hisunderstandingofthelabourandproductionprocessasthemetabolicrelationbetwe

6、enhumanityandnature,andhisco-evolutionaryapproachtosociety–naturerelations.Nevertheless,becauseMarx’soverallcritiqueofpoliticaleconomyremainedunfinished,theseandotheraspectsofhislargermaterialistconceptionofnatureandhistorywereincompletelydeveloped–eveninthos

7、eworks,suchasCapital,volume1,publishedinhislifetime.Moreover,therelationofhisdevelopedpolitical–economiccritiqueinCapitaltothewidercorpusofhisworkwasleftunclear.TheGrundrissehasthereforebecomeanindispensablemeansofunify-ingMarx’soverallanalysis.Itnotonlystan

8、dschronologicallybetweenhisearlywritingsandCapital,butalsoconstitutesaconceptualbridgebetweenthetwo.Atthesametimeitprovidesatheoretical–philosophicalviewpointthatisinsomewayswiderinscopethananyo