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1、THESCALEOFOURECOLOGICALCRISISbyJOHNBELLAMYFOSTEROneoftheproblemsthathasmosttroubledanalystsofglobalecologicalcrisisisthequestionofscale.Howmomentousistheecologicalcrisis?Isthesurvivalofthehumanspeciesinquestion?Whataboutlifeingeneral?Arethebasicbiogeochemicalcyclesoftheplanetvulnerable?Althoughfew
2、nowdenvthatthereissuchathingasanenvironmentalcrisis,orthatitisinsomesenseglohalincharacter,somerationalscientistsinsistthatitiswrongtosaythatlifeit<;elf.muchlesstheplanet,isseriouslythreatened.Eventhemassextinctionofspecies,itispointedout,haspreviouslyoccurredinevolutionaryhistorv.Criticsofenviron
3、mentalism(oftenthemselvesclaimingtoheenvironmentalists)havefrequentlyusedtheserationalreservationsonthepartofscientiststohrandtheenvironmentalmovementas"apocalyptic."Lestoneconcludethatthisissimplyapoliticaldisputehetweenthoseonthesideofnatureandthegreaterpanofhumanity,ontheonehand,andthosewhosupp
4、orttheecologicallydestructivestatusquo,ontheother,itshouldbeemphasizedthatthesamequestionhasbeenoftenraisedwithintheleftitself-andsometimeshyindividualsdeeplyJohnBellamyFoster,amemberoftheBoardoftheMonthlyReviewFoundation,teachessociologyattheUniversit;ofOregonandiscoeditorof01gamzation&Environmen
5、t.HeistheauthorofTheTheoryojNIonopolyCapital(1986)andTheVulnerablePlanet(19!l4),bothpublishedbvYlonthlyReyiewPress.5Reproducedwithpermissionofthecopyrightowner.Furtherreproductionprohibitedwithoutpermission.6Iv"0N�-IlYRE/IEV,;/!!,PRIII998concernedaboutenvironmentalproblems.AnexampleofthisisDavidH
6、arvey'snewbook,justice,l'afurf'andtheGeograjJhyofDifference(1996).Harveydevotesconsiderablespaceinthisworktocriticizingmybook,TheVulnerablePlanet:AShortEconomicHistoryoftheEnvironment(MonthlyReviewPress,1994),forthe"apocalyptic"characterofiL�argument.InHarvey'swords,[TJhepostulationofaplanetalYec
7、ologicalcrisis,theVCIYideathattheplanetissomehow'vulnerable'[0humanactionorthatwecanactuallydestroytheearth,repeatsinnegativeformthehubristicclaimsofthosewhoaspiretoplanetarydomination.Thesubtcxtisthattheearthiss
