Environmental criticism of capitalism: the main trump card of the left or an apple of discord?

Abstract

The prospects of ecological criticism of capitalism, which has become the most important and relevant for many left-wing theorists, are assessed. These theorists believe that the ecological crisis exposes the most vulnerable features of the capitalist system and puts humanity in front of a choice between catastrophe and social democratic transformations (or a socialist revolution). The point of view, according to which the ecological crisis can give the left-wing political forces grounds to unite in the struggle for a post-capitalist future, is criticized. On the contrary, it can be said that the actualization of environmental topics contributes to the new splits among left-wing theorists. One of the most notable splits is considered: between the proponents of green growth (and the authors of the Green New Deal projects) and the ideologues of de-growth/post-growth. The polemic between them testifies to the internal inconsistency of attempts to combine class struggle with the desire to preserve nature as much as possible. The difficult situation that humanity is facing today requires a painful choice between the material well-being of the maximum number of people and the preservation of the natural environment and “non-human beings”. In other words, attempts to put ecological criticism of capitalism at the forefront of leftist political theory would only lead to insoluble value contradictions, which makes a consensus among all the variety of leftist theorists impossible.