The Ecological Implications of Marx’s Materialist Conception of History

Abstract

J. B. Foster believes that Marx’s ecological theory is mainly embodied in Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 and The Communist Manifesto. Marx’s major ecological viewpoints in the former book are as follows: Marx analyzes nature alienation by closely integrating it with labor alienation; he maintains that nature alienation is made by human beings, specifically,by the rule of private property and money; he stresses that the serious consequence caused by nature alienation is that it makes people lose their basic living sources; he vigorously advocates that we should eliminate the system of private property and nature alienation by means ofcombination. J. B. Foster puts right the misinterpretations of some western scholars who look on The Communist Manifesto as being anti ecological. He emphasizes that it is just in The Communist Manifesto that Marx and Engels have regarded their reflections on the building up of a sustainable relationship between man and nature asan important part of arguments for the construction of Communism. In fact,the core concept of Marx’s ecological world outlook takes shape in The Communist Manifesto,ie all ecological problems have resulted from the capitalist mode of production.