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Rating: 
Summary: A "Red/Green" Marx for the 21st Century
Review: In "Natural Causes", expert Marxist scholar James O'Connor closely examines Marx's writings about the environment and successfully integrates these ideas with contemporary socialist theory. The end result is an original "Red-Green" theory that offers powerful insight to our present-day condition. Chapter 10 provides an example of O'Connor's methodology. In this chapter, he discusses the problem of uneven development and its relationship to ecological crisis. O'Connor cites Marx's concern that the growing division between the city and the countryside due to industrialization "violated natural conditions" (pg. 192) and consequently threaten to undermine sustainable farming practices (among other ill effects). Applying this concept to today's world, O'Connor argues that globalization has recently led to disparities in development between Northern and Southern countries with the effect that environmental degradation and social exploitation have had much greater impact in the South than in the more developed North, as Marx might have predicted. By making a strong case that capitalism is unsustainable in the long run due to the above and other environmental "contradictions" discussed in the book, O'Connor argues that an opening will soon develop for "minority, labor, women's, urban and environmental organizations" to form a strong civil society in opposition to global capital (page 250). Such a society will be "Red" in the sense that it fosters community and "Green" because its policies will encourage sustainability. Most importantly, it must be democractic because a diversity of views will be sorely needed to develop a new "nonexploitative, socially just, [and] ecological society" (page 253). "Natural Causes" is a work that contains remarkable insight, theory and analysis. It should challenge anyone who is genuinely interested in contemplating how our society might ultimately solve its seemingly intractable economic, social and environmental problems as they are related to global capitalism. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A "Red/Green" Marx for the 21st Century
Review: In "Natural Causes", expert Marxist scholar James O'Connor closely examines Marx's writings about the environment and successfully integrates these ideas with contemporary socialist theory. The end result is an original "Red-Green" theory that offers powerful insight to our present-day condition. Chapter 10 provides an example of O'Connor's methodology. In this chapter, he discusses the problem of uneven development and its relationship to ecological crisis. O'Connor cites Marx's concern that the growing division between the city and the countryside due to industrialization "violated natural conditions" (pg. 192) and consequently threaten to undermine sustainable farming practices (among other ill effects). Applying this concept to today's world, O'Connor argues that globalization has recently led to disparities in development between Northern and Southern countries with the effect that environmental degradation and social exploitation have had much greater impact in the South than in the more developed North, as Marx might have predicted. By making a strong case that capitalism is unsustainable in the long run due to the above and other environmental "contradictions" discussed in the book, O'Connor argues that an opening will soon develop for "minority, labor, women's, urban and environmental organizations" to form a strong civil society in opposition to global capital (page 250). Such a society will be "Red" in the sense that it fosters community and "Green" because its policies will encourage sustainability. Most importantly, it must be democractic because a diversity of views will be sorely needed to develop a new "nonexploitative, socially just, [and] ecological society" (page 253). "Natural Causes" is a work that contains remarkable insight, theory and analysis. It should challenge anyone who is genuinely interested in contemplating how our society might ultimately solve its seemingly intractable economic, social and environmental problems as they are related to global capitalism. Highly recommended.
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