The Ecological Rift: Capitalism's War on the Earth

Humanity in the twenty-first century is facing what might be described as its ultimate environmental catastrophe: the destruction of the climate that has nurtured human civilization and with it the basis of life on earth as we know it. All ecosystems on the planet are now in decline. Enormous rifts have been driven through the delicate fabric of the biosphere. The economy and the earth are headed for a fateful collision—if we don't alter course.

In The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth environmental sociologists John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark, and Richard York offer a radical assessment of both the problem and the solution. They argue that the source of our ecological crisis lies in the paradox of wealth in capitalist society, which expands individual riches at the expense of public wealth, including the wealth of nature. In the process, a huge ecological rift is driven between human beings and nature, undermining the conditions of sustainable existence: a rift in the metabolic relation between humanity and nature that is irreparable within capitalist society, since integral to its very laws of motion.

Critically examining the sanguine arguments of mainstream economists and technologists, Foster, Clark, and York insist instead that fundamental changes in social relations must occur if the ecological (and social) problems presently facing us are to be transcended. Their analysis relies on the development of a deep dialectical naturalism concerned with issues of ecology and evolution and their interaction with the economy. Importantly, they offer reasons for revolutionary hope in moving beyond the regime of capital and toward a society of sustainable human development.

Customer Reviews:

"...a scholarly, well-referenced, and important contribution" (Herman Daly)

By R. Jamil Jonna - November 4, 2010

Books detailing nearly every aspect of ecological and environmental crisis are literally overflowing the shelves. To me, The Ecological Rift stands way out from the pile in this important respect: it enriches your understanding of the roots of ecological crisis by deepening and contextualizing (non-controversial) empirical facts with careful (yet, critical) reconstructions of debates between the most thoughtful and influential voices addressing ecological issues throughout history. From ecologically minded 18th and 19th century political economists like Stanley Jevons and Karl Marx; environmental sociologists like James O'Connor and Allan Schnaiberg; to popular social critics like Herman Daly, Juliet Schor and Annie Leonard, and outspoken contemporary scientists like... read more

A "Must Read" for the Youth Climate Movement

By Ryan - November 7, 2010

At first I was a bit surprised to see "current affairs" as one of the topic areas on the back cover of The Ecological Rift. Other works by the authors I had read sweep the debates of social and natural science over the past two centuries or more on materialism, political economy, and ecology. This book is no less broad in scope reviewing, for example, paradoxes between public wealth and private riches and between sustainability and economic growth. They show these deeply troubled some earlier economic thinkers, only to be swept under the rug by more modern disciples of economics, and illustrate the relevance of those early insights to modern ecological problems.

However, by the end of the introductory chapter I could better see the appropriateness of the "current affairs" label. There are many books written on the growing and interconnected forms of ecological crisis that threaten the future of young people today. Bizarrely, as natural sciences warning have gotten starker,... read more

The Sociology of Ecology

By Donald A. Planey "Social Sciences, Masters st... - August 11, 2012

"The Ecological Rift" is perhaps the most important book about the causes of ecological decline one could read right now. It's a plea by University of Oregon environmental sociologists John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark, and Richard York for the reader to recognize the socio-economic causal factors behind climate change, ocean acidification, and the depletion of natural resources, and, just as importantly, for the reader to recognize their structural origin in our mode of production, e.g., capitalism.

In order to accomplish this, the authors focus each of the book's four parts on a different scientific and political perspective on the matter. By doing this, the authors demonstrate that whether one examines environmental crisis from the perspective of ecology, sociology, history, or political economy, that the environmental guilt of the capitalist mode of production becomes self-evident. The authors also critique mainstream attempts at integrating sociology and economics... read more