Economy politics of climate change: Marxist ecology and The Flood

Abstract

According to the presuppositions of Marxist ecology and ecosocialist philosophy, an economic system that is obsessed with productivity and seeks continuous growth, in other words, a system that encourages unlimited growth within the limited ecosystems of planet Earth, will eventually lead to the exhaustion of the resources and dysfunction of the system. Environmental problems such as pollution, global warming, deforestation, endangered animals and depletion of natural resources can be determined to be the direct results of economic activities which should be the main issue of focus. In this regard a Marxist ecocritical reading of The Flood finds close links between the traces of climate crisis, such as extreme precipitation, drought or endangered species and the economic, political and military preferences of the City administration, such as imperialist wars, colonial activities and populist behaviours of corrupted politicians. While doing this, the author has obviously benefited from some real-life events to show the impact of environmental problems on society. Therefore, The Flood offers its reader examples of modern understanding of industrial capitalism that sees nature as an endless store of raw materials and that still poses a major obstacle to the sustainability of the integrity and well-being of the natural environment. Thanks to its nonconventional ending, the novel also questions the possibility of a change in the fundamental dynamics of capitalism in the case of a major environmental disaster.