Marx's critical discourse for thinking about environmental devastation: a perspective beyond the hegemonic imaginaries of sustainability

Abstract

The historical development of contemporary capitalism has produced an environmental crisis of global dimensions. The predominance of harmful capital technology determines the deployment of the capital productive forces that overexploit and pollute nature in ways never seen before. In this context, the present study aims to advance towards the reconstruction of the ecological streak of Marxism from Marx's critical discourse, distancing itself from both the hegemonic imaginaries of sustainability. An exploratory analysis of documents was followed to present the arguments that both Conventional Economics (CE) and environmental economics deploy to try to explain contemporary environmental devastation, and subsequently, from this impotent criticism and prey to the logic of the market and value as a social form, it goes on to structure the hegemonic imaginaries of sustainability. In this sense, this paper argues for the need for the critical and scientific discourse of Karl Marx to think about the environmental devastation and the objective conditions of possibility for ecological capitalism; thus, it was possible to address the ecological and political-libertarian dimension of Marx's thought and the task of developing it to break with the hegemonic views of sustainability; and overcome the series of misrepresentations and misstatements that have been made to an alleged anti-ecological view of Marx. The study concluded that, while the struggle for the environment has become somewhat urgent, this front does not replace that of the class struggle; that is, the contradiction between capital and nature does not subordinate to the contradiction between capital and labor but, on the contrary, updates it. Therefore, the validity of Marx's critical discourse is essential, in its genesis and development, to make an ecological criticism of the economics and politics of contemporary capitalism.