September 1, 2023
Humanity in this moment faces two major crises: one ecological, growing more acute with every planetary boundary passed; the other social, leading to deprivation and despair across the globe. An effective ecosocialist approach to these crises, Jason Hickel writes, must aim to resolve both in a single stroke.
September 1, 2023
"How is it," Helena Sheehan asks, "that classical Marxist authors were able to address such a stunning array of issues"? The answer can be found, she writes, is in the totality of their intellectual efforts: "Marxism is the only intellectual tradition on the scene capable of embracing…what needs to be comprehended to understand and cope with our world."
September 1, 2023
In the history of Marxism since Karl Marx's death, Frederick Engels has cut a controversial figure across the centuries. Through an examination of their correspondence and collaborations, McFarlane presents Engels as not only a stalwart friend and colleague to Marx, but a fascinating organizer, editor, and strategist in his own right.
July 1, 2023
Writing at the end of the nineteenth century, Frederick Engels foresaw that without disarmament, Europe would soon be plunged into war. Modern weaponry has made the question of disarmament even more urgent. In this month's "Notes from the Editors," the editors put forward the objectives for a contemporary socialist disarmament strategy.
July 1, 2023
In the introduction to this summer's special issue on "Planned Degrowth," John Bellamy Foster outlines the major themes of degrowth thought, including, above all, a recognition of the need to challenge current notions of "growth" and "prosperity" and move toward a more sustainable model of human development, one that meets the needs of individuals and communities. This, Foster writes, requires a massive revolutionary shift in the social relations governing the means production and the prioritization of planning our economy around the survival of the species, rather than the endless drive to accumulation that has devastated the planet.
July 1, 2023
There is a common misconception among critics that degrowth proponents do not engage with the question of technology, instead leaving the implementation of technological solutions to the planetary crisis to green growth advocates. Jason Hickel shows that not only is this narrative false, it obscures the possibilities for technology unfettered by capitalism.
July 1, 2023
Kent Klitgaard surveys degrowth thought, starting with the essential contradiction of capitalism presented by Marx, which gives rise to our current planetary crisis. Through an understanding this contradiction and degrowth literature spanning twentieth century, the author presents a plan for a sustainable and planned future socialist society.
July 1, 2023
The popular narrative that capitalism has led to a general improvement in human well-being over the last two hundred years is, historical data show, not supported by evidence. Jason Hickel and Dylan Sullivan enumerate the empirical and methodological problems on which this narrative is built and explore the potential benchmarks for truly understanding human welfare.
July 1, 2023
As the impending planetary crisis looms ever-closer, Martin Hart-Landsberg proposes a new focus on the Second World War industrial conversion experience, in which production and consumption were guided by central planning agencies. These successes and pitfalls of this period provide many useful lessons for activists and organizers working toward planned degrowth.
July 1, 2023
Economic planning, Nicolas Graham writes, was not, perhaps a major theme in Capital. However, Marx's understanding of such planning—as yet unrealized societal capability—yields great insight into how we might reorient modes of production toward cooperation and coordination. "Despite bourgeois and neoliberal ideology," he writes, "planning is both an urgent necessity and a liberatory potentiality."
