Notes from the Editors, November 2018

2018 ◽  
pp. c3-64
Author(s):  
The Editors
Keyword(s):  
Historical Materialism ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
First Century ◽  
Capitalist System ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Ecological Marxism

buy this issue The twenty-first century has resulted in a vast upsurge of ecological Marxism and ecosocialism more generally, building on the environmental critique of capitalism embedded in classical historical materialism. At the same time, it has also engendered opposing tendencies and approaches concerning how we understand relentless ecological destruction under capitalism. This issue is dedicated to exploring the theoretical advances, schools of thought, and debates on the left in regard to our world's ecological crisis, which threatens the survival of humanity and is inescapable within the present capitalist system of production.

Capital (It Fails Us Now)

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Toscano
Keyword(s):  
Economic History ◽  
Cognitive Mapping ◽  
Historical Materialism ◽  
First Century ◽  
Concerted Effort ◽  
Democratic Reform ◽  
History Of ◽  
Twenty First Century

This introduction to Historical Materialism’s mini-symposium on Thomas Piketty’s Capital in the Twenty-First Century places the three contributions by Husson, Mann and Roberts in the context of an exploration of the link between methodology and politics in Piketty’s economic history of inequality. Touching on the role of time and literature in Piketty’s argument, as well as on his difficulty in accounting for the relations of capital – especially ones originating in colonialism and empire – it approaches Piketty’s book, and its success, in terms of its concerted effort to produce a cognitive mapping of contemporary capitalism that can serve as a prelude to its democratic reform.

Communicating the Quest for Sustainability: Ecofeminist Perspectives in Sarah Orne Jewett’s ‘A White Heron’

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 101-112
Author(s):  
Archana Parashar ◽  
Mukesh Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Gender Roles ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
First Century ◽  
Moral Vision ◽  
Sarah Orne Jewett ◽  
Regional Sustainability ◽  
The World ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Relationship

The objective of this article is to study the relationship between men, women and nature in Sarah Orne Jewett’s ‘A White Heron’ by using ecofeminist perspectives. The cultural and moral vision of Jewett is imperative to the scope of American regionalist writing and her work characterizes the extreme concern to representing the region from which the author comes. The setting of the story holds its relevance even in the twenty-first century when the world is facing a deep ecological crisis. In ‘A White Heron’, Sarah Orne Jewett narrates the story of a 9-year-old girl Sylvia, exploring the grounds around her home in search of a prized white heron. Therefore, I suggest, it is through this relationship that the author demonstrates regional sustainability through clearly defined repressive gender roles, feminizing the concept of submissiveness while masculinizing attitudes of dominance over nature and competence in dealing with the challenges that nature presents.

Posterity or Prosperity?

Pneuma ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 394-411
Author(s):  
A.J. Swoboda
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
First Century ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Prosperity Theology ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Global Church ◽  
Great Economy

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, prosperity theologies have simultaneously received a warm reception by some and a critical cold shoulder by others. With emotive responses provoked on both sides, what cannot be ignored is the influence prosperity thinking has, and will have, on the global church. Yet, little to no attention has been devoted to the intersection between prosperity theology and the issues surrounding the ecological crisis, such as climate change, environmental degradation, human greed, and wanton consumerism. Does such an intersection exist? This article explores this question by contrasting prosperity theology’s divine economy and agrarianism’s great economy. In sum, it suggests that the uncritical reception of prosperity teachings—though they speak pointedly to real, felt human needs—can ultimately create ecologically harmful, if not anti-ecological, modes of thinking and living within its adherents.

The Digital Tech Deal: a socialist framework for the twenty-first century

Race & Class ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 63-84
Author(s):  
Michael Kwet
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
First Century ◽  
Global Markets ◽  
Digital Capitalism ◽  
Privacy Laws ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Political Economic

The twenty-first century global economy is largely driven by Big Tech and, more broadly, digital capitalism. This is a global phenomenon, with US power at the centre preying on global markets through the process of digital colonialism. Mainstream antidotes to the ills of Big Tech and digital capitalism are US/Eurocentric and revolve around a collection of liberal and progressive capitalist reforms, including anti-trust, limited privacy laws, unionisation of Big Tech, algorithmic discrimination and content moderation – all of which are conceived within a capitalist framework which ignores or neglects digital colonialism and the twenty-first century ecological crisis, despite their analytical and moral centrality to contemporary political economy. This author argues that a combination of political, economic and social alternatives based on a Digital Tech Deal are needed to turn the tide against digital colonisation, entailing the socialisation of knowledge and infrastructure; passing socialist laws that support digital socialism; and new narratives about the tech ecosystem. These solutions are to be nested within an anti-colonial, eco-socialist framework that embraces degrowth to ensure environmental sustainability and socioeconomic justice.

Being “Rich towards God” in the Capitalocene: An Ecological/Economic Reading of Luke 12.13-34

2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 240-260
Author(s):  
Andrew Shepherd
Keyword(s):  
Economic Inequality ◽  
Ecological Crisis ◽  
First Century ◽  
Biblical Text ◽  
Ecological Economic ◽  
Economic Ideology ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Ecological Wisdom

In an age termed by some as the “Capitalocene,” Christianity and the biblical text are sources for developing alternative economic imaginations that respond to the contemporary ecological crisis. Noting the economic inequality and ecological destruction common to both first-century Palestine and twenty-first-century global capitalistic societies, this article draws upon world-ecology theory and offers an ecological-economic reading of the parable of the “rich fool” (Luke 12.13-34). I argue that the assumptions of neo-liberal economic ideology often determine our interpretation of this text. In contrast to the rich fool who lives beyond ecological limits and disconnects himself from his community, Jesus offers ravens and grasses as teachers of ecological wisdom: redefining “wealth” and what is required to be “rich towards God.” The article concludes by discussing how translation choices may assist readers to see the economic-ecological dimensions of this text.

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