According to Foster the great sociological
tradition, at least as it has been received
from the founders, seems as if it were developed
almost completely devoid of any concern for
nature. It is "as if nature doesn't matter."
In the case of Marx, however, Foster contends
that this notion is quite mistaken. By examining
Marx's social ecology Foster intends to bring
Marx to the serious attention of ecologists
who have failed to appreciate the implications
of Marxist theory for understanding the ecological
crisis of our time.
Marx and Engel's ecology is rooted in their
materialism, in the assumption that the natural
world is the foundation for all that exists.
Physical reality, according to Marx, "is independent
of and prior to thought."
"Man lives from nature, i.e. nature is his
body, and he must maintain a continuing dialogue
with it if he is not to die. To say that man's
physical and mental life is linked to nature
simply means that nature is linked to itself,
for man is a part of nature."
For Marx, human beings are a part of nature;
nature provides the material means of life
for humans (air, water, food, sun, and shelter),
as well as the tools needed to access these
material needs.
Humans relate to nature through the production
of goods as well as the reproduction of species.
It is through the production process that
humans transform nature into products for
human use. The reproduction process both assures
the continuation of society as well as the
regulation of the amount of resources required
from the environment.
The materialism that makes life and society
possible, as well as the means by which men
and women manipulate the natural environment
to obtain essential goods, are the foundation
of Marx's social theory. These means of relating
to the natural world are through production
and reproduction.
"The first premise of all human existence
and, therefore, of all history," Marx and
Engels write, "is that men must be in a position
to live in order to be able to 'make history.'
But life involves before everything else eating
and drinking, housing, clothing, and various
other things."
"The first historical act is thus the production
of the means to satisfy these needs, the production
of material life itself. And indeed this is
an historical act, a fundamental condition
of all history, which today, as thousands
of years ago, must daily and hourly be fulfilled
merely in order to sustain human life"
"...the production of life, both of one's
own in labour and of fresh life in procreation,
appears as a twofold relation: on the one
hand as a natural, on the other hand as social relation.
 
The ever increasing polarization of wealth
in capitalist societies (both within and between
nations), is a primary cause of the growth
of an extensive working class as well as an
"industrial reserve army" of surplus population
(unemployed and underemployed) which lives
in "a situation of relative impoverishment
and degradation."
This industrial reserve army is necessary
for the accumulation of capital in that it
assures a chronic oversupply of workers on
the labor market, thus keeping wages in check
and allowing workers to be more fully exploited
by capitalist enterprise.
Over population in capitalist societies--defined
as the portion of the population that is denied
full access to the means of subsistence--is
therefore caused by the rule of capital itself.
It is Foster's contention that industrial
technology and demographic factors are not
the major cause of the environmental destruction
around us. While certainly real, these material
forces are intimately rooted in the social
relations of production--that is, the institution
of capital and its ever-expanding drive for
accumulation.
Consequently, demographic and technological
forces are not responsive to the will of the
individual; rather they are responsive to
the needs and interests of capital. And the
needs and interests of capital are simple:
the ever greater accumulation of more capital,
or more simply, profit.
While all societies have had impact on their
environments in terms of depletion and pollution,
some even to the point of collapse, the problems
have been localized because the societies
were small. Capitalism, however, is a world-wide
system with both peripheral and core nations.
Because capitalism is based on growth, there
is a drive to expand and intensify markets,
to commodify all goods and services, to create
new "needs" and luxuries, and to stimulate
ever greater levels of consumption.
Because of this drive, core nations have a
tremendous consumption rate of raw materials
and energy; within nation states--core or
periphery--wealthy individuals and classes
also have higher rates of consumption,
With the expansion of population and industrial
activity, Foster writes, "the scale of human
economic processes began to rival the ecological
cycles of the planet, opening up as never
before the possibility of planet-wide ecological
disaster."
Under the rule of capital, human societies
have grown in both population and in the power
of their technology. This growth has led to
the ever more intensive mining of raw materials
and energy from the earth and consequently
to the accelerated depletion and pollution
of the planet.
Growth is not inherent in industrial production
which simply consists of rational technologies
and social practices to exploit the environment
for human use. Rather, the commitment to economic
growth stems from the nature of capitalism
itself.
The objective of capitalism is to maximize
the rate of profit as quickly and efficiently
as possible; it is a system of economic accumulation.
A stationary capitalism, one that rejects
economic growth and expansion is a contradiction
in terms.
The men who control the economic institutions
in society are inextricably committed to economic
growth, and through their power and influence
it has become an unquestioned goal of social
life.
But serious environmental problems are not
simply due to our numbers and consequent increase
in consumption and waste. The type of technologies
used to manufacture goods, the type of agriculture
used to grow and process food, the type of
transport used for goods and people are also
factors in our environmental impact.
The drive for profit has led capitalists to
integrate science into the industrial production
process, integration that, true to form, pays
little attention to environmental consequences.
"New technologies have replaced older ones.
Synthetic detergents have replaced soap powder;
synthetic fabrics have replaced clothing made
out of natural fibers (such as cotton and
wool); aluminum, plastics, and concrete have
replaced steel and lumber; truck freight has
displaced railroad freight..."
"...high-powered automobile engines have displaced
the low-powered engines of the 1920s and 1930s;
synthetic fertilizer has in effect displaced
land in agricultural production; herbicides
have displaced the cultivator; insecticides
have displaced earlier forms of insect control."
Within the system of capitalism nature rarely
enters into the equation. Raw materials are
commodities, only their exchange values matter.
The environment as a whole has little value;
pollution in the production process can be
carted to landfills, dissipated through smokestacks,
or dumped into our oceans.
"The profit making relation has become the
sole connection between human beings and between
human beings and nature. This means that while
we can envision more sustainable forms of
technology that would solve much of the environmental
problems, the development and implementation
of these technologies is blocked by the relations
of production--by capitalism and capitalists."
"Large corporations make the major decisions
about the technology we use, and the sole
lens that they consider in arriving at their
decisions is profitability."
Foster has a lot more to say about Capital
in the World, but this will have to wait till
another presentation.
For a 
more extensive discussion of Foster's theories
refer to Macro Social Theory, available through
Amazon.com at a reasonable price.
Also see Sociocultural Systems: Principles
of Structure and Change to learn how his insights
contribute to a fuller understanding of modern
societies. This book can be purchased at most
online bookstores or at Athabasca University
Press. If you are short of funds Athabasca
also offers a free pdf version of the work.
A significant portion of the royalties I receive
for these books go to the Rogers State University
Foundation in support of students in the Liberal
Arts. I thank you for your support
and interest.
