Enrique Leff Bücher

Over the last two decades, the environmental cost of capital accumulation has emerged as a serious social and economic problem. Many are now aware that the ways we utilize our natural and cultural resources have had a range of negative consequences internationally--from the destabilization of ecosystems, the depletion of resources, and the degradation of our environment to the disintegration of cultural values and ethnic identity within local communities. Responses to this dilemma have varied, with traditional economists characterizing environmental issues as mere externalities and many ecologists focusing solely on protecting the environment. Offering a far more comprehensive view, Enrique Leff provides a Marxist approach to environment and development that focuses on the process of production, as well as implications of the environmental crisis on human values. To truly achieve a more rational and integrated use of our natural resources, he convincingly argues for a reorientation of science and technology towards the objectives of sustainable development, the decentralization of production, and the participatory management of natural resources.

Focusing on the evolution of environmental thought, the book examines socio-environmental conflicts and the shift from ecological economics to ecological Marxism. It synthesizes 40 years of research, highlighting the development of political ecology and its foundations in value theory and ecological distribution. Emphasizing diversity and the ethics of otherness, the author calls for a theoretical framework that addresses pressing territorial conflicts and the urgent need for a sustainable world order, urging a response to the environmental crisis facing the planet.