The relationship between ecology and Marx in the United States is difficult because of the lack of working-class politics and labor parties; the pragmatic, undialectical reception of Marxism among most intellectuals; and the strength of the ideological, political and academic consensus against Marx. This essay is an intervention in the ideological struggle to establish the relevance of Marx for ecology. The author briefly outlines mainstream, ecocentric and ecofeminist perspectives and offers a Marxist critique of their accounts of the causes of ecological problems. The author then proceeds to present some of the elements of Marx’s ecology and recent contributions by marxist ecologists, and arguing that an ecology without Marx is, in the last instance, an ecology for the privileged, the author concludes with a call for a red/green dialogue conducive to the development of a movement that seeks the end of the exploitation of both labor and the earth.
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