join us for the upcoming pri reading group in 2024-25, an experiment in discourse and learning!
first meeting | October 31, 2024
2-4 EST | 11-1 PST
Monthly meetings held online via TEAMS
In February 2023, Japanese Philosopher Kohei Saito published Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism. A best seller by any standard, Marx in the Anthropocene has sold over half a million copies and provoked debates about Marx’s conception of nature, and the politics of Anthropocene discourse.
There is a common conception that Marx was indifferent to nature because of his focus on labor as the primary originator of value. Nature is construed as a mere object to be put to use towards human advantage, the mere ‘raw material’ for production. The more pressing political struggle concerned the ownership of production and conditions of production, rather than what materials were used in the production process, or the environmental consequences of production. Labor, not nature, was the revolutionary battleground.
But towards the end of Marx’s life, he grew increasingly interested in biology, chemistry and geology, as explored in his notebooks, letters, and lesser-known later writings where showed greater respect for agrarian and pre-Capitalist societies than previously thought. He writes: “Since the earth is finite, it is obvious that there are absolute biophysical limits to capital accumulation.”
In addition to providing a window into Marx and Marxism, the book also analyzes arguments for ‘degrowth’, which challenges prevalent and long-standing measures of economic growth such as GDP, and the demand that all social forces be oriented towards economic growth, in which we are compelled to want more and more.
Saito questions the viability of technological solutions to environmental problems and emphasizes the need to move beyond recycling and electric cars.
What to expect from this reading group:
We aim to meet monthly to read a chapter under the leadership of a facilitator who prepares guiding questions for consideration and discussion. Kohei Saito himself will be joining us in May, following our reading group discussions.
Schedule at a Glance:
THUR Oct 31, 2-4 EST | Intro and Chapter 1 | Trevor Norris, Brock University
MON Nov 18, 2-4 EST | Chapter 2 | Andrew Pendakis, Brock University
MON Dec 9, 2-4 EST | Chapter 3 | Andrew Pendakis, Brock University
MON Jan 13, 2-4 EST | Chapter 4 | Claudia Ruitenberg, UBC
MON Feb 3, 2-4 EST | Chapter 5 | Claudia Ruitenberg, UBC
MON Mar 17, 2-4 EST | Chapter 6 | Nandita Biswas-Mellamphy, Western University
MON Apr 14, 2-4 EST | Chapter 7 and Conclusion | Nandita Biswas-Mellamphy, Western University
MON May 5, 12-2 EST | KOHEI SAITO WILL BE JOINING US
If you’re interested in participating, please email PRI@brocku.ca. You do not need to be an affiliate of the PRI to join, although it is encouraged. Click here to see our affiliate and associate members and find the application form.
Resources:
Profiles of the books can be read at:
- The Guardian – A Greener Marx: Kohei Saito on Connecting Communism with the Climate Crisis
- The New York Times – Kohei Saito and Degrowth Communism
A critique:
An interview
A description of degrowth:
* A PDF version of the book Marx in the Anthropocene is available through the Brock University Library, and perhaps other libraries as well. If you are having difficulty accessing a copy please send an email to PRI@brocku.ca.
Works Cited
Saito, Kohei. Marx in the Anthropocene: Towards the Idea of Degrowth Communism. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2023. Print.
