John Bellamy Foster on Marx's Ecology and the Dialectics of Nature

In this second part of a four-part series, John Bellamy Foster discusses his book 'The Return of Nature: Socialism and Ecology' with Lynn Fries. Foster traces the lineage of ecological materialism from Epicurus through Marx and Engels to 20th-century British and American scientists. He highlights how E. Ray Lankester introduced the term 'ecology' into English and pioneered studies of species extinction and nutrient cycling. Foster explains that Arthur Tansley, Lankester's student, introduced the concept of the ecosystem in 1935, influenced by Marxist mathematician Hyman Levy. The 1931 International Congress on Science and Technology in London brought Soviet scientists like Bukharin and Hessen to Britain, inspiring a generation of British Marxist scientists including J.B.S. Haldane, Joseph Needham, and J.D. Bernal. Foster argues that Western Marxism's rejection of the 'dialectics of nature' left it unable to engage with ecological issues. He discusses how figures like Rachel Carson and Barry Commoner carried forward this tradition in the US, with Commoner's law 'nature knows best' critiquing the Synthetic Age of petrochemicals and nuclear radiation. Foster also addresses the mischaracterization of Marx as 'Promethean', arguing that Marx's view of progress was critical and open-ended. The episode concludes with a preview of Part 3 on Foster's book 'Breaking the Bonds of Fate'.