What can we learn from the dialectical biologists?

What is it about?

This article defends the importance of Marxist dialectics in environmental theory. Specifically it assesses the potential contribution of the dialectical biology of Richard Levins, Richard Lewontin and their colleagues. These scientists were actively involved in radical political campaigns, for example as members of the group Science for the People in the 1970s and 80s. Their political commitments are evidenced in their approach to biology, which has stressed complexity, dynamism and, especially, the active role of living organisms in constructing their environments. By drawing on their work, this article therefore challenges some of the criticisms often levelled at dialectics within geography, specifically that dialectics relies on a binaristic approach and that it downplays the agency and materiality of non-human life. On the contrary, adopting a dialectical approach, it is argued, is vital to developing a non-dualist political ecology that refuses to accept the permanency of current capitalist socio-natural relations.

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Why is it important?

In debates about environmental issues some people argue that Marxism is irrelevant or unhelpful. This article defends such an approach but also points to a tradition within Marxism that takes account of non-human nature. It's a theoretical article but hopefully it can contribute in a small way to discussions about how we think about environmental issues and to raise awareness of an interesting area of biology to a new audience.

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