Ecosocialism (Revised and Expanded Edition)

In this new edition of his acclaimed book, Michael Löwy argues that capitalism is killing the planet—and offers a competing vision of radical, ecosocialist transformation.

For decades, Löwy has been a leading voice in the fight for ecosocialist transformation. As the climate crisis accelerates, his message has only become more urgent: capitalism is incompatible with a liveable planet.

This expanded edition foregrounds Löwy’s canonical essays, while offering plenty of new material, from sharp critiques of environmentalist complicity to deep dives into Marxist texts. The past decade has only continued to expose the limits of “green capitalism,” with cap-and-trade agreements violated, electric cars dependent on energy from coal-burning power plants, and international agreements broken again and again. Real change requires a complete reorganization of our modes of production and consumption—a fundamental shift, rooted in democratic planning, toward a society where both human and planetary needs are valued.

In Ecosocialism, Löwy offers an incisive critique of the destructive logic of capitalism, tracing the intimate link between the struggle against the commodification of the world and the defense of the environment. Moving between theory and practice, he looks to activists around the world, especially in Latin America, to push readers to dream bigger about what might become possible. Prescient, shrewd, and deeply hopeful, Ecosocialism is an indispensable introduction for people unsatisfied with mainstream “solutions” to climate change—and will also challenge committed environmentalists to deepen their analysis of the climate crisis.