Open AccessMarx, population and freedom
Author(s) -
Julian Roche
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the journal of population and sustainability
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2398-5496
pISSN - 2398-5488
DOI - 10.3197/jps.2020.5.1.31
Subject(s) - emancipation , marxist philosophy , population , epistemology , order (exchange) , environmental ethics , perception , control (management) , sociology , positive economics , political science , philosophy , politics , economics , law , demography , management , finance
Marxists have long moved beyond a perception of Marx as a Promethean ecological vandal. Yet those disputing his environmental credentials are generally united in deploring the unhappy history of population control. They implicitly accept the idea of currently forecast future population levels as consistent with a Marxist view of human emancipation. This assumption should be challenged, on the basis of what resources a truly unalienated future may require in order to achieve real freedom for each future individual.