John Bellamy Foster (born August 15, 1953) is an American

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

and editor of the ''

Monthly Review The ''Monthly Review'', established in 1949, is an independent socialist magazine published monthly in New York City. The publication is the longest continuously published socialist magazine in the United States. History Establishment Following ...

''. He writes about

political economy Political economy is the study of how Macroeconomics, economic systems (e.g. Marketplace, markets and Economy, national economies) and Politics, political systems (e.g. law, Institution, institutions, government) are linked. Widely studied ph ...

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

and

economic crisis An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...

, ecology and

ecological crisis An ecological or environmental crises occurs when changes to the environment of a species or population destabilizes its continued survival. Some of the important causes include: * Degradation of an abiotic ecological factor (for example, increa ...

, and

Marxist theory Marxist philosophy or Marxist theory are works in philosophy that are strongly influenced by Karl Marx's materialist approach to theory, or works written by Marxists. Marxist philosophy may be broadly divided into Western Marxism, which drew fro ...

. He has given numerous interviews, talks, and invited lectures, as well as written invited commentary, articles, and books on the subject.

Early life

Foster was active in the

anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term anti-war can also refer to pa ...

and environmental movements before enrolling at

Evergreen State College The Evergreen State College is a public liberal arts college in Olympia, Washington. Founded in 1967, it offers a non-traditional undergraduate curriculum in which students have the option to design their own study towards a degree or follow a p ...

in 1971. He studied

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

in response to what he saw as an unfolding crisis in the

capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

economy and US involvement with the

1973 Chilean coup d'état The 1973 Chilean coup d'état Enciclopedia Virtual > Historia > Historia de Chile > Del gobierno militar a la democracia" on LaTercera.cl. Retrieved 22 September 2006. In October 1972, Chile suffered the first of many strikes. Among the par ...

. In 1976, he moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and entered the

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

graduate program at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. He submitted his 1979 paper, ''The United States and Monopoly Capital: The Issue of Excess Capacity'', to

Paul Sweezy Paul Marlor Sweezy (April 10, 1910 – February 27, 2004) was a Marxist economist, political activist, publisher, and founding editor of the long-running magazine ''Monthly Review''. He is best remembered for his contributions to economic theory ...

of ''Monthly Review''. He also was published in journals such as ''

The Quarterly Journal of Economics ''The Quarterly Journal of Economics'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Oxford University Press for the Harvard University Department of Economics. Its current editors-in-chief are Robert J. Barro, Lawrence F. Katz, Nathan N ...

'' and ''

Science & Society ''Science & Society: A Journal of Marxist Thought and Analysis'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of Marxist scholarship. It covers economics, philosophy of science, historiography, women's studies, literature, the arts, and other social sci ...

'', and, in 1986, published ''The Theory of Monopoly Capitalism: An Elaboration of Marxian Political Economy'', based on his Ph.D. dissertation. Foster was hired in 1985 as a Visiting Member of the Faculty at The Evergreen State College. One year later he took a position as assistant professor of sociology at the

, and became a full professor of sociology in 2000. In 1989 he became a director of the Monthly Review Foundation Board and a member of the editorial committee of Monthly Review.

''Monthly Review''

Foster published his first article for ''

'', "Is Monopoly Capital an Illusion?", while in graduate school in 1981. He became a director of the Monthly Review Foundation Board and a member of the ''

'' editorial committee in 1989. Along with Robert McChesney, who had since their days at Evergreen College become a leading scholar of the political economy of the media, Foster joined

and

Harry Magdoff Harry Samuel Magdoff (August 21, 1913 – January 1, 2006) was a prominent American socialist commentator. He held several administrative positions in government during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt and later became co-editor of the M ...

as a co-editor of ''

'' in 2000. Two years later, he became president of the Monthly Review Foundation. After Paul Sweezy's death in 2004, Robert McChesney's resignation as co-editor (while remaining on the board), and Harry Magdoff's death in 2006, Foster was left as sole editor of the magazine.

Work

Foster's initial research centered on Marxian political economies and theories of capitalist development, with a focus on Paul Sweezy and

Paul Baran Paul Baran (born Pesach Baran ; April 29, 1926 – March 26, 2011) was a Polish-American engineer who was a pioneer in the development of computer networks. He was one of the two independent inventors of packet switching, which is today the dom ...

's theory of monopoly. This was reflected in Foster's early book ''The Theory of Monopoly Capitalism'' and the coedited volume (with

Henryk Szlajfer Henryk Szlajfer (born 7 November 1947, Wrocław) – Polish economist and political scientist of Jewish origin, professor at the University of Warsaw, in the years 1993–2008, director of the Department of Strategy and Policy Planning, then of t ...

), ''The Faltering Economy: The Problem of Accumulation under Monopoly Capitalism''. In the late 1980s, Foster turned toward issues of ecology. He focused on the relationship between the global environmental crisis and the crisis in the capitalist economy, while stressing the imperative for a sustainable, socialist alternative. During this period he published ''The Vulnerable Planet: A Short Economic History of the Environment''; his article "Marx's Theory of Metabolic Rift" in the ''

American Journal of Sociology The ''American Journal of Sociology'' is a peer-reviewed bi-monthly academic journal that publishes original research and book reviews in the field of sociology and related social sciences. It was founded in 1895 as the first journal in its disci ...

''; and ''Marx's Ecology: Materialism and Nature''. His reinterpretation of Marx on ecology introduced the concept of " metabolic rift" and was widely influential. This work led to his receiving the Distinguished Contribution Award of the

American Sociological Association The American Sociological Association (ASA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology. Founded in December 1905 as the American Sociological Society at Johns Hopkins University by a group of fif ...

's Environment and Technology section. ''Marx's Ecology'' itself received the book award from the ASA's Section on Marxist Sociology. This work was soon followed up by his book ''Ecology Against Capitalism'', which focused on the critique of

economics from the standpoint of the environment. As editor of ''

'', Foster returned to his earlier work on the

, but with a renewed focus on the role of U.S.

foreign policy A State (polity), state's foreign policy or external policy (as opposed to internal or domestic policy) is its objectives and activities in relation to its interactions with other states, unions, and other political entities, whether bilaterall ...

following September 2001. His 2006 book '' Naked Imperialism'', along with frequent editorials in the pages of ''

'', attempted to account for the growing U.S. military role in the world and the shift toward a more visible, aggressive global projection. Additionally, Foster has worked to expand Sweezy and Baran’s theory of

monopoly capital ''Monopoly Capital: An Essay on the American Economic and Social Order'' is a 1966 book by the Marxian economists Paul Sweezy and Paul A. Baran. It was published by Monthly Review Press. It made a major contribution to Marxian theory by shift ...

in light of the current financially led phase of capitalism, which he terms "monopoly-finance Capital." In this context he has written several books on the

financialization Financialization (or financialisation in British English) is a term sometimes used to describe the development of financial capitalism during the period from 1980 to present, in which debt-to-equity ratios increased and financial services acco ...

and

financial crisis of 2007–08 Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

. '' Critique of Intelligent Design'', Foster’s book co-authored with Brett Clark and Richard York, is a continuation of his research on materialist philosophy and the relationship between ancient Greek philosopher

Epicurus Epicurus (; grc-gre, Ἐπίκουρος ; 341–270 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher and sage who founded Epicureanism, a highly influential school of philosophy. He was born on the Greek island of Samos to Athenian parents. Influenced ...

and

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

. Drawing on his ecological work, particularly ''Marx’s Ecology'', Foster defends

historical materialism Historical materialism is the term used to describe Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx locates historical change in the rise of class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. For Marx and his lifetime collaborat ...

as fundamental to a rational,

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

worldview, against proponents of

Intelligent Design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins". Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for its bold attempt to ...

and other non-

materialist Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materialis ...

ideologies An ideology is a set of beliefs or philosophies attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely epistemic, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones." Formerly applied pri ...

. Foster's book ''The Return of Nature: Socialism and Ecology'' (2020) won the

Deutscher Memorial Prize The Isaac and Tamara Deutscher Memorial Prize is an annual prize given in honour of historian Isaac Deutscher and his wife Tamara Deutscher for a new book published in English "which exemplifies the best and most innovative new writing in or about ...

for that year. In the book, 'Foster explores how socialist analysts and materialist scientists of various stamps, first in Britain, then the United States, from

William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was a British textile designer, poet, artist, novelist, architectural conservationist, printer, translator and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts Movement. He ...

and

Friedrich Engels Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels"
'' Joseph Needham Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (; 9 December 1900 – 24 March 1995) was a British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology, in ...

Rachel Carson Rachel Louise Carson (May 27, 1907 – April 14, 1964) was an American marine biologist, writer, and conservationist whose influential book ''Silent Spring'' (1962) and other writings are credited with advancing the global environmental m ...

, and

Stephen Jay Gould Stephen Jay Gould (; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was one of the most influential and widely read authors of popular science of his generation. Gould sp ...

, sought to develop a dialectical naturalism, rooted in a critique of capitalism.'

Bibliography

* ''The Vulnerable Planet'' (1999) * ''Marx's Ecology'' (2000) * ''Ecology Against Capitalism'' (2002) * ''The Ecological Revolution'' (2009) * ''The Theory of Monopoly Capitalism'' (2014) * Foster, J.B., B. Clark, and R. York (2010) ''The Ecological Rift'' * Foster, J.B. and R.W. McChesney (2012) ''The Endless Crisis'' * Foster, J.B. and P. Burkett (2016) ''Marx and the Earth'' * ''Trump in the White House: Tragedy and Farce'' (2017) *''The Return of Nature: Socialism and Ecology'' (2020) *''Capitalism in the Anthropocene: Ecological Ruin or Ecological Revolution'' (2022)

Articles, lectures, and interviews

* 1999. Marx's theory of metabolic rift: classical foundations for environmental sociology. ''American Journal of Sociology'' 105(2):366-405. DOI: 10.1086/210315 * 2016. Marxism in the Anthropocene: dialectical rifts on the Left. ''International Critical Thought'' 6(3):393-421. DOI: 10.1080/21598282.2016.1197787

References

External links

John Bellamy Foster's personal website