Marxist Ecology in China: From Marx’s Ecology to Socialist Eco-Civilisation Theory
 

Chen Yiwen

In the face of pressing global environmental challenges, Marxist ecology has emerged as a foundational pillar of global left analysis. It represents a critical examination of the modern environmental crisis. The Chinese academic community has been engaging in Marxist ecology research since the 1980s, drawing on traditional studies on Marxism and on the history of socialist modernisation. This differs from the trajectory of Marxist ecology in the West, which has gone through different stages, from denying or supplementing Marx’s ecology to rediscovering and developing it.1 Chinese scholars have highlighted the interpretation of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels’s ecological perspectives from the outset. They have proactively referred to Western insights from eco-Marxism/ecosocialism, aiming to formulate a socialistecological civilisation (eco-civilisation) theory with distinctive Chinese characteristics. This article discusses some of the diverse research paradigms and their course of development within Chinese Marxist ecology while also highlighting the accomplishments of and challenges facing Marxist ecology in China.

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