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The Enemy of Nature: The End of Capitalism or the End of the World?, by Joel Kovel. London and New York: Zed Books, 2002. $65.00; paper, $19.95. Pp. xiii, 273.
Joel Kovel is the Alger Hiss Professor of Social Studies at Bard College. Some of his other books include: Wtiite Racism, The Age of Desire, Red Hunting in lhe Promised Land and History and Spirit. In all of his intellectual work, Kovel combines a critical social theory with historical analysis. The Enemy of Nature connects a critical theory of society with recent Marxist work on ecological problems, such as that of James O'Connor, John Bellamy Foster and Paul Burkett. In addition to writing and teaching, Kovel has been a radical voice within the U. S. Green Party.
The main argument of The Enemy of Nature is clear and straightforward: capitalism is the enemy of nature, and humanity has a choice to make between the end of capitalism as a form of life and the end of the world. Kovel argues that capitalism is the driving force behind the present ecological crisis and develops the radical implications of this conclusion. he argues that capitalism is defined by its goal of accumulation and the fact...