Metabolic Rift

Description

Becky Clausen on Ariel Salleh:

"Salleh presents a clear and consistent materialist argument, stating that the day-to-day experience of negotiating humanity-nature relations is a “standpoint grounded in labor—not for instance, an ideological or sociobiological argument about women being closer to nature or better than men.” This materialist foundation allows her to circumvent such essentialist ecofeminist arguments and offer an extension of Marx’s concept of metabolism. Salleh successfully describes how the social relations of subsistence can provide an alternative to metabolic rift.

Metabolic rift, as introduced by Marx and expanded by John Bellamy Foster, is created through capitalist exchange as biogeochemical cycles are severed and workers become disconnected from the natural cycles of production. By building off these theoretical developments in eco- Marxism, Salleh introduces the concept of metabolic fit for discussion and debate." (http://arielsalleh.info/published-work/books/Clausen_MR.pdf)