Although some scholars have sought to deny it, the truth is that Charles Darwin’s masterpiece, On the Origin of Species (1859), was one of the major influences on Karl Marx’s magnum opus, Capital Volume I (1867). This talk prosecutes the case for Darwin’s influence on Marx’s critical analysis of capitalist society to revisit a question fundamental to contemporary research in environmental history and geography: how shall we narrate the emergence of capitalism and its consequences for human-environment relations?
Joel Wainwright, The Ohio State University
Joel Wainwright is a Professor of Geography and the Chair of the Committee on Academic Freedom and Responsibility at The Ohio State University. He is author or editor of six books, including, most recently, The End: Marx, Darwin, and the Natural History of the Climate Crisis (Verso).
This event is a collaboration with the Department of Geography and Geography Graduate Organization.
