“The analysis of Nature into its individual parts, the grouping of the different natural processes and objects in definite classes, the study of the internal anatomy of organized bodies in their manifold forms—these were the fundamental conditions of the gigantic strides in our knowledge of Nature that have been made during the last four hundred years. But this method of work has also left us as legacy the habit of observing natural objects and processes in isolation, apart from their connection with the vast whole; of observing them in repose, not in motion; as constants, not as essentially variables; in their death, not in their life. And when this way of looking at things was transferred by Bacon and Locke from natural science to philosophy, it begot the narrow, metaphysical mode of thought peculiar to the last century.”
– Friedrich Engels, 1908. Socialism: Utopian and Scientific

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A socialist society cannot be built without a people’s expertise in the natural sciences – the natural sciences are not only foundational to the improvement of people’s lives and the development of the forces of production, but they’re the basis of knowledge about climate change and the ecological crisis!

Socialist countries, with their successes in bettering workers’ lives, demonstrate the imperative to have dedicated scientists to achieve socialist objectives. For example, in Cuba, during the Revolution, Fidel Castro invested in the training of thousands of healthcare workers and in scientific institutions and research centers. Now, Cuba is able to send brigades of medical professionals all over the world in moments of health crises.

Expertise in the natural sciences is often neglected or under-appreciated in communist or socialist organizing in capitalist countries like the US. In most countries, scientific work is overwhelmingly subordinated to capitalist demands and most working-class people are excluded from natural science education. Those who manage to get into a natural science degree program or employed in a research or educational institution face a barrage of bourgeois ideas or assumptions in whatever scientific endeavor they are involved in. This situation makes it very difficult for socialists to combine Marxism with the study of a natural science, much less to develop scientific practices consistent with Marxism. This course aims to provide a Marxist theoretical grounding for nature and the natural sciences, understand current ecological and environmental crises and organizing, and an optional hands-on fieldwork in soil science for a practical application.

This course was offered in Spring 2022, taught by Salvatore Engel-DiMauro.

SUGGESTED MATERIALS

Marxist Method

Socialist States and the Environment - Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro (pp. 102-108, 190-194) [FIND AT 1804 BOOKS]

1804 Books blog post/book talk

Marxism and National Liberation Part One, Part Two - Walter Rodney

Marxism and the Philosophy of Science: A Critical History - Helena Sheehan (pp. 34 - 46) [FIND AT A LIBRARY]

Nature and Science in Marx and Engels’ Framework

Socialism: Utopian and Scientific - Friedrich Engels (pp. 76 - 93) [FIND AT A LIBRARY]

Engels on the Scientific Study of Nature

“Dialectics of Nature” in Marx Engel Collected Works - Friedrich Engels (pp. 356-357, 452-463, 490-491, 583-585) [FIND AT A LIBRARY]

Marxism, Ecosystems, and People-Environment Relations

Biology under the Influence: Dialectical Essays on Ecology, Agriculture, and Health (pp. 101-124) - Richard Lewontin and Richard Levins [FIND AT A LIBRARY]

A PLAN TO SAVE THE PLANET, TriContinental

Explore: MST website in English

Relating Marxist Method to the Natural Sciences

The Dialectical Biologist - Richard Levins and Richard Lewontin (pp. 267-288) [FIND AT A LIBRARY]

Socialist States and the Environment (pp. 203-211 Case Study: 170 - 194) [FIND AT 1804 BOOKS]

Soil Science and Marxism

Urban Food Production for Ecosocialism: Cultivating the City - Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro and George Martin (pp. 64-90, 129-140) [FIND AT A LIBRARY]

Meteorisations: Reading Amílcar Cabral’s Agronomy of Liberation. Third Text 32 - Filipa César (pp. 254-272) [FIND AT A LIBRARY]

Soils and Land Struggle

Essential Soil Science: A Clear and Concise Introduction to Soil Science - Ashman, M., and G. Puri. (pp.1-24) [FIND AT A LIBRARY]