Moishe Postone (1942-) and the Critique of Traditional Marxism: Helplessness and the Present Moment of the Great Acceleration

Abstract

This chapter situates Moishe Postone’s critique of traditional Marxism in relation to the present moment of the Great Acceleration. We engage a close reading of Postone’s reinterpretation of Marx’s mature theory of capital with specific focus on the linkage between economic growth and ecological degradation, and how this linkage is necessarily connected to social domination under modern capitalist society. Postone’s Marxian theory is significant because, as we demonstrate, it allows one to grasp societally induced environmental degradation following WWII in a critical and reflexive manner. The chapter concludes by discussing the growing sense of helplessness that defines the present moment of the Great Acceleration.