Capitalism, Nature, and Democracy

Harvard FAS

Although “nature” often appears as the most fixed and self-evident category in social and political thought, its meaning, like other foundational concepts, has been historically constructed and politically contested. This course examines how ideas of nature have been shaped by capitalist accumulation imperatives, and how those transformations bear on contemporary ecological problems, including climate change. In light of these inquiries, we also ask whether “denaturalizing” social categories…