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The Impossible Recuperation of Ecological Criticism by Capitalism: The Hypothesis of the De-Fetishisation of Commodity

By

Guillaume Carbou

and

Philip Pettit

Abstract

This article aims to understand the persistence and the radicalization of ecological criticism in the public space despite the attempts by capitalism to reclaim environmental issues through the introduction of “green concepts” (sustainable development, CSR, etc.) into managerial discourse. We develop the reasons why ecological criticism seems to resist its recuperation and rely on the Marxian concept of “commodity fetishism” to present ecological criticism as a challenge to the foundations of our economic organization. This analysis allows us to understand the failure of green concepts and to shed light on the evolution of the relationship between capitalism and its criticism.

Keywords

[See the article in Cairn]