On Thursday, December 4, at 6:30 pm, in collaboration with the Antonio Gramsci Association, which is hosting the meeting in Cagliari, Vittorio Pelligra, professor of Economic Policy at the University of Cagliari, and Fabio Angei, a PhD student in Economic Sciences and a collaborator at Crenos, will hold a seminar on the book by Japanese philosopher Saito Kohei, “Capital in the Anthropocene” (Einaudi, 2024). Coordinated by Laura Stochino, history and philosophy teacher and head of teaching at the Sardinian Institute for the History of Anti-Fascism and Contemporary Society (streamed live, with translation into Italian Sign Language by Luciana Ledda).
Capitalism will not lead us out of the crisis, Kohei argues. Any economic recipe based on continuous growth leads to the destruction of the planet. The only option is to put on the brakes. And Marx, in this regard, has something to teach, the political-economic manifesto with which all the lefts of the world must confront. In a time of eco-anxiety, in which increasingly extreme phenomena are forcing us to reckon with the habitability of some parts of the globe and the sustainability of our way of life, Saito bursts into the debate with courageous, radical, and thoughtful proposals. Techno-utopianism, the Green New Deal and the superficial environmentalism of companies are not the solution. And the small daily gestures of individuals are not enough: resources are limited and the problem of inequality must be addressed. We need to return to the essentials, to concrete things, to community. Rediscovering what Marx called “the metabolic relationship between man and nature.”
