Photo taken on April 29, 2016 shows the 10th International Forum on Ecological Civilization in Claremont, the United States. The 10th International Forum on Ecological Civilization, organized around the impetus organic Marxism gives to ecological civilization and the balance between an ecological civilization and economic growth, gathered over 150 scholars and environmentalists from around the world. (Xinhua/Zhang Chaoqun)
Organic Marxism and China's ecological civilization drive were the focus of a just-concluded international conference in Claremont, California.
The 10th International Forum on Ecological Civilization, organized around the impetus organic Marxism gives to ecological civilization and the balance between an ecological civilization and economic growth, gathered over 150 scholars and environmentalists from around the world.
"We are in the midst of a discussion, begun by Philip Clayton, about 'organic Marxism,'" said John Cobb Jr., a 91-year-old member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
The forum with the theme of "Organic Marxism and Ecological Civilization" concluded on Saturday.
"Philip wrote the book 'Organic Marxism' for everyone, but, I think, especially with the needs and possibilities of China in view. It is my impression that the title and the project are playing in China just the role Philip wanted," Cobb said.
Cobb, a philosopher and environmentalist, said organic Marxism seeks to build a society in which all may work and all workers will flourish, not only economically, but also in other ways.
"I believe it will come closer to realizing the real concerns of Marx than any previous form his followers have developed," he said.
Written by Philip Clayton and Justin Heinzekehr, the book Organic Marxism: An Alternative to Capitalism and Ecological Catastrophe was published in 2014. The authors said that capitalism as a social and economic system has created massive injustices and devastated the environment, whereas organic Marxism calls for an economy that grows organically out of the existing cultural and economic situation and can be alternatives that may provide an answer to many of our problems.
Cobb said China is more open to serious discussions of ecological matters than the United States is. The deeper meaning of democracy, that the people as a whole can inform the government's decisions, "may well be better realized in China than in the oligarchy that the United States has been becoming."
"China is working as hard, or harder, than any of the others to deal responsibly with the frightening global problems," he said.
