Political Theory
Hughes’s intention is to challenge the conventional interpretation of the Marxist method (historical materialism) as one that is overly concerned with the development of the ‘forces of production’ and reduction of ‘socially necessary’ labour at the expense of the environment. Indeed, Hughes’s contention is not only that there is no necessary division between the development of productivity and the protection of the environment, but that environmental protection must be considered as a ‘need’ in itself (p. 148).
Central to Hughes’s argument is the distinction between ‘want’ and ‘desire’, i.e., genuine and false need; Hughes argues that this is an implicit distinction running throughout Marx’s writings. Hughes argues that, in order for any future communist society to be ecologically sustainable, there must be a prioritization of human need, and to this end Hughes argues that Marx (certainly in his earlier writings) is committed to an essentialist view of human nature which would not be satisfied by growing productivity (as such), but by having a direct and controlling role in the process of production itself (p. 188).
This book’s chief virtue lies in its capacity to present an informed argument in a lucid manner, which is made accessible to those only moderately familiar with Marx’s writing by a thorough discussion of human need as found in the ‘Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts’, and the debate in subsequent literature. The attention given to the question of need in Hughes’s work represents a serious attempt to elaborate an area of Marx’s writings that remains obscure, i.e., ‘the ends’ of a communist society, and by implication is a distinctive contribution to the development of Marxist theory.
