One-Dimensional Man: A Systematic Critique of Human Domination and Nature-Society Relations

Abstract

Herbert Marcuse’s critical theories outline some of the most sophisticated and powerful analyses of modern capitalism’s environmental problems. Although Marcuse’s intricately crafted critiques often are difficult, these qualities are one sign of the theoretical rewards to be had from mastering his arguments about the interrelatedness of humanity and nature. One-Dimensional Man is probably Marcuse’s greatest work, and the one in which he develops most systematically his vision of how technologies, economies, and states coevolve to dominate both human beings and natural environments. In this work, Marcuse effectively outlines how the nature of humanity and the Earth’s ecology are reshaped to serve narrow class interests that benefit from the ongoing creation of such forms of domination.