The dissertation reinterprets the concept of forces of production through an ecological lens and analyzes the fettering of “green productive forces” in the context of the deepening climate crisis. In contrast to more established interpretations, I define forces of production broadly as the practices, processes, relations and objects through which we are purposefully linked to and transform the rest of nature. I demonstrate the basis for this interpretation in Marx’s own work and develop its implication through contemporary scholarship. In present circumstances, it allows us to see that ecological knowledge itself, as well as associated developments in renewable energy technology and green infrastructure, represent advancements in productive forces. However, I argue that such green productive forces are today fettered by capitalist relations of production. The second portion of the dissertation analyzes this process through case studies focusing on Canadian fossil capitalism. In this context, I examine the deepening of fossil-fuelled productive forces and simultaneous blockages in the development and productive utilization of renewable energy and ecological knowledge. This includes a focus on carbon capital’s strategic efforts to colonize such productive forces and fashion them in a manner that is consonant with the accumulation strategies and power relations permeating fossil capitalism. / Graduate / 2020-03-29

Amidst the rising tides of inequality and climate change, movements are developing which aim to unify social justice and environmental agendas. Proponents of energy democracy recognize that renewable energy transitions have the potential to foster more equitable social relations. However, literature indicates that renewable energy can also worsen social relations, and may fail to hinder, or could actively contribute to, ecological degradation. Therefore, research is needed that examines how the contexts in which renewables are implemented lead to divergent socio-ecological outcomes. This project compares strategies of renewable energy implementation in Canada, as embedded within socio-environmental projects ranging from fossil capitalism to eco-socialism. The framing of renewable energy, climate change, and political-economic issues in the strategies of actors within these projects are analyzed. Canadian governments, fossil fuel and renewable energy corporations were found to undertake renewables implementation within a clean growth framework, which maintains capitalist hegemony while responding to pressure to take action on climate change. Renewables are also used by governments and fossil capital firms to justify the continued growth of fossil fuel industries. The renewables industry is more ambitious in its transition strategy but does not contest fossil fuel production and exports. Renewable energy co-operatives offer a form of energy transitioning that challenges the undemocratic nature of corporate power but appears limited in its ability to influence multi-scalar change. Meanwhile, Leap, the Pact for a Green New Deal, and Iron and Earth exhibit an emergent push for just, democratic, and sustainable alternatives to fossil capitalism and clean growth. Energy democracy is central to Leap’s strategy, which suggests paths toward addressing the limitations of renewable energy co-operatives while supporting other forms of democratic renewable energy systems. / Graduate