Howard T. Odum’s contribution to Marxian ecological thought

This article explores Howard T. Odum’s contributions to Marxian ecological thought through an analysis of his energy systems theory, its intersections with Marxian critiques of capitalism, and its relevance for contemporary debates on global ecological crisis and inequalities. We first describe how Odum’s system ecology and environmental accounting can provide complementary insights to inform a biophysical critique of capitalism, by revealing the hidden energy flows that underpin economic processes. In particular, Odum’s concept of emergy and his critique of conventional economics anticipated central debates within ecological economics, notably the need to ground economic analysis in thermodynamic realities and to account for nature’s essential, yet often disregarded, contributions to human well-being. Then, we explore the similarities between Odum’s emergy valuation of real wealth and Marx labour theory of value. Lastly, we connect Odum’s analysis to Marxian ecological theories, particularly the metabolic rift thesis, illustrating how Odum’s quantification of energy hierarchies complements Marx’s historical-materialist critique of capital’s exploitation of socio-economic systems. We argue that integrating Odum’s biophysical perspective with Marx’s critique of capitalism’s exploitative logic provides critical insights into capitalism’s systemic reliance on thermodynamic inefficiency and global resource extraction. This convergence between systems ecology and historical materialism can offer valuable tools to rethink sustainability within social and biophysical planetary boundaries.