A Fine Balance? Value-relations, Post-capitalism and Forest Conservation—A Case from India

Abstract

The serious need for anti-capitalist theory and action in a crisis-ridden world is widely acknowledged. Recent scholarship in conservation abides by this understanding, and finer deliberation on the links between radical theory and ongoing practices have grown but are still marginal. In this article, we study a case of community forest governance in Korchi, Maharashtra in India, where 87 village institutions and their federation have been striving to govern and manage surrounding forests in ecologically-sustainable and democratically-collective ways. Using Marx’s labour theory of value and metabolic rift concept, in combination with Ariel Salleh’s notion of metabolic value, we explore how Korchi’s attempt at eco-sufficiency is premised upon a fine balance between different values its villagers associate with their forests. This requires us to see Korchi’s villagers as meta-industrial labourers, a term Salleh uses for workers whose labouring practices—marked by care and reciprocity—typically lie on the margins of capitalism. Using the (analytical) lens of value relations, we show how such practices towards forests help sustain a healthy metabolic relation between humans and nature, not dominated by exchange value concerns. We thus offer conceptual nuance on how post-capitalist theory can better support the real-world practice of alternatives to mainstream conservation.