Human Detachment from the Land: Understanding the appropriation, expropriation and exploitation of land in the context of an extension of Marxian concepts of primitive accumulation and alienation from an animist/ecological perspective

It is undeniable that human beings are at the heart of environmental issues. The root of the ongoing ecological crisis is in human exploitation of the Earth. In light of the Marxian concept of primitive accumulation, this paper explores the ecological crisis, focusing on the detachment of humans from the land as a pivotal condition of exploitation. Engaging with the feminist reinterpretations by Silvia Federici and ecological insights in Marx’s understanding of human-nature relations, the paper highlights the process of capitalist appropriation, expropriation, and exploitation in the commodification of land. Incorporating an animist perspective, the study examines how the detachment of humans from the land has contributed to the alienation of both humans and nature. The anthropological and religious literature on animism and indigenous wisdom is proposed as an entry point to call for a revolutionary imagination to restore the reciprocal relationship between body and land.