The starting point for an issue of “Theoretical Practice” devoted to environmental histories of capitalism is Karl Marx’s famous formula: “People write their history, but under conditions not of their own making”. According to the popular interpretation, Marx believed that the construction of egalitarian, just relations between people required the right infrastructure: machines, developed productive forces, modern organisation of labour. This issue brings together texts that challenge this anthropocentric interpretation and thus encourage us to think about material conditions, taking into account not only the technological environment, but above all the natural environment.