In the face of the increasingly severe structural trend of ecological crisis, this paper reconstructs the interpretive schema of ecological socialism based on the framework of historical materialism, following the two threads of “metabolic disruption” and “degrowth”, and attempts to demonstrate through textual interpretation and the organization of conceptual lineages that capital accumulation deprives the social-natural material circulation chain links and creates ecological crises through mechanisms such as spatial segregation, temporal acceleration, and value extraction, leading to an inherent imbalance in the mode of production. The essence of “degrowth” lies in reducing demand, redistributing resources, and expanding public services, which is a feasible path to achieve “metabolic restoration”. Therefore, we can emphasize public ownership and democratic resource allocation in terms of institutional support; set ecological boundaries and define basic needs of the people in terms of value constraints. On this basis, we can achieve an empirical summary of theory combined with practice, and contribute a set of normative guidelines that can engage in dialogue for China’s ecological civilization construction.
