Serge Audier presents an original, rich synthesis of the philosophical, ideological and political roots of the ecological challenge in the age of productivism. In a meeting of history and philosophy, this intellectual genealogy allows us to discover the doctrinal and political mindsets which, for almost two centuries, have presided over the attitudes and programs regarding the environment, their successes and their numerous failures. In particular, the author shows why, in many regions of the world, the dominant socioeconomic, political and cultural thinking has followed a productivist model which has caused unprecedented, accelerated destruction of the environment.