93.  CLIMATE MEMO MONDAYS, #93, SEPTEMBER 19, 2022

Hannah Holleman. Dust Bowls of Empire

David Camfield. Future on FireZoom

David Camfield. Future on Fire: Capitalism and the Politics of Climate Change.  Foreword by Dharna Noor.  PM Press, 2022.  128.

 Publisher’s Overview/Tell a Friend

Climate change is already affecting millions of people. Governments talk about taking action to limit global warming to 2°C above preindustrial levels, but the greenhouse gas emissions allowed by their policies have the Earth on track to far exceed that by the end of the century—a truly disastrous path. Visionary plans abound for how to slash emissions and improve society at the same, including various Green New Deals, but how can we make these urgently needed changes?

Future on Fire argues that a just transition from fossil fuels and other drivers of climate change will not be delivered by businesspeople or politicians who support the status quo. Electing green left leaders will not be enough to overcome opposition from capitalists and state bureaucrats. Only the power of disruptive mass social movements has the potential to pressure governments to change, so supporters of climate justice should commit to building them. Confronting the question “What if warming above 2° becomes unavoidable?” and refusing to despair, David Camfield argues that even a ravaged planet is worth fighting for—and that ultimately the only solution to the ecological crisis created by capitalism is a transition to ecosocialism.

Praise

“At last, a book that can be shared with anyone awakening to the urgency of climate justice. In clear and accessible prose, Future on Fire shows us why we are in an ecological crisis—and what it will take to move beyond it. With meticulous care, David Camfield lays out sharp and compelling arguments for building mass movements that set their sights on ecosocialism. Spread the word!”
—David McNally, Cullen Distinguished Professor of History and Business, University of Houston, and author of Global Slump: The Economics and Politics of Crisis and Resistance

“Naomi Klein says only mass movements can save us from climate catastrophe. In this clear, concise, and absolutely convincing book, David Camfield shows why that is, and how we can build an effective movement to stop capitalism’s deadly assault on our planet. Essential reading for every climate activist.”
—Ian Angus, author of Facing the Anthropocene and editor of climateandcapitalism.com

 

Hannah Holleman. Dust Bowls of Empire:

Imperialism, Environmental Politics, and the Injustice of "Green" Capitalism.  Yale U P, 2018.   Yale Agrarian Studies Series.  256.

·       Description

·       Authors

·       Praise

A profound reinterpretation of the Dust Bowl on the U.S. southern plains and its relevance for today.

The 1930s witnessed a harrowing social and ecological disaster, defined by the severe nexus of drought, erosion, and economic depression that ravaged the U.S. southern plains. Known as the Dust Bowl, this crisis has become a major referent of the climate change era, and has long served as a warning of the dire consequences of unchecked environmental despoliation.
 
Through innovative research and a fresh theoretical lens, Hannah Holleman reexamines the global socioecological and economic forces of settler colonialism and imperialism precipitating this disaster, explaining critical antecedents to the acceleration of ecological degradation in our time. Holleman draws lessons from this period that point a way forward for environmental politics as we confront the growing global crises [ ] of climate change, freshwater scarcity, extreme energy, and soil degradation.