Facing the Anthropocene: Fossil Capitalism and the Crisis of the Earth System
280 pp; $19 pbk 9781583676097
By Ian Angus
Reviewed by Camilla Royle
“The idea that we are in the Anthropocene—a geological epoch defined by human activity—is now catching the interest of activists. It is becoming clear that human activity affects the Earth system in multiple, interconnected ways and potentially to such an extent as to be detectable in the geological record for years to come. ¶ Some on the left, including This Changes Everything author Naomi Klein, say that the Anthropocene concept is unhelpful as it suggests that humanity in general, rather than the capitalist system,
Science tells us that a new and dangerous stage in planetary evolution has begun—the Anthropocene, a time of rising temperatures, extreme weather, rising oceans, and mass species extinctions. Humanity faces not just more pollution or warmer weather, but a crisis of the Earth System. If business as usual continues, this century will be marked by rapid deterioration of our physical, social, and economic environment. Large parts of Earth will become uninhabitable, and civilization itself will be threatened. Facing the Anthropocene shows what has caused this planetary emergency, and what we must do to meet the challenge. Bridging the gap between Earth System science and ecological Marxism, Ian Angus examines not only the latest scientific findings about the physical causes and consequences of the Anthropocene transition, but also the social and economic trends that underlie the crisis. | more…
Watch Ian Angus at the Socialism for the 21st Century conference in Sydney, Australia, May 13, 2013, as he launches his new book, Facing the Anthropocene: Fossil Capitalism and the Crisis of the Earth System. | more…
Marta Harnecker, author of A World to Build: New Paths toward Twenty-First Century Socialism, presents her paper, “People’s Power and Political Instruments” to the Socialist Alliance’s conference, “Socialism in the 21st Century,” held in Sydney, Australia, May 2016. | more…
Left Forum, Saturday, May 21, New York City: John Smith, author of Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism’s Final Crisis, John Bellamy Foster, Hannah Holleman, Intan Suwandi, and Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, discuss the accumulation of capital, cheap wage goods, and the super-exploited workers of the Global South. | more…
The Socialist Imperative: From Gotha to Now
By Michael A. Lebowitz
224 pp, $22 pbk, 9781583675465
Reviewed by Kit Klarenberg
“The Socialist Imperative: From Gotha to Now is Michael Lebowitz’s latest work, a gathering of eleven ruminations on the nature of socialism in the present day. In many ways, this is a refreshing volume that helpfully adds its voice to a suddenly resurgent and more confident left.
Books articulating theories of socialist development are voluminous in number. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, the publication of such volumes has been fervid, as academics and Kathedersozialisten (armchair theorists) have struggled to make sense of the post-Cold War world with
Steve Early, author of Embedded with Organized Labor: Journalistic Reflections on the Class War at Home and Save Our Unions: Dispatches from A Movement in Distress, writes about big oil and primary politics:
“Residents of Richmond and other California refinery towns have learned, over time, to be wary of state and local officials too closely tied to companies like Chevron. ¶ Politicians who benefit from ‘independent expenditures’ on their behalf or direct campaign donations from oil producers or, their lobbying group, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA) tend to be less enthusiastic about protecting the environment by reducing fossil fuel dependence. ¶ In Sacramento,
Ronnie Kasrils, activist, intellectual, and author of The Unlikely Secret Agent, recently wrote a paper, picked up by South Africa’s Daily Maverick, in which Kasrils discusses Karl Marx and what Marx can bring to the work of today’s South African activists:
“Karl Marx, who developed the philosophy of dialectical and historical materialism, scientific and political economy, the founder of scientific socialism and communism, and teacher and leader of the international working class for whom he created a new, purposeful world outlook, was born at Trier, in the Prussian Rhineland, on May 5, 1818. One must include Frederick Engels (1820-1895), his closest friend and collaborator…”
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Come to the 2016 Left Forum!
Friday, May 20 – Sunday, May 22
John Jay College of Criminal Justice
524 W 59th St., NYC 10019
Drop by the Monthly Review book tables!
Pick up discounts on new books, classics, the Monthly Review magazine, the Socialist Register, and Merlin Press books! | more…
May 13, Sydney, Australia: Christopher Wright, Professor of Organisational Studies at the University of Sydney Business School, spoke at the international launch of Ian Angus‘s book, Facing the Anthropocene: Fossil Capitalism and the Crisis of the Earth System. The transcript of his address follows.
“Spoiler – I really liked this book! …
When Ian contacted me late last year and asked if I’d be interested in reading his manuscript, I have to say I was somewhat wary. As many of you probably know the term ‘Anthropocene’ has become something of a buzzword de jeure in academic circles. Every day it seems there is a new
April 15, Baltimore, at Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse: Gerald Horne discusses his latest two books: Paul Robeson: The Artist as Revolutionary and Confronting Black Jacobins: The U.S., the Haitian Revolution, and the Origins of the Dominican Republic. | more…
Americans live in a historical moment that annihilates thought. Ignorance now provides a sense of community; the brain has migrated to the dark pit of the spectacle; the only discourse that matters is about business; poverty is now viewed as a technical problem; thought chases after an emotion that can obliterate it. The presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee, Donald Trump, declares he likes “the uneducated”—implying that it is better that they stay ignorant than be critically engaged agents—and boasts that he doesn’t read books. Fox News offers no apologies for suggesting that thinking is an act of stupidity…. | more…
Jeb Sprague-Silgado, is the author of Paramilitarism and the Assault on Democracy in Haiti. His article, “Polyarchy in the Dominican Republic: The Elite versus the Elite,” appeared in NACLA, May 6, 2016:
“In the Dominican Republic, as in many other countries around the Caribbean, the political strategy of leading dominant groups in recent decades has been one of polyarchy—that is to say, the options in democratic elections have been limited to voters selecting between different factions of elites. Since the 1970s, U.S. foreign policymakers, along with an increasingly wide array of UN, EU and other international agency officials have come to promote this approach. If