Book Announcement: ‘Facing the Anthropocene’

“Bridging the gap between Earth System science and ecological Marxism, Ian Angus examines not only the latest scientific findings about the causes and consequences of the Anthropocene, but also the social and economic trends that underlie the crisis.”

I’m very pleased to announce that my new book, Facing the Anthropocene: Fossil Capitalism and the Crisis of the Earth System, will be published soon by Monthly Review Press.

Here is the publisher’s description:

“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. Cogent and compellingly written, Facing the Anthropocene offers a unique synthesis of natural and social science that illustrates how capitalism’s inexorable drive for growth, powered by the rapid burning of fossil fuels that took millions of years to form, has driven our world to the brink of disaster. Survival in the Anthropocene, Angus argues, requires radical social change, replacing fossil capitalism with a new, ecosocialist civilization.”

Publication is officially set for September, but Australian readers will be able to purchase it early at the Socialism in the 21st Century Conference in Sydney, May 13-15. I will be a keynote speaker at that event.

Watch this column for announcements of more book launch meetings, now being organized.

To whet your appetite, here’s the Table of Contents

Foreword, by John Bellamy Foster
Preface

Part One: A No-Analog State
1 A Second Copernican Revolution
2 The Great Acceleration
3 When Did the Anthropocene Begin?
4 Tipping Points, Climate Chaos and Planetary Boundaries
5 The First Near-Catastrophe
6 A New (and Deadly) Climate Regime

Part Two: Fossil Capitalism
7 Capital’s Time vs. Nature’s Time
8 The Making of Fossil Capitalism
9 War, Class Struggle, and Cheap Oil
10 Accelerating into the Anthropocene
11 We Are Not All In This Together

Part Three: The Alternative
13 Ecosocialism and Human Solidarity
14 The Movement We Need

Appendix: Confusions and Misconceptions
Bibliography
Index