Michael Löwy reflects on the life and contributions of our friend and comrade Joel Kovel, who died on April 30.
1936-2018
Archive | May, 2018
Extreme Weather
Are tropical cyclones getting wetter and stronger?
Climate scientists: A global increase in the most intense tropical storms due to global warming is not just predicted by models but is already happening.
Marx 200
Ecosocialism and the recovery of Marx’s ecological legacy
An ecology that truly seeks to confront today’s challenges requires Marx’s remarkable analysis of the destructive logic inherent in the unlimited accumulation of capital.
FALSE ALTERNATIVES
The Magical Thinking of Ecomodernism
Ecomodernists claim material growth can continue indefinitely without environmental damage. Degrowth advocate Jason Hickel says their arguments ignore both evidence and logic.
In Review
Making the case against geoengineering
The Big Bad Fix powerfully exposes the dangers of deliberate climate modification, and presents alternatives. A deeper focus on fighting the fossil industry would strengthen the argument.
Movement Building
Climate change and Canada’s next left
At a time when the activist left is weak and divided, it’s vital to focus on common goals and principles, rather than obsessing over difference and division
Climate change
Sea level rise endangers sewage treatment in U.S.
Global warming gets toxic: The number of people who will lose sewage treatment could be five times more than those directly affected by flooding
Metabolic rifts
Earth’s Circular Economy: Recycling as a Law of Life
On every scale, from the smallest cells to the entire planet, the essential elements of life are constantly used and re-used. Biogeochemical cycles are the basis of the biosphere.
New books for reds and greens
Ecosocialist Bookshelf, May 2018
Environmentalism of the Rich, A Scientist’s Fight for a Nuclear Test Ban, Limits to Capitalist Nature, Cocoa, Extracting Profit from Africa, Indigenous Struggles in Peru
Global Environmental Change
Marx, nature, and political morality
Marx saw the rift between people and nature not only as a primary failing of capitalism, but also as a mechanism through which capitalism may be superseded.
Metabolic Rifts
Marx and Metabolism: Lost in translation?
Why wasn’t Marx’s concept of metabolic rift recognized until recently? Changed circumstances, unpublished works, and bad translations all played a role.