Ecosocialist Bookshelf is a monthly column, hosted by Ian Angus. Books described here may be reviewed at length in future. Inclusion of a book does not imply endorsement, or that C&C agrees with everything (or even anything!) it says. Climate & Capitalism has received review copies of some of these books, but we do not receive any payment for reviews or for reader purchases.
Frédéric Legault, Arnaud Theurillat-Cloutier and Alain Savard
ECOLOGY FOR THE 99%
Twenty Capitalist Myths Debunked
Between the Lines
To avoid being duped by false allies, we must challenge capitalism’s lies and myths. Ecology for the 99% shows, in plain language, why carbon market policies will fail, why a capitalist economy cannot be based on renewable energy sources, and why we should be protesting against overproduction, not overconsumption.
Geoff Dembicki
THE PETROLEUM PAPERS
Inside the Far-Right Conspiracy to Cover Up Climate Change
Greystone Books
Drawing on hundreds of confidential oil industry documents Dembicki shows how the oil companies that mine the Alberta tar sands not only ignored warnings about climate devastation as early as 1959, but actively concealed the truth. A global climate denial right-wing movement built by Exxon, Koch Industries, Shell and others ensured that tar sands profits would keep flowing
Ben Rawlence
THE TREELINE
The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth
Macmillan / St. Martin’s Press
For half a century, the trees of the boreal forest have been moving north, driven by global heating.. Only the hardest species survive the huge geological changes at these latitudes. Blending reportage with the latest science, The Treeline is a story of what might soon be the last forest left and what that means for the future of all life on earth.
Mike Davis
DEAD CITIES
Haymarket Books
Finally back in print, this collection of essays by one of the finest 20th Marxist writers of the 20th century provides riveting accounts of urban disasters in our time. Dead Cities abounds with prophecies fulfilled, contains echoes of our current moment where conspiracies abound and anxieties drown out official celebrations of prosperity, and offers dreams of alternative paths not taken.
Richard Seymour
DISASTER NATIONALISM
The Downfall of Liberal Civilization
Verso
Behind Trump and other right-wing politicians lies a greater threat: proto-fascist movements, propelled through social media and fueled by far-right influencers, have emerged from a reservoir of societal despair, fear, and isolation. The battle against disaster nationalism is a struggle for our collective soul and the future of civilization. Unless we understand the deeper forces propelling the far-right resurgence, we have little chance of stopping it.
Maria Luisa Mendonça
THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF AGRIBUSINESS
A Critical Development Perspective
Fernwood Publishing
A critical analysis of the origins of agribusiness in the US and its subsequent international expansion — a result of a dialectical movement of economic crisis and expansion. Mendonça sheds new light on current debates about food sovereignty, agriculture technologies, international financial markets and farmland speculation.
David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz
REBUILDING THE WORLDS THAT KILL US
Disease, Death, and Inequality in American History
Columbia University Press
Deep inequities have long determined the disparate health experiences of rich and poor, Black and white, men and women, immigrant and native-born, boss and worker, Indigenous and settler. Rich people and institutions have always seen some lives as more valuable than others, and those most affected have repeatedly challenged their power over human survival.
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