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.
This month’s column appears in two parts. See part two here.
Friederike Otto
CLIMATE INJUSTICE
Why We Need to Fight Inequality to Combat Climate Change
Greystone Books
Climate scientist Otto shows how global inequality is exacerbating the effects of climate change and exposes damning truths about the failures of political and social infrastructures around the world — failures that ensure the rich are protected while others bear the brunt of climate disasters.
Bob Wyss
BLACK GOLD
The Rise, Reign, and Fall of American Coal
University of California Press
As the coal industry developed so did clashes between powerful tycoons, coal miners, and innocent families. Exploitation and avarice led to victimization, deadly violence, and ultimately a militant union movement. Today coal combustion plays a major in deepening the global climate crisis, endangering still more lives.
Raja Swamy
CAPITALISM AND CATASTROPHE
A Critical Disaster Studies Manifesto
Berghan
The term “natural disaster” looms large in conventional discourse. Given the links between capitalism, climate change, pandemics and war, the distinctions drawn between human activity and “natural” hazards are unsupportable. Swamy offers a Marxist framework for the study of disasters, viewing them as moments that reveal class power in operation.
Arnel M. Borras
HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE INEQUITIES
A Critical Political Economy Perspective
Fernwood Publishing
Borras uncovers the root causes of health and health care inequities, including unequal wealth and power among policy advocates, the dominance of big business, and neoliberal state policies. He challenges prevailing narratives, showing that capitalism, integrally imbricated with neocolonialism, racism, and sexism, is the fundamental driver of health and health care inequities, and arguing for socialist solutions.
Mark Goodale
EXTRACTING THE FUTURE
Lithium in an Era of Energy Transition
University of California Press
The lithium economy is deeply embedded in a system that relies on resource extraction, unsustainable economic growth, and geopolitical violence. Goodale traces the development of Bolivia’s closely guarded lithium project, highlighting the fundamental contradiction of a green energy transition that is dependent on a nonrenewable resource.
Peter Brannen
THE STORY OF CO2 IS THE STORY OF EVERYTHING
How Carbon Dioxide Made Our World
HarperCollins
CO2 isn’t just a by-product of burning fossil fuels — it is also fundamental to how our planet works. All life is ultimately made from it, and it has kept Earth habitable for hundreds of millions of years. Understanding the carbon cycle sheds light on the causes of environmental catastrophe — and the solutions.
Amy Bowers Cordalis
THE WATER REMEMBERS
My Indigenous Family’s Fight to Save a River and a Way of Life
Little, Brown & Company
A moving multigenerational memoir of Indigenous resistance, environmental justice, and a Yurok family’s fight to protect their legacy and the Klamath River. As General Counsel for the Yurok Tribe, Cordalis held powerful corporate interests accountable for environmental destruction, and spearheaded the largest river restoration project in history.
Ricardo Levins Morales
THE LAND KNOWS THE WAY
Eco-Social Insights for Liberation
RLM Arts Studio
A memoir of a committed life, an activism manual, a meditation on ways to creatively and effectively respond to living in times that are, on the one hand, unprecedented and unique, and on the other, part of longstanding and familiar historical cycles. The son of a world-leading Marxist biologist is a visual artist and fighter for social justice with his own powerful voice.
Leave a Comment