193 pages

English

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Catastrophism , livre ebook

PM Press - David Mcnally , Sasha Lilley

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193 pages

English

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Catastrophism explores the politics of apocalypse-on the left and right, in the environmental movement-and examines why the lens of catastrophe can distort the understanding of the dynamics at the heart of disasters-and fatally impedes the ability to transform the world. Lilley, McNally, Yuen and Davis probe the reasons why catastrophic thinking is so prevalent, and challenge the belief that it is only out of the ashes that a better society may be born.

Informations

Publié par	PM Press
Date de parution	04 décembre 2012
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781604868067
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	4 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0300€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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Praise forCatastrophism

“Here you have it, a forceful rejection of that gleeful, adolescent paranoia that masquerades as hardcore realism. As the essays in this excellent book show, ‘catastrophism’ is awishexpressed as a fear, a masochistic cop-out that postures as bravery. Welcoming the end of the world as the catalyst of political deliverance is one of the most irresponsible positions on oFer. This book is a superb antidote to the unproductive politics of fear.” —Christian Parenti, author ofChaos: Climate Change andTropic of the New Geography of Violence

“CatastrophismThe Endcomes at the right moment: the year of proclaimed across the political spectrum from deep ecologists to the Mayan Calendarists. Instead of concentrating on the merits of the claims of the various apocalypticians, James Davis, Sasha Lilley, David McNally, and Eddie Yuen examine the political func-tion of these claims and înd them to be deeply reactionary. This is a controversial book that challenges many of the unexamined assumptions on the left (as well as on the right). It is a warning not to abandon everyday anticapitalist politics for a politics of absolute fear that inevitably leads to inaction.” —Silvia ederici, author ofRevolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Strule

“Bravo! This is the book that has been sorely needed for so long to reveal the dead end that a politics founded on catastrophic predictions must lead to in terms of either preventing them or actually changing the world. Essential reading for all those on the left who are concerned with the question of strategy today.” —Leo Panitch, coauthor ofGlobal CapitalismThe Making of and ïn and Out of Crisis

“At last, and not before time, a full-spectrum guidebook to cata-strophism. Together Lilley, Yuen, Davis, and McNally penetrate the smoke of apocalypse, past the politics of fear and redemption which is the stock-in-trade of disaster merchants—right, left, and green. If we and our fellow species are to leave the dark shadow of John the Divine and Parson Malthus, this superb, clear-eyed collaboration opens the way.” —Iain Boal, coeditor ofWest of Eden: Communes and Utopia in Northern California

“I cannot overstate how critically important this volume is. Catastrophismcaptures a problem that few have seriously grap-pled with. Anyone who wishes, as I do, for a new kind of (occu-pied) politics will have to face this formidable array of theoreti-cally inspired reections on the politics of apocalypse.” —Andrej Grubačić, author ofDon’t Mourn, Balkanize!and coauthor ofWobblies and Zapatistas: Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism, and Radical History

“Apocalypse and end-of-civilization memes are shaping and argu-ably undermining contemporary political and environmental movement organizing.Catastrophismuninchingly challenges us, as movements, to seek alternatives to these narratives in deter-mining our actions. It’s a must read for anyone engaged in politi-cal organizing for truly long-term sustainable goals and futures.” —scott crow, cofounder of Common Ground Collective and author ofBlack Flags and Windmills

“This is a brilliant, timely book, a searching account of the lim-itations and inertia of catastrophic thinking. The authors urge us to move beyond doom-laden rhetoric in order to generate more ambitious analyses of our social crises. Above all, this book points the way toward fresh, energizing, and imaginative forms of social transformation.” —Rob Nixon, author ofSlow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor

“In an age when even Mayan prophecies of the end of the long cycle are turned into prophecies of doom and destruction, this book oFers a reasoned and lucid alternative understanding. Deînitive and momentous, this book should be mandatory read-ing for everyone who wishes to comprehend the world we live in and change it for the better.” —George Katsiaîcas, author ofAsia’s Unknown Uprisings

“Remember the story fromLa Haineabout the guy who fell oF a skyscraper? On his way down past each oor, he kept saying to reassure himself, ‘So far so good . . . so far so good . . . so far so good. How you fall doesn’t matter. It’s how youland.’ This col-lection of essays compiled inCatastrophismprepares us for that landing. Brilliant reading material for the abyss, and more: how to navigate an escape.” —Ramor Ryan, author ofClandestinesandZapatista Spring

“This important book aims to end the politics of The End. The authors ofCatastrophismclaim that apocalyptic politics, though promising to motivate revolutionary transformation, all too often leads to a fear-induced paralysis and cynicism. This book provides a badly needed boost to our political immunity systems against the apocalyptic claims bombarding us in this purported termi-nal year for our planet.” —George CaFentzis, author ofïn Letters of Blood and Fire: Work, Machines, and Value in the Bad ïnInity of Capitalism

Editor:Sasha Lilley

Spectre is a series of penetrating and indispensable works of, and about, radical political economy. Spectre lays bare the dark under-belly of politics and economics, publishing outstanding and con-trarian perspectives on the maelstrom of capital—and emanci-patory alternatives—in crisis. The companion Spectre Classics imprint unearths essential works of radical history, political econ-omy, theory and practice, to illuminate the present with brilliant, yet unjustly neglected, ideas from the past.

Spectre Greg Albo, Sam Gindin, and Leo Panitch,ïn and Out of Crisis: The Global Financial Meltdown and Left Alternatives David McNally,CrisisGlobal Slump: The Economics and Politics of and Resistance Sasha Lilley,Capital and ïts Discontents: Conversations with Radical Thinkers in a Time of Tumult

Sasha Lilley, David McNally, Eddie Yuen, and James Davis, Catastrophism: The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth

Spectre Classics E.P. Thompson,William Morris: Romantic to Revolutionary

Catastrophism: The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth

Sasha Lilley, David McNally, Eddie Yuen, and James Davis

Catastrophism: The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth Sasha Lilley, David McNally, Eddie Yuen, and James Davis © PM Press 2012 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be transmitted by any means without permission in writing from the publisher.

ISBN: 978–1–60486–589–9 Library of Congress Control Number: 2012913637

Cover by John Yates/Stealworks Interior design by briandesign

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

PM Press PO Box 23912 Oakland, CA 94623 www.pmpress.org

Printed in the USA on recycled paper, by the Employee Owners of Thomson-Shore in Dexter, Michigan. www.thomsonshore.com

Published in Canada by Between the Lines 401 Richmond St. W., Studio 277, Toronto, ON M5V 3A8, Canada 1–800–718–7201 www.btlbooks.com

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be photocopied, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of Between the Lines, or (for photocopying in Canada only) Access Copyright, 1 Yonge Street, Suite 1900, Toronto, Ontario, M5E 1E5.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Catastrophism; the apocalyptic politics of collapse and rebirth / Sasha Lilley … [et al.]. Co-published by PM Press. Includes bibliographical references and index. Issued also in electronic format. ISBN 978–1–77113–030–1 1. Catastrophical, The. 2. Political psychology. 3. Expectation (Psychology) I. Lilley, Sasha, 1970–

BD375.C37 2012

302’.17

C2012–903603–X

Published in the EU by The Merlin Press Ltd. 6 Crane Street Chambers, Crane Street, Pontypool NP4 6ND, Wales www.merlinpress.co.uk ISBN: 978–085036–632–7

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Contents

Dystopia Is for Losers Doug Henwood

The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth Sasha Lilley

The Politics of ailure ave ailed: The Environmental Movement and Catastrophism Eddie Yuen

Great Chaos Under eaven: Catastrophism and the Left Sasha Lilley

çHàé Héé At War with the uture: Catastrophism and the Right James Davis

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Land of the Living Dead: Capitalism and the Catastrophes of Everyday LifeDavid McNally

Contributors

Notes

Index

108

128

129

158

F O R E WO R D Dystopia Is for Losers Doug Henwood

é ï ŝàé ïï ïŝ, é ô Çï à Uŝ Çôé ô its second punishing heat wave in three weeks. It broke with vio-lent thunderstorms that prompted ash ood warnings from the Weather Service, spiced up with advice to those in low-lying areas to head to higher ground. Not two years ago, we had tornadoes that took down trees all over my neighborhood. Isn’t this sort of thing supposed to happen in Kansas, not Brooklyn? Except that Kansas was in the midst of a huge, crop-destroying drought driving up food prices around the world. The climate crisis has become part of daily life. It’s no longer merely an abstraction of scientists’ computer models—you can feel it when you walk out the door or when you shop for food. But it’s not only climate crisis that’s becoming familiar. As I write this, the înancial crisis that broke out in the summer of 2007 is about to celebrate yet another birthday. In the Ûnited States, the real economy began falling apart less than half a year later. We’ve ocially been in recovery since mid-2009, but it hardly feels like it to most of us. This is clearly no mere cycli-cal aFair, but a deep structural crisis of overindebtedness and profound maldistribution of income. Nor is it an American problem. Although the crisis broke out here, the epicenter has moved to Europe, whose neoliberal strategy centered on the euro project—in no small part an attempt to emulate the American model of looser regulation and “exible” labor mar-kets—is in collapse. In both New World and Old, the political system looks paralyzed in the face of the collapse, unable even to imagine a way out.