Argues that it's time for professional organizations, and especially in sociology, to quit their "business as usual" operations and focus on the climate change crisis.ies
THE GROWING CRISIS OF THE COLORADO RIVER: A SIGN TO US ALL
Noting the extensive number of progrssive protests, mobilizations, and social disruptions from below since the mid-1980s, not just in the US but around the world, this article suggests that what is going on is the expansion of the global economic and social justice movement, a bottom-up form of globalization. It suggests that this is, ultimately, a rejection of industrial civilization itself. And it points out, through an examination of the effects of climate change, that the continued existence of industrial civilization is imposing a burden on the peoples of the world that far outweighs its benefits, and suggests that protests will expand as more and more people understand the costs of industrial civilization.
On the IPCC’s latest climate report: What does it tell us?
– Brian Tokar
... averting climate change is not going stop the global collapse of the planet as we know it. Don’t get me wrong. Climate change is a global emergency and will cause tremendous damage, and, in fact, already has for many. But the thing is, massive, global-scale destruction has been going on for a long time even before climate change. ...addressing climate change using the values and viewpoints of this Western culture will only exacerbate the problem. The disease powered by solar fields is still the same disease that is powered by coal.
The core cultural values of a revolutionary
Science, imagination, education and democracy are core values for any revolutionary movement which aims for an ecologically sustainable civilization.
If nothing else, the last few months have heightened awareness of the desperately parlous predicament that now faces humanity, with an accelerating climate and ecological crisis. So attempts to design assertive policy proposals are very welcome. The Green New Deal is the one that currently is getting the most attention and perhaps traction. So I want to ask some critical questions that generally seem to be ignored in the infectious enthusiasm for the idea. In doing that I’ll also be rehearsing some insights from the degrowth perspective.
The dynamics of capitalism as a system and the limits of single-issue reforms
If capitalism is the principal source of the planetary emergency, which we argue here is the case, then our political response must be one that diminishes and ultimately ends capitalism as the dominant form of social relationship for making our way within nature.
