Climate Crisis, the

Vishwas Satgar is an associate professor of International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He is the editor of the Democratic Marxism series, and is the principal investigator for the Emancipatory Futures Studies in the Anthropocene project and a democratic eco-socialist.Mateo Martinez Abarca is a philosopher, activist and writer from Ecuador. He is a PhD candidate in Philosophy at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a junior researcher at the Center for Social Studies, Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal Vishwas Satgar is an associate professor of International Relations at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. He is the editor of the Democratic Marxism series, and is the principal investigator for the Emancipatory Futures Studies in the Anthropocene project and a democratic eco-socialist.Alberto Acosta is an Ecuadorian economist, a professor and researcher in FLACSO-Ecuador and honorary professor at Ricardo Palma University in Lima. He is the former minister of energy and mines, the former president of the Constitutional Assembly and former candidate to the presidency of the republic of Ecuador. He is the author of several books and, above all, a comrade of popular struggles.Brian Ashley is the director of the Alternative Information and Development Centre and the editor of Amandla, a current affairs and new politics project.

‘This volume reminds us that fossil fuel corporations, petro states and ruling elites are the key forces deepening the climate crisis. Hurricanes like Harvey and Irma have once again demonstrated the ways that extreme weather events disproportionately impact working people, the poor and Black lives. The wealthy, meanwhile, take cover in their wine cellars on private islands. Only systemic change, led from below, holds out the hope for a safe and sturdy future. This volume features some of the best thinking we have from the climate justice forces who are already mapping the way to that next world.’ — Naomi Klein, author of No Is Not Enough, This Changes Everything, The Shock Doctrine and No Logo. ‘This volume convincingly explains how capitalism has caused the climate crisis and why it cannot solve the crisis. Its perspectives take us beyond fatalism and provide a way forward for a thorough-going just transition anchored in people driven systemic transformation. Its democratic eco-socialist vision is rational, absolutely necessary and urgent as a basis to sustain life.’ — Mazibuko Jara activist and Director of Ntinga Ntaba kaNdoda. ‘South Africa’s National Development Plan supports resource nationalism, particularly more coal mines. Together with our carbon intensive economy, addiction to fossil fuels and now the push for an expensive nuclear deal we are heading down the wrong path. Our drought is a window into the future. This volume provides systemic alternatives for a feminist, climate justice and radical non-racial future for present and future generations. It should be read by all concerned about a climate driven world.’ — Makoma Lekalakala, Climate Justice Activist and Director of Earthlife Africa, Johannesburg.

• Tables, figures and boxAcknowledgementsAcronyms and abbreviations1 The Climate Crisis and Systemic AlternativesPART ONE :THE CLIMATE CRISIS AS CAPITALIST CRISIS2 The Limits of Capitalist Solutions to the Climate Crisis3 The Anthropocene and Imperial Ecocide: Prospects for Just TransitionsPART TWO: DEMOCRATIC ECO-SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVES IN THE WORLD4 The Employment Crisis, Just Transition and the Universal Basic Income Grant5 The Rights of Mother Earth6 Buen Vivir: An Alternative Perspective from the Peoples of the Global South7 Challenging the Growth Paradigm: Marx, Buddha and the Pursuit of ‘Happiness’8 Ubuntu and the Struggle for an African Eco-socialist Alternative9 The Climate Crisis and the Struggle for African Food SovereigntyPART THREE: DEMOCRATIC ECO-SOCIALIST ALTERNATIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA10 The Climate Crisis and a ‘Just Transition’ in South Africa: An Eco-Feminist-Socialist Perspective11 Energy, Labour, and Democracy in South Africa12 Capital, Climate and the Politics of Nuclear Procurement in South Africa13 Climate Jobs at Two Minutes to Midnight14 Deepening the Just Transition Through Food Sovereignty and the Solidarity Economy15 Eco-Capitalist Crises in the ‘Blue Economy’: Operation Phakisa’s Small, Slow FailuresCONCLUSIONContributorsIndex