Socialism

The politics of ecosocialism

"For many of us, defining ourselves as ecosocialists is a way of distinguishing our socialism from such environmental blindness. We are not saying that Marx and Engels were infallible or that they offer all the answers we need today — we are saying that they offered insights and analysis that must be relearned by the left in the 21st century.

"Ecosocialists recognise the global environmental crisis as the most important problem that humanity faces in the 21st century. If socialists don’t recognise its centrality, our politics will be irrelevant," says Ian Angus, ecosocialist activist and editor of Climate and Capitalism.

Five new books for ecosocialists

Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus looks at new books for green lefts on how the richest drive climate change; planning from below; the Scottish clearances; slime; and eco-socialism and practical utopias.

Socialist seminar discusses anti-capitalist solutions

Socialism. Today. was the theme of a lively day-long seminar about critical issues facing the movements for social and ecological change, hosted by the Socialist Alliance on August 4.

East German reality finds some reflection in new film

Gundermann
Directed by Andreas Dresen
Starring Alexander Scheer, Anna Unterberger, Peter Schneider, Bjarne Mädel & Milan Peschel
German with English subtitles
Showing as part of the German Film Festival

New contributions to ecosocialist theory and practice

Karl Marx’s Ecosocialism: Capital, Nature, and the Unfinished Critique of Political Economy 
By Kohei Saito
Monthly Review Press, 2017

RED-GREEN REVOLUTION: The Politics and Technology of Ecosocialism 
By Victor Wallis 
Political Animal Press, 2018

Another socialist elected to Yarra council

On May 8, Bridgid O’Brien was elected a councillor of the City of Yarra following the resignation of another councillor. She will join Stephen Jolly as a second socialist on the council.

Five new books for ecosocialists

In this month’s round up of new books, Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus looks at books providing two views of food and farming; the origin of climate science denial; the high cost of living well; and a socialist who mostly disagrees with ecosocialism.

Five new books for ecosocialists

Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus looks at five new books of particular interest to ecosocialists. Inclusion of a book does not imply endorsement, or agreement with all (or any) of its contents.

Mary Robinson is well-intentioned, but good intentions can't win climate justice

Climate Justice: Hope, Resilience, and the Fight for a Sustainable Future
By Mary Robinson
Bloomsbury Publishing, 2018

Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, is undoubtedly sincere in her determination to fight climate change and “putting people at the heart of the solution”. Unfortunately, her new book shows that sincerity is not enough.

How socialism can help women get better sex — new book

Feminists have often felt neglected or patronized by socialists. A good portion of feminist writing and politics in the 1970s and ’80s, for example, dealt with women’s experience of condescension from socialists, some of whom saw feminism as a form of identity politics that distracted from the real issues of economic and class inequality in capitalist societies.

Five new books for ecosocialists

Climate and Capitalism editor Ian Angus looks at five new books that take on where climate change may lead, the global water crisis, Europe’s Little Ice Age, the human costs of Haiti’s unending catastrophes, and why we should be against constructing nature.

Six new books for an ecosocialist bookshelf

Climate and Capitalism’s editor Ian Angus looks at six new books that expose environmentalism’s false friends, analyse the idea of “environment”, explain renewable energy, trace the history of oceans, expose Monsanto’s Round-Up, and examine British science denial. Inclusion in this list does not indicate agreement with a book’s contents by the author.