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#smallscaleruptures

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DoomsdaysCW

Commentary: #Fires, #Hurricanes, #ExtremeWeather: The Media Misses the #ClimateLink

#Protesting the #FossilFuelIndustry and their political allies can help fix the narrative, and turn disasters into opportunities for #ClimateAction

by Margaret Klein Salamon, January 12, 2025

"Who is to blame for the #LosAngelesFires? For the destruction of #Asheville? The devastation of #Acapulco? If you listen to the mainstream media, you would get the impression that no one is truly responsible. These are framed as tragic but random events– acts of nature without clear cause or accountability. Even if articles do mention climate change, which they tend to bury toward the end, they won’t tell you the people and companies who caused these disasters in order to enrich themselves. And if you listen to right-wingers, you will get the mistaken impression that DEI, arson, and the Democratic Party caused these disasters.

"But here’s the truth: These mega-disasters are caused by the climate emergency, which has been caused by fossil fuels. The fossil fuel industry has raked in obscene #profits for decades, while knowingly bringing down apocalypse onto the rest of us.

"We have the power to change the narrative. Imagine this: As fires rage through the city, a group of climate activists non-violently occupy the California State House in Sacramento. Or LA City Hall. Or Marathon Oil’s refinery in Los Angeles County. They would demand that fossil fuel companies pay for the damage they’re causing, and face criminal prosecution for the harm that they have inflicted.
Such a protest would be covered on front pages across the globe, shifting the narrative from passive victimhood to active accountability. This is an opportunity that the climate movement has yet to fully seize.

"The climate emergency is accelerating, and so is the frequency and scale of disasters. When these disasters occur, the eyes of the country and sometimes the world focus on the crisis and its fallout. This should be a tremendous learning opportunity for the public about the dangers of the climate emergency, but the media obscures the true cause of these events. While truthful headlines would report along the lines of, “The Climate Emergency Strikes Again,” the media continues to largely report these disasters as anomalous weather events.

"Activists have a unique role to play in these moments. By connecting fossil fuels to the damage we’re seeing — floods, fires, hurricanes — they can elevate the conversation and force the public to reckon with the reality of the climate emergency. Activists can also call for proactive policies: investments in renewable energy, phasing out fossil fuels, and sustainable rebuilding efforts. The “Make Polluters Pay” demand, which New York State just passed after facing pressure from the New York climate movement, offers a compelling framework for justice in the wake of climate disasters. With millions or even billions of dollars in damage, justice demands that the culprits — fossil fuel companies who have knowingly warmed the atmosphere for decades — foot the bill.

"Disasters are opportunities to shape long-term policy change. Disasters create a unique moment when the public and politicians are more open to new ideas and transformative policy changes. Naomi Klein argued for the unique political opportunities that disasters open up in her 2007 book, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Activists can use this moment to demand not only immediate relief but also policies that challenge the fossil fuel industry’s grip on power.

"Climate Emergency Fund is dedicated to supporting the nonviolent disruptive activists who are pushing these important conversations forward, through raising money and making grants. We saw an example of how climate protest can determine the narrative around climate disaster by accident — we supported a protest of Burning Man. The protest wasn’t terribly successful until Burning Man flooded and became a mud pit. Stories about the disaster, which were quite widespread, harkened back to or were even framed around the protest. This made the coverage more climate-focused and more politically activating.

"In moments of crisis, we must demand that climate change be treated not just as an afterthought, but as the root cause of the disaster. It’s time to stop focusing exclusively on short-term relief and rebuilding the status-quo and start building towards a fossil-free, climate-resilient future.

"So when disaster strikes — as it will more and more in the coming years, first, make sure you and your loved ones are safe. Second, see if there is anyone in your immediate vicinity who needs your help. And third, join, or plan, a protest that shifts the narrative. Let’s make it clear: These are not random catastrophes — they are the consequences of the fossil-fueled climate emergency. And we can and must hold the culprits accountable."

Original article:
rollingstone.com/politics/poli

Archived version:
archive.ph/AGdIa
#BigOilAndGas #ClimateCrisis #ClimateCatastrophe #ExxonKnew #BigOilKnew #ChevronKnew #ClimateActivism #ClimateProtest #SmallScaleRuptures

Rolling Stone · Fires, Hurricanes, Extreme Weather: The Media Misses the Climate LinkBy Margaret Klein Salamon
Public
DoomsdaysCW

#Degrowth and the Unmaking of #Capitalism

By Giuseppe Feola, Olga Koretskaya, originally published by Degrowth.info
December 7, 2020

"Our societies are facing multiple interconnected challenges, which include #ClimateEmergency, an unprecedented loss of #biodiversity, growing #inequality and #PlasticPollution. What connects these challenges is the underlying capitalist economic model, which prioritizes #profit-making over #wellbeing and requires endless #EconomicGrowth simply to stay afloat.

"Degrowth offers an alternative vision – it is a project of urgent and fundamental transformation. Degrowth requires reimagining our societies from the perspective of being profit-centred to being wellbeing-centred. This approach distinguishes degrowth from other, more compromising visions of transformation, such as ‘green growth’. But how can society transition towards degrowth?

"One idea that has become prominent in thinking about such a transition is that of ‘#decolonization of the imaginary’, a concept developed by Serge Latouche. This concept signals the need for a disruption of taken-for-granted ways of seeing the world, and their associated practices, rules and social norms. Decolonization of the imaginary questions deeply rooted beliefs about who we are, how we live, and about our place in this world. Are we merely self-interested individuals or are we also care-oriented members of communities? To what extent do technology and #consumption contribute to human wellbeing? Does our constantly expansive economy threaten human communities and the natural world?

"Decolonization of the imaginary has been an inspirational idea for scholars and activists alike. Yet, it alone seems to be insufficient to take us to fully grasping the depth of disruptions of capitalism that have been produced by initiatives such as transition towns, #permaculture farms, and #RepairCafes. Decolonization of the imaginary emphasises the symbolic dimensions of social change but it underplays the material dimensions of such change. It is also usually understood as an end point, and hence fails to help us to recognize – and learn about – what happens along the way.

"How can we think about the processes by which disruptions of capitalism occur in broader, deeper and more dynamic ways? Is it possible for us to better capture what is going on in concrete initiatives?

"In a recent article, Giuseppe Feola proposes that we think about the disruption of capitalism in terms of ‘#unmaking’. He suggests that an unmaking of capitalism is not only necessary, but possibly pre-conditional for a transformation of the magnitude and nature required by degrowth. ‘Unmaking’ refers to individual or collective actions of disengagement or active deconstructions of existing capitalist systems that ‘make space’ for alternatives. Such actions could take the form of a personal decision to limit consumption or to quit a high-paying job at an #OilCorporation. Unmaking can also be recognized in a #CommunityFarm that refuses to submit to market pressure to expand production and instead turns to a #CommunitySupported model to sustain itself."

Read more:
resilience.org/stories/2020-12
#SolarPunkSunday #PostCapitalism #SmallScaleRuptures #Polycrisis

resilience · Degrowth and the Unmaking of CapitalismIn a recent article, Giuseppe Feola proposes that we think about the disruption of capitalism in terms of ‘unmaking’.
Public
DoomsdaysCW

Excerpts from "From Taming to #Dismantling: #Degrowth and #AntiCapitalist Strategy" by Ekaterina Chertkovskaya, September 2020.

#SmallScaleRuptures

"As for ruptural transformation, this is not part of Wright’s vision of how to overcome capitalism. So far it has not featured in the work on degrowth either, which has largely followed Wright’s reasoning. A survey of the degrowth movement conducted at the fourth international degrowth conference in Leipzig (2014) found out that about 13% of degrowthers were oriented towards rupture. While this might be a minority position in the movement and while ruptures are to be cautious about, I would not fully dismiss rupture as a logic of transformation (and smashing capitalism, as its strategic logic). When speaking of ruptural transformation, Wright usually refers to it as a complete overhaul of the capitalist system, and as a direct attack on the state. However, rupture does not have to be understood this way, which Wright acknowledged also.

"There can be temporary or smaller scale ruptures and examples of smashing capitalism. Say, an act of #disobedience like blocking a coal plant or occupying a public space – something that is part of the degrowth imaginary – can be seen as an example of a #TemporaryRupture that #empowers and encourages other forms of #resistance. It includes, but also goes beyond resistance, by disrupting, even if temporarily, the rhythm of #ExtractiveCapitalism. Workers overtaking a bankrupt factory and making it a cooperative is another example of rupture and smashing capitalism, in a concrete organisation, such as #VioMe in Greece, #RiMaflow in Italy and the occupied factories in #Argentina. Had they been waiting for the legislation that would allow dismantling capitalism to come into place and support cooperative organisational forms, such pioneering examples of change would probably not exist. However, responding to the crises the way they did created a rupture that may encourage others to do the same, as well as demand policies that would allow cooperativisation. Thus, I would argue that temporary or smaller scale ruptures can be important, supporting interstitial and symbiotic logics of transformation."

Read more:
degrowth.info/en/blog/from-tam
#SolarPunkSunday #Dissent #CivilDisobedience #SmashCapitalism

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