CLIMATE CHANGE is a CLASS ISSUE
A book by Sarah Glynn and John Clarke
“This is a small book but its message is vital. Those who exploit the labour of others for profit also exploit the earth’s precious resources for the same reason. If you campaign to save the planet, join a picket line, and vice versa. The struggle doesn’t change – it is the class struggle, and this time we must win. Thank you Sarah and John.” – KEN LOACH
RECENT POSTS
- Two good reviews
Reviews, it seems, are like buses: you wait while nothing happens, and then two come along at once. Both are really positive… Read more: Two good reviews - Labour Unions, Climate Action, and Just Transition
John Clarke will be one of the panelists for an online discussion on labour mobilisation for climate action, which will take its… Read more: Labour Unions, Climate Action, and Just Transition - Historical Materialism Conference
Sarah will be talking on the subject of this book at the Historical Materialism Conference in London in November – currently scheduled… Read more: Historical Materialism Conference
ABOUT THE BOOK
The capitalist system, which sees everything in terms of profit, is exploiting the planet to destruction with the same ruthless logic that it exploits workers. The threat from climate change, and from capitalism’s treatment of the planet as an infinite resource, is so large that our societies seem afraid to confront it; but when we understand that this threat comes from the same capitalist forces that dominate our everyday lives, the way forward becomes clear. The fight against the system that is destroying our planet, is the same as the fight against the system that is producing ever more mind-boggling inequalities.
This is a small book – or booklet – made up of three short chapters totalling around 9,000 words, and illustrated with quotes from a range of writers. It is addressed, primarily, to a working-class audience because most books on climate change ignore working-class concerns; because the working class will be affected first and worst, despite being least responsible; and because the people most responsible for climate change are too vested in the current system to countenance significant disruption, while the combined power of the working class is the force that can bring the world to its senses.
The image shows The Pyramid of Capitalist System, as drawn for the Industrial Worker in 1911, drowning in rising sea levels. The wave is based on The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai.
Climate and Class 