In Forces of Production, Climate Change and Canadian Fossil Capitalism, Nicolas Graham offers a reinterpretation of the concept of forces of production from an ecological standpoint and analyzes the fettering of “green productive forces” in the deepening climate crisis.

This historically and critically informed dissertation investigates the question why Canada has become one of the worlds leaders in promoting fossil fuels through its unconventional hydrocarbon industry in spite of the science and growing awareness of climate change. Using a critical historical political economy approach that encompasses both ecological or biophysical scientific realities and historical materialism, I examine this contradictory developmental trajectory as embedded in both the historical structures of everyday life and within Canadian and the wider global political economy. This dissertation argues that Canadas current situation should be understood in a broader context as a morbid symptom that is embedded within the current global organic and leadership crises, since current leadership appears to support the contradiction of supporting carbon-based globalized social reproduction and preventing climate change. In doing so, this dissertation critiques both fields of international and Canadian political economy for largely sidestepping the importance of energy and energy systems in the production and reproduction of the global political economy. I show how growing energy demand, the peaking of conventional oil, potential energy insecurities, and a debt-based monetary system perpetuates and is dependent on unlimited growth. Moreover, I argue that the Canadian state and economy has become increasingly locked-in by disciplinary neoliberalism and the new constitutionalism which are reforms, policies and laws that entrench capitalist social reproduction and make it more difficult to alter capitalist patterns of energy-intensive development. As a result, the current world order and global political economy is organized into a vicious cycle of path dependency whereby production and social reproduction require evermore fossil fuels. This could potentially be the largest paradox in human history as climate science suggests that humanity should be attempting to limit the production and consumption of greenhouse gases. I conclude by attempting to create a new pathways and objectives forward for social forces of resistance in current webs of power to form a post-modern prince movement in Canada that would seek to work collectively in rebuilding a new world towards decolonialization, promoting and establishing alternative modes of living and development that will replace the current fossil fuel-based dependency, monetary-debt system, mass consumption, and unlimited growth in Canada.

The 59th annual volume of the Socialist Register examines the growth of corporate power and other important organizational trends in global capitalism. Rejecting such notions as “stakeholder capitalism,” it reviews the organization and strategies of unions and the left as it searches for new routes to socialism.

How capitalism first promoted fossil fuels with the rise of steam power The more we know about the catastrophic implications of climate change, the more fossil fuels we burn. How did we end up in this mess? In this masterful new history, Andreas Malm claims it all began in Britain with the rise of steam power. But why did manufacturers turn from traditional sources of power, notably water mills, to an engine fired by coal? Contrary to established views, steam offered neither cheaper nor more abundant energy—but rather superior control of subordinate labour. Animated by fossil fuels, capital could concentrate production at the most profitable sites and during the most convenient hours, as it continues to do today. Sweeping from nineteenth-century Manchester to the emissions explosion in China, from the original triumph of coal to the stalled shift to renewables, this study hones in on the burning heart of capital and demonstrates, in unprecedented depth, that turning down the heat will mean a radical overthrow of the current economic order.

This book comprehensively analyzes the challenges and opportunities associated with transitioning to sustainable energy systems in Latin America. Recognizing that energy transition goes beyond mere changes in energy systems, it is also essential to address the imperative of ensuring a just transition and equitable benefits for all, particularly for vulnerable populations. This recognition emphasizes prioritizing social equity and inclusivity throughout the energy transition process. By adopting a critical perspective grounded in multidisciplinary approaches from the social sciences, the book delves into the complex energy transition issues, exploring the broader social, economic, and political dimensions involved. The book is divided into four parts. Part I highlights the changing energy mix in Latin America and the geopolitical implications of the increasing reliance on renewable sources. Part II examines the dilemmas faced by countries that rely on oil and gas revenues and the obstacles they face in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Part III analyzes the production, technology, and costs as limits and opportunities for energy transition and adoption of renewable energies. Finally, part IV explores energy access and the democratization of energy generation in Latin America, including efforts to address energy poverty, the growth of distributed energy, and prosumers. Energy Transitions in Latin America: The Tough Route to Sustainable Development is a valuable resource that will benefit researchers in energy studies and policymakers alike. It serves as a comprehensive guide for those seeking to navigate the complexities of energy transitions. It is an essential source for fostering informed decision-making and driving sustainable development in the region.

How social media has become a critical tool for advancing the interests of the Canadian oil industry Petroturfing presents an incisive look into how Canada’s pro-oil movement has leveraged social media to rebrand the extractive economy as a positive force. Adapting its title from the concept of astroturfing, which refers to the practice of disguising political and corporate media campaigns as grassroots movements, the book exposes the consequences of this mutually informed relationship between social media and environmental politics. Since the early 2010s, an increasingly influential network of pro-oil groups, organizations, and campaigns has harnessed social media strategies originally developed by independent environmental organizations in order to undermine resistance to the fossil fuel industry. Situating these actions within the broader oil culture wars that have developed as an outgrowth of contemporary right-wing media, Petroturfing details how this coalition of groups is working to reform the public view of oil extraction as something socially, economically, and ecologically beneficial. By uncovering these concerted efforts to influence the “energy consciousness,” Jordan B. Kinder reveals the deep divide between Canada’s environmentally progressive reputation and the economic interests of its layers of government and private companies operating within its borders. Drawing attention to the structures underlying online political expression, Petroturfing highlights the limitations of social media networks in the work of promoting environmental justice and contributing to a more equitable future.

Climate Chaos provides readers the latest consensus among international scientists on the cascading impacts of climate change and the tipping points that today threaten to irreversibly destroy the delicate balance of the Earth’s ecosystems. The book argues that deregulation and an expansion of fossil fuel extraction have already tipped the planet towards a climate that is out of control. This crisis will cause massive human suffering when extreme weather, pollution and disease lead to displacement, food and water shortages, war, and possibly species extinction. The repression of science creates an existential crisis for humanity that has reached crisis proportions in the twentieth-first century. The scale of the crisis has prompted a call for geoengineering, large interventions into the climate by technological innovation. However, the history of colonialism and slavery make the technological and monetary elites untrustworthy to solve this humanitarian and planetary crisis. While the elites have always cast certain groups of humanity as expendable, the climate crisis makes a true humanist and egalitarian movement based in human rights and dignity not only aspirational but also existentially mandatory. The crisis demands that we remake the world into a more just and safe place for all the world’s people.