Synopses & Reviews
As the world's energy system faces a period of unprecedented change, a global struggle over who controls the sector—and for what purposes—is intensifying. The question of "green capitalism" is now unavoidable, for capitalist planners and anti-capitalist struggles alike. From all sides we hear that it's time to save the planet in order to save the economy, but in reality what lies before us is the next round of global class struggle with energy at the center, as the key means of production and subsistence.
There are no easy answers in this battle for control of the world's energy system. Sparking A Worldwide Energy Revolution is not a book of sound bites. It unpacks the seemingly innocent terms "energy sector" and "energy system" by situating the current energy crisis, peak oil, and the transition to a post-petrol future within a historical understanding of the global, social, economic, political, financial, military, and ecological relations of which energy and technology are parts. The authors probe the systemic relationships between energy production and consumption and the worldwide division of labor on which capitalism itself is based—its conflicts and hierarchies, its crisis and class struggles.
With over fifty chapters written by contributors from approximately twenty countries, Sparking A Worldwide Energy Revolution forms a collective map of the most dynamic struggles within the energy sector.
Kolya Abramsky is a former visiting fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Science, Technology and Society, in Graz, Austria, where he received the Manfred-Heindler Award for Energy and Climate Change Research, and in 2006 was coordinator of the Danish-based World Wind Energy Institute, an international effort in non-commercial renewable energy education, involving different renewable energy centers from around the world. ursuing a PhD in sociology at State University of New York, Binghamton.
Review
"A vital anthology for anyone who wants to understand both the roots of the energy crisis, and the flourishing radical resistance that offers a sustainable future beyond capitalism."—Raj Patel, author of
Stuffed and Starved"Gas flaring in Nigeria, wind farms in Schleswig-Holstein, mountain top removal in Appalachia, tar sands in Alberta, geothermal energy in Iceland, the toxic cycle of uranium, the slaughter in the coal-mines of China, the transgenic soya monocultures, the 'caliph' of oil in Iraq, jatropha production in Tanzania, exploration in the Tehuantepec winds: every power under the sun is here except horse-power, and everywhere on earthChina, Europe, North America, the Mideast, Africa, India, and Latin America. Kolya Abramsky has composed a symphonic compendium of five sections, fourteen parts, sixty chapters by forty-six individual authors and eighteen organizational authors in nearly seven hundred pages all arranged with intelligence and point. There are no technofixes. Neither 'clean' energy nor 'green' capitalism will preserve our lands, rivers, oceans, health, and lives. Neither governments nor corporations nor 'the market' can bring us out of the nether world they themselves have created. Mother Earth calls to the grass-roots for entirely new social relations, human and less hellish. This sober and serious book heeds that call."—Peter Linebaugh, author of The Magna Carta Manifesto: Liberties and Commons for All
"Sparking A Worldwide Energy Revolution is a major contribution to the movement working for a transition from carbon capitalism to an ecologically sound energy system. Its sixty chapters document the present energy crisis, describe alternative technologies, and introduces us to the people who worldwide are fighting for a healthy planet and the recreation of the earth's commons. Rich in detail and written by activists and scholars who have taken part in the struggles, Sparking is an indispensable volume for the just energy transition movement. It will be referred to for years to come."—Sylvia Federici, author of Caliban and the Witch
"A comprehensive reference guide to the huge range of interconnected issues facing climate activists and to the struggles for the control of energy taking place around the world."—Kevin Blowe, Red Pepper Magazine
Synopsis
As the earths carrying capacity continues to be stressed, the question of renewable energies is no longer whether, but when and by whom. Climate change and peak oil have hit the mainstream. Kolya Abramskys collection maps the worlds energy sector and shows how addressing these challenges necessitates an analysis of our economic priorities. Solutions must include massive shifts in our use of technologies and, most importantly, a democratization of the economic landscape based on broad new coalitions.
With four distinct sectionsOil Makes the World Go 'Round; From Petrol to Renewable Energies; Struggle Over Choice of Energy Sources and Technologies; and Possible Futuresand over fifty essays from approximately twenty countries, theres nothing like Sparking a Worldwide Energy Revolution to address our global energy crisis.
The different chapters bring together a wealth of organizational and analytical experience from across the different branches of the energy sector, both conventional and renewable. Contributors include the following organizations and individuals: China Labour Bulletin (Hong Kong/China), Energy Watch Group (Germany), Focus on the Global South (Thailand), Integrated Sustainable Energy and Ecological Development (India), Public Services International Research Unit (United Kingdom), World Information Service on Energy (Netherlands), Preben Maegaard, and Hermann Scheer.
Kolya Abramsky is a former secretariat of the World Wind Energy Institute, based in Denmark, a pioneering country in renewable energy. He is currently a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Science, Technology and Society in Austria, and is pursuing a PhD in sociology at State University of New York, Binghamton.
Synopsis
The earth's not dying, it's being killed. Only a movement for renewable energy will save it.
About the Author
Kolya Abramsky is a former secretariat of the World Wind Energy Institute, based in Denmark, a pioneering country in renewable energy. He is currently a research fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Science, Technology and Society in Austria, and is pursuing a PhD in sociology at State University of New York, Binghamton.