Between Climate Chaos and Social War: An Interview with Peter Gelderloos

On this episode of It’s Going Down,  we again speak with anarchist theorist and author Peter Gelderloos, who discusses his new book, The Solutions are Already Here: Strategies for Ecological Revolution from Below, which is part indictment of capitalist civilization and part collection of interviews with those on the frontlines of ecological and anti-colonial struggles from below. Sales of The Solutions Are Already Here will also go towards the projects featured in the book.

My new book with @PlutoPress is out!
The Solutions Are Already Here: Strategies for Ecological Revolution from Below.
Here's a short thread on what the book is all about, from the critiques of green capitalism to the interviews with effective movements!https://t.co/hHJxBQrJMA

— PeterGelderloos (@PeterGelderloos) February 6, 2022

From Pluto Press:

Are alternative energies and Green New Deals enough to deliver environmental justice? Peter Gelderloos argues that international governmental responses to the climate emergency are structurally incapable of solving the crisis. But there is hope.

Across the world, grassroots networks of local communities are working to realise their visions of an alternative revolutionary response to planetary destruction, often pitted against the new megaprojects promoted by greenwashed alternative energy infrastructures and the neocolonialist, technocratic policies that are the forerunners of the Green New Deal.

Gelderloos interviews food sovereignty activists in Venezuela, Indigenous communities reforesting their lands in Brazil and anarchists fighting biofuel plantations in Indonesia, looking at the battles that have cancelled airports, stopped pipelines, and helped the most marginalised to fight borders and environmental racism, to transform their cities, to win a dignified survival.

During our discussion, we talk about how corporations and government have known about climate change for decades and have viewed it, as they do now, as a security threat, pushing to militarize borders, stop the flow of migrants, protect capitalist interests and infrastructure, and beef up surveillance.

On our latest podcast, we spoke with @PeterGelderloos about the last days of the Trump regime, the neoliberal Center taking power, and what this means for both civil liberties and autonomous social movements on the streets as #COVID19 continues to rage. https://t.co/9rkKGJloOM

— It's Going Down (@IGD_News) January 23, 2021

We talk about how autonomous movements can combat these growing realities and get ready for a future that is fast approaching. Along the way we also talk about Desert, prepping, Extinction Rebellion, land projects, inspiring ecological, indigenous and anti-colonial struggles – and much more.

More Info: Peter Gelderloos on Twitter, The Future is Already Here online, and Peter Gelderloos on IGD

photo: Johanna Buguet via Unsplash

by It's Going Down via It's Going Down