Nature Is A Battlefield - Towards A Political Ecology

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In the midst of the current ecological crisis there is often lofty talk of the need for humanity to overcome its divisions & work together to tackle the big challenges of our time But as this new book by Razmig Keucheyan shows the real picture is very different Just take the case of the siting of toxic waste landfills in the United States if you want to know where waste is most likely to be dumped ask yourself where Blacks Hispanics Native Americans & other racial minorities live & where the poorest neighbourhoods are This kind of environmental racism is by no means restricted to the United States it is very much a global phenomenon Keucheyan show how the capitalist response to the crisis has been marked by a massive expansion in environmental finance From carbon markets to pollution permits climate derivatives & catastrophe bonds we are seeing a proliferation of nature-related financial products Instead of tackling the root of the problem the neoliberal strategy seeks to profit from environmental risks Moreover with the rise in natural disasters resource scarcity food crises the destabilization of the poles & oceans & the prospect of tens of millions of climate refugees Western powers are increasingly adopting a military response to ecological problems The Cold War is over welcome to the green wars From New Orleans to the Siachen glacier via the Arctic floes Keucheyan explores the landmark sites of this new climate geostrategy Through a sharp critique of the way capitalism responds to environmental disaster this innovative book provides a fresh perspective on some of the most critical issues confronting our societies today