Climate Insurgency
A Strategy for Survival, With a New Post-Paris Summit Prologue
Published on 15. October 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
170 pages
978-1-138-68942-8 (ISBN)
Description
Following the Paris Climate Summit, hope surged in some quarters while realism dawned in others. In just the time since this book was first published, the Earth has seen the hottest year on record accompanied by myriad natural and man-made disasters closely related to climate change. Climate Insurgency lays out a strategy for protecting the earth's climate: a global nonviolent constitutional insurgency. This compact book starts with a brief history of official climate protection efforts "from above" and non-governmental ones "from below" that explains why climate protection has failed so far. Then, it proposes a global nonviolent insurgency for climate protection to overcome that failure. Historian and longtime activist Jeremy Brecher presents a public trust doctrine that can legitimate global climate insurgency in national and international law. He shows how to make national economies climate-safe and points the way toward justly distributing the global costs and benefits of climate protection. In addition, he lays out a new strategy to make governments and economies meet their obligations to protect the climate-especially following the Paris Climate Summit which betrayed the peoples of the world and their global environmental trust.
Reviews / Votes
"A crisp, clear, and savvy synthesis of key concepts and ideas that will help the global climate justice movement to succeed. Brecher outlines many feasible climate solutions that should give all of us hope, despite the odds."-- Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine
"An exceptionally valuable contribution to thought, feeling, and action on this greatest challenge that has ever confronted humanity as a whole. All in all, the most stimulating response to climate change that I have encountered. I think it is one of those books that could make a difference!"
-- Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law and Practice, Princeton University
"Deeply informed, and also wise, Jeremy Brecher lays out a persuasive strategy for a global popular insurgency that just might save the planet. Brecher knows a great deal about movements, so read this book, take heart, and join up!"
-- Frances Fox Piven, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Sociology, City University of New York Graduate Center, and author of Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America "A crisp, clear, and savvy synthesis of key concepts and ideas that will help the global climate justice movement to succeed. Brecher outlines many feasible climate solutions that should give all of us hope, despite the odds."
-Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything and The Shock Doctrine
"An exceptionally valuable contribution to thought, feeling, and action on this greatest challenge that has ever confronted humanity as a whole. All in all, the most stimulating response to climate change that I have encountered. I think it is one of those books that could make a difference!"
-Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law and Practice, Princeton University
"Deeply informed, and also wise, Jeremy Brecher lays out a persuasive strategy for a global popular insurgency that just might save the planet. Brecher knows a great deal about movements, so read this book, take heart, and join up!"
-Frances Fox Piven, Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Sociology, City University of New York Graduate Center, and author of Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Illustrations
black & white illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-138-68942-8 (9781138689428)
Copyright in bibliographic data is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or its licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jeremy Brecher (www.jeremybrecher.org) is the author of more than a dozen books on labor and social movements, including Save the Humans? Common Preservation in Action and his classic labor history Strike!, which was just published in a revised fortieth anniversary edition. He has been writing about climate protection strategy since 1988; he is a founder of the Labor Network for Sustainability (www.labor4sustainability.org); he was arrested in the first White House protests against the Keystone XL pipeline. Over the course of half a century, he has participated in movements for nuclear disarmament, civil rights, peace in Vietnam, international labor rights, global economic justice, accountability for war crimes, and many others. He holds a Ph.D. from the Union Graduate School and has received five regional Emmy Awards for his documentary film work.
Content
Preface: Climate Insurgency after Paris
Introduction
Part I Why Climate Protection Has Failed
Chapter 1 Discovering the Inconvenient Truth
Chapter 2 Climate Protection from Above
Chapter 3 Climate Protection from Below
Chapter 4 What Climate Protectors Have Accomplished
Chapter 5 Why Climate Protection Has Failed
Part II A Plausible Strategy for Climate Protection
Chapter 6 A Global Nonviolent Constitutional Insurgency
Chapter 7 Climate Protection as a Legal Duty
Chapter 8 Making a Country Climate-Safe
Chapter 9 A Global Trust Fund for the Global Public Trust
Chapter 10 Movement Enforcement of Public Trust Duties
Chapter 11 Overcoming the Obstacles to Climate Protection
Introduction
Part I Why Climate Protection Has Failed
Chapter 1 Discovering the Inconvenient Truth
Chapter 2 Climate Protection from Above
Chapter 3 Climate Protection from Below
Chapter 4 What Climate Protectors Have Accomplished
Chapter 5 Why Climate Protection Has Failed
Part II A Plausible Strategy for Climate Protection
Chapter 6 A Global Nonviolent Constitutional Insurgency
Chapter 7 Climate Protection as a Legal Duty
Chapter 8 Making a Country Climate-Safe
Chapter 9 A Global Trust Fund for the Global Public Trust
Chapter 10 Movement Enforcement of Public Trust Duties
Chapter 11 Overcoming the Obstacles to Climate Protection