The Palgrave Handbook of Environmental Labour Studies

Reviews / Votes

"This pathbreaking, impressive collection presents and defines the crucially important emerging discipline of environmental labour studies. A sustainable future for our planet cannot be achieved without engaging workers. Its wide-ranging and thought-provoking essays showcase the interdisciplinary, international, engaged research that focuses on the ecological agency of working people: rural and urban; waged and unwaged; subsistence, service, industrial and extractive. It is an excellent guide to assist effective efforts to mitigate climate change." (Verity Burgmann, Monash University, Australia, author of Green Bans, Red Union)

"Inspiring reading for trade unionists and all activists engaging in struggles against climate catastrophe, and building transformative models for social, economic and climate justice. This book challenges us to think about Just Transition in radical ways, contesting existing unequal power relations and laying the foundations for new forms of democratic control." (Alana Dave, International Transport Workers Federation, Urban Transport Director)

"What an impressive and invaluable resource, providing major theoretical insights into the relation between labour, the environment and 'nature', on the basis of detailed studies of historical developments and current struggles across the globe. The book is remarkable for its range of international coverage and offers a striking contribution to this emerging field." (Miriam Glucksmann, Department of Sociology, University of Essex, author of Women on the Line)

"I highly recommend this nuanced and engaging Handbook that analyses in-depth how capitalism produces nature and nature produces capitalism. It brings together a remarkable range of theoretical approaches and experiences that embraces Marxism, feminism, post-materialism, environmentalism as well trade unionism making this a truly cutting-edge collection. It is a landmark in the field of environmental labour studies." (Wendy Harcourt, International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, editor of: Feminist Political Ecology and the Economics of Care - In search of Economic Alternatives)

"The global pandemic has revealed a gaping wound at the centre of capitalism - a systemic insecurity in the lives of those whose work matters more than we ever imagined. This timely collection of impassioned essays does more than simply archive the ongoing struggle. It paints a rich narrative of the many possibilities for change: providing a colourful canvas of 'real utopias' from communities across the world." (Tim Jackson, University of Surrey, UK, author of Post Growth, Life after Capitalism)

"Climate change and the loss of biodiversity pose existential threats for our species, but the transformation needed to address these environmental challenges poses major tests for our movement of organised labour and social justice around the globe. Just as no country can address environmental degradation alone, neither can one trade union solve the conundrums posed. We need to learn from each other's experiences within the global labour movement and find common collective responses. Only in this way, can we ensure that social justice and worker participation is at the centre of our response to cleaning our planet. I hope this collection of essays will contribute to that common endeavour." (Judith Kirton-Darling, Deputy General Secretary, IndustriAll European Trade Union)

"In the course of colonial and neo-colonial economic globalisation, founded on structures of statism, capitalism, patriarchy, racism, and anthropocentrism, both workers and the environment have been marginalised and exploited. Yet, there has been extremely insufficient attention given to the interface between the two, and indeed often they have been seen as opposed to each other due to narrow notions of environmentalism or of labour rights. This book does an enormous service by collating an impressive range of essays analysing these aspects, and the possibilities of integrating worker and ecological interests and rights, towards fundamental transformation towards a just society." (Ashish Kothari, Co-founder of the Environmental Action Group Kalpavriksh, author of: Alternative Futures: India Unshackled)

"This handbook is an outstanding intellectual and political tool. It contains a remarkable collection of essays on the multiple dimensions of, the labour environmental struggles against the destructive logic of, the (capitalist) system, including not only trade-unions, but also, among others, farmers, indigenous communities and intellectuals, both in the Global North and the Global South - as well as a discussion of various anti-systemic alternatives, from the Green New Deal to Ecosocialism." (Michael Löwy, CNRS (National Centre of Scientific Research), Paris, France, author of Ecosocialism. A Radical Alternative to Capitalist Catastrophe)

"Compared to indigenous and other rural peoples at the vanguard of socio-environmental resistance against mining, fossil fuel extraction, hydropower and oil palm plantations, the industrial trade unions are not often counted among the environmentalists. They are sometimesreluctant to accept the "decarbonization" of the economy. We know however that the industrial and rural working class has long fought against asbestosis, pneumoconiosis and other occupational illnesses. This impressive and magnificent book analyses many kinds of labour, waged and unwaged, and its variety of experiences in India, South America, the United States, Europe, Africa, in a new research field on "environmental labour studies" uncovering many practical opportunities for "red-green" alliances." (Joan Martinez-Alier, ICTA, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain, author of The Environmentalism of the Poor)

"A comprehensive exploration of the struggles, conflicts, achievements and potential of working class, indigenous, gender and other grassroots movements in relation to ecological sustainability that re-thinks conventional notions of labour to embrace unpaid, social and nonmarket work." (Mary Mellor, Northumbria University, UK, author of: Money: Myths, Truths and Alternatives)

"The editors have delivered to us an essential resource in the midst of unprecedented planetary crisis. After decades of being told we must choose between "jobs" and "environment," this collection points towards an extraordinary alternative synthesis: of planetary justice and the work of humans and the rest of nature. Revealing the historical, geographical, and economic tissues that bind class, labor, and webs of life, the handbook reminds us that, when it comes to the "proletariat" and "biotariat," an injury to one is an injury to all." (Jason W. Moore, Binghamton University, USA, author of: Capitalism in the Web of Life)

"In outlining the emerging trans-discipline of Environmental Labour Studies, a complex global field of lived tensions and structural contradictions, the editors have assembled a pioneering anthology. Not least, their innovative inclusion of essays builds on the materialist ecofeminist argument that relations between gender, labour, and nature, are sociologically entangled." (Ariel Salleh, activist, Australia, author of: From Eco-Sufficiency to Global Justice)

"Environmental Labour Studies help us to understand a way forward towards our common future. This globe-spanning volume marks the coming-of-age of this crucial theoretical and empirical field. The original and insightful contributions gathered here dramatically expand our understanding of how work, workers, and trade unions interact with the environment, nature, and environmentalists." (Victor Silverman, Pomona College, Department of History, USA, Emmy-winning filmmaker and author of: Imagining Internationalism)

"Capitalism and its international corporations know no limits in their quest to put profit above life and nature. The Movement of Landless Workers (MST) in Brazil, along with Via Campesina all over the world, have defended what is urgent and necessary now: land, water, forest and minerals must be used in harmony with nature to protect biodiversity and for the common good. This volume brings together timelyreflections on these serious problems that our planet is facing." (João Pedro Stédile, leader of the Brazilian Movement of Landless Workers)

"In order to win the fight to address our manifold sustainability challenges we need the labor and environmental movements to come up out of their silos and work together. The editors have offered a pathway for a greater confluence of these movements in this first Handbook of Environmental Labour Studies. They have assembled a great group of authors who explore the pitfalls and possibilities and show us how we can expand the boundaries of our movements and begin to take down the forces that keep us apart. So long as humanity views the planet as something for us to dominate, we will continue to destroy it. When we realize that living in harmony with nature is first and foremost, then we can begin to repair the damage we've done." (Joe Uehlein, Founder and President of the Labour Network for Sustainability (USA))

"In this timelyhandbook, leading scholars and practitioners from around the world engage in key issues of environmental labour studies. The handbook is an invaluable contribution with its intellectual depth, breadth of issues, and geographical spread of cases. It's the first of its kind and should be read widely not only by labour and environmental activists and scholars, but also anyone interested in understanding the challenges and possibilities of overcoming the tensions between labour and the environment." (Michelle Williams, Chairperson of the Global Labour University, and Wits University, South Africa, author of: The Roots of Participatory Democracy: Democratic Communists in South Africa and Kerala, India)

"The environment must be protected and sustainable industries must create decent, safe and healthy work. The perspectives in this Handbook can dispel the notion that environmental protection and decent work are in conflict with each other: we must have both, or we will have neither. To build a bridge to the future we need a "Just Transition" for workers, their families, and their communities. Integrating labour and environmental studies is a crucial step forward on that bridge." (Brian Kohler, Director - Health Safety and Sustainability (retired), IndustriALL Global Union)