December readings

Photo by Abdulmonam Eassa, via ROAR Magazine

Once a month, we put together a list of stories we’ve been reading: things you might’ve missed or crucial conversations going on around the web. We focus on environmental and social justice, cities, science fiction, current events, and political theory.

We try to include articles that have been published recently but will last, that are relatively light and inspiring, and are from corners of the web that don’t always get the light of day. This will also be a space to keep you up to date with news about what’s happening at Uneven Earth.

This list marks a full year of monthly readings! Thank you for all those who subscribed. We would like to take this moment to ask you if you have any feedback on this series. Is it too long? What do you like about it, what don’t you like about it? Let us know via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or at info@unevenearth.org.

We didn’t spend much time online during December festivities, so this list is shorter than usual, but we still found great reads to share. We once again saw an uptick in discussions on a “Green New Deal”, this time less so in lefty corners of the Internet, but in mainstream culture, with the launching of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez into the spotlight. Of course, we highlight a few of the best “takes” on the yellow vest movement in France, including one we published. We also saw some interesting discussion, and criticism, of eco-primitivism.

Uneven Earth updates

A new North American network emerges from the grassroots | Link | Announcing a congress of municipal movements

Time for the subaltern to speak | Link | The movement against waste incineration in Can Sant Joan, Catalonia

The 8th of December, the end of the month, and the end of the world | Link | The yellow vest movement shows us the potential of a “convergence des luttes” to demand a just ecological transition

Why we need alternatives to development | Link | An excerpt from the forthcoming book Pluriverse: A Post-Development Dictionary

Top 5 articles to read

The fallout.  “Dawn, this is the United States of America,” her husband said. “The government doesn’t just leave radioactive waste lying around.”

Which municipalism? Let’s be choosy

How millennials became the burnout generation. I couldn’t figure out why small, straightforward tasks on my to-do list felt so impossible. The answer is both more complex and far simpler than I expected.

How plastic is a function of colonialism

No collision. In the face of climate apocalypse, the rich have been devising escape plans. What happens when they opt out of democratic preparation for emergencies?

News you might’ve missed

How TigerSwan infiltrated Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline movement

Spiked online funded by the Koch Foundation. Why are the billionaire Koch brothers funding Spiked, whose origins lie in the Revolutionary Communist Party?

A ‘gold rush’ at the bottom of the ocean could be the final straw for ecosystems

The threat to Rojava: An anarchist in Syria speaks on the real meaning of Trump’s withdrawal

All out against Bolsonaro!: An appeal from Brazil

Norway stands accused of waging cultural war against Sami people by forcing them to reduce their reindeer herds (see also Pile o´Sápmi—an artwork against forced culling)

Radical municipalism

Reflections on Olympia Assembly: An experiment in popular power

Goma’s non-violent movement for water & peace in war-torn Congo

The suburbs are the spiritual home of overconsumption. But they also hold the key to a better future

New politics

Twelve uplifting stories from indigenous peoples in 2018

Decolonize the frontiers: The Mississippi Delta

Extinction Rebellion – in or out?

Extinction Rebellion: Notes from an old white man

Growth pessimism, but degrowth optimism

We need an ecological civilization before it’s too late

Where we’re at: analysis

Environmental populisms – alongside and beyond (state) authority. Rather than (only) critiquing and dismissing existing uses of ‘the people’ as insufficient, political ecology could contribute to a new international populism capable of upholding climate justice.

The new autocrats: How democracy helps leaders consolidate power

Do red and green mix?. Michael Löwy responds to roundtable on his essay, “Why ecosocialism: For a red-green guture.”

Fear of cultural loss fuelling anger with elites across Europe

Just think about it…

Unhinged GDP growth could actually destroy the economy, economists find

Wild and domestic. Wendell Berry on the language of “wilderness”.

The dark side of disarmament: Ocean pollution, peace, and the World Wars

Green new deal

We can pay for a Green New Deal

Winona LaDuke calls for Indigenous-led “Green New Deal” as she fights Minnesota Pipeline expansion

A Green New Deal must be rooted in a just transition for workers and communities most impacted by climate change

Yellow vest movement

“The gilets jaunes have blown up the old political categories”

Paris/Maidan

The guillotine: yellow vest protests in France and Cyntoia Brown

Five notes on the yellow vest movement

Macron’s climate tax is a disaster

Eco-primitivism and its critics

The unlikely new generation of unabomber acolytes

The ableist logic of primitivism: A critique of “ecoextremist” thought

The preppers are coming to town

Climate and culture

Why climate change is causing “eco-anxiety,” grief, and mental health issues

Hopepunk, explained: the storytelling trend that weaponizes optimism

Announcing “better worlds”. 10 original fiction stories, five animated adaptations, and five audio adaptations by a diverse roster of science fiction authors who take a more optimistic view of what lies ahead in ways both large and small, fantastical and everyday.

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