Once a month, we put together a list of stories we’ve been reading: news you might’ve missed or crucial conversations going on around the web. We focus on environmental justice, radical municipalism, new politics, political theory, and resources for action and education.
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 month, we were glued to our screen reading about the multiple climate disasters around the world. We also read careful critiques of “green” technology and their social costs, as well as incisive analyses of the problems with air conditioning. Along with that, we read about how we can make our cities more ecologically resilient, and the movements fighting to get us there. Finally, we are featuring several stories on food and water conflicts, from Gaza to South Africa. We’re taking August off, so see you in September!
A small note that the articles linked in this newsletter do not represent the views of Uneven Earth. When reading, please keep in mind that we don’t have capacity to do further research on the authors or publishers!
Uneven Earth updates
We are looking for a treasurer! Uneven Earth is in the process of registering as a non-profit. Incorporating will enable us to develop the project further, and we’re really excited about this. We have everything ready for a constitutional meeting except one thing: we need a volunteer treasurer or accountant. If you or someone you know is interested, contact us for more information at info[at]unevenearth.org.
Top 5 articles to read
AC feels great, but it’s terrible for the planet. Here’s how to fix that. “Ensuring that the most vulnerable among the planet’s human inhabitants can keep cool through better access to public cooling centers, shade-giving trees, safe green spaces, water infrastructure to cool, and smart design will not only enrich our cities overall, it will lower the temperature for everyone. It’s far more efficient this way.” Also: Cruelest summer: What is the cost of comfort? A review of After Cooling: On Freon, Global Warming, and the Terrible Cost of Comfort by Eric Dean Wilson.
Who holds the welding rod? “If we call a global minimum wage – or a global maximum working week, or a global minimum healthcare standard – pie in the sky, we’re saying that the green energy transition is the possible, necessary utopia, and fair pay and conditions the impossible, unnecessary one.”
Broader crises. Indian border-crossers illuminate the interconnectedness of mass migration.
In memory of Richard Lewontin: Profile of a dialectical biologist
News you might’ve missed
Mapuche woman to lead body drafting Chile’s new constitution
‘Reckless’: G20 states subsidised fossil fuels by $3tn since 2015, says report
Whistleblowers expose corruption in EPA Chemical Safety Office
Berta Cáceres assassination: ex-head of dam company found guilty
Bitcoin power plant making part of glacial lake ‘feel like a hot tub,’ residents say
The smoke comes every year. Sugar companies say the air is safe.
‘The road to freedom lies ahead’. The humanitarian crisis in West Papua as people continue to struggle for self-determination.
Where we’re at: analysis
How the American South is paying the price for Europe’s ‘green’ energy
Britain’s new enclosure. Less than 1% of the population own half of England’s land, and with every passing year public right of access is diminishing – enclosing swathes of green spaces to be enjoyed by the rich alone.
The insect apocalypse: ‘Our world will grind to a halt without them’
Climate doom won’t save the planet
Nuclear Stockholm Syndrome and What nuclear waste can teach us about long-term thinking
Why neoliberalism needs neofascists
A summer of climate disasters
The climate connection behind a summer of floods in China, Europe and the US
Worst European floods in 100 years have left 120 dead, 1,300 missing
This year’s summer of climate extremes hits wealthier places
Death toll rises and thousands flee homes as floods hit China
In flooded Ghatal, residents say ‘nobody cares about our misery‘
As frozen land burns, Siberia trembles
Photos: Here are the 6 major regions literally on fire right now
Food politics
Food labels and the lies they tell us about grocery store ‘best before’ expiration dates
Workers transformed a McDonald’s in France into a food bank
Durban food riots turn the wheel of history
Bill Gates should stop telling Africans what kind of agriculture Africans need
‘It’s five years since a white person applied’: the immigrant workforce milking America’s cows
Lake Mead, crucial water source in West, tips toward crisis. And Severe drought threatens Hoover dam reservoir – and water for US west
Just think about it…
In Indigenous knowledge, innovative solutions
After Tokyo, we should bring the Olympic charade to an end
Loneliness: coping with the gap where friends used to be, and Harare’s park bench grandmas: ‘I speak to them and feel a load is lifted off my heart’
The low-desire life: why people in China are rejecting high-pressure jobs in favour of ‘lying flat’
No, billionaires won’t “escape” to space while the world burns
The pandemic could put an end to the five-day workweek
Degrowth
Billionaire space race: the ultimate symbol of capitalism’s flawed obsession with growth
Cities and radical municipalism
Public transit is a public good. It’s time to fund it that way.
Poor neighborhoods are up to 7 degrees hotter than rich ones
Uber and Lyft can’t find drivers because gig work sucks
Madrid building a huge urban forest in a bid to combat climate change
Guerrilla gardening: Taking back the city one seed bomb at a time
There are trees in the future, or, a case for staying
Death drives. Pedestrian fatalities are rising dramatically in the US, and Angie Schmitt’s Right of Way gives a rare look at why and what might be done about it.
Resources
A history of the concept of race
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