A People’s Green New Deal
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- Create Date：2021-08-04 03:41:01
- Update Date：2025-09-23
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- Author：Max Ajl
- ISBN：0745341756
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Summary
The idea of a Green New Deal was launched into popular consciousness by US Congressperson Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2018。 Evocative of the far-reaching ambitions of its namesake， it has become a watchword in the current era of global climate crisis。 But its new ubiquity brings ambiguity: what - and for whom - is the Green New Deal？ In this concise and urgent book， Max Ajl provides an overview of the various mainstream Green New Deals。 Critically engaging with their proponents， ideological underpinnings and limitations， he goes on to sketch out a radical alternative: a 'People's Green New Deal' committed to degrowth， anti-imperialism and agro-ecology。 Ajl diagnoses the roots of the current socio-ecological crisis as emerging from a world-system dominated by the logics of capitalism and imperialism。 Resolving this crisis， he argues， requires nothing less than an infrastructural and agricultural transformation in the Global North， and the industrial convergence between North and South。 As the climate crisis deepens and the literature on the subject grows， A People's Green New Deal contributes a distinctive perspective to the debate。
Reviews
Kit
，
Max Ajl outlines an inspiring and incisive criticism in ‘A People’s GreenNew Deal’。 Part 1 of the book identifies and contends with thecompeting visions for GNDs: the liberal and social-democratic， firstworldist forms。 The concept of ‘climate debt’， as theorized atCochabamba， is critical in distinguishing first-worldist visions thatwould entrench imperialism from truly progressive visions。Part II of the book is Ajl’s vision for the necessary social and economic changes thatcould fight climate ch Max Ajl outlines an inspiring and incisive criticism in ‘A People’s GreenNew Deal’。 Part 1 of the book identifies and contends with thecompeting visions for GNDs: the liberal and social-democratic， firstworldist forms。 The concept of ‘climate debt’， as theorized atCochabamba， is critical in distinguishing first-worldist visions thatwould entrench imperialism from truly progressive visions。Part II of the book is Ajl’s vision for the necessary social and economic changes thatcould fight climate change while dismantling capitalism。 Ajl stressesthat any dilution in advance， to aim low because one dares not tohope for ‘unrealistic’ change， is an unscientific attitude。 It isone thing to reason from the historical evidence and choose arealistic strategy; it is another thing to foreclose on politicalopportunities before they have been tested by practice。 Perhaps my greatest question concerns this idea: the relationship between being andconsciousnessFrom Ajl:“Being has atendency to determine consciousness。 Northern beings tend to be lessoppressed than southern beings， because northern societies are farwealthier on average， and also have substantial middle classesaccustomed to an imperial mode of living。 **For that reason， it isan Olympian task to detangle northern social democracy fromimperialism。** As a result， many choose to avoid the difficult andfocus on the pragmatic。 Pragmatism appears as a recurring tendency innorthern climate politics and left politics more broadly to not takeon the anti-imperialist burden of transformation。 They kick climatedebt payments down the road。 And anti-imperialism – committedopposition to Western wars and sanctions – is weak or non-existentin contemporary left climate politics。 This tableau is notinevitable。”If this tableau is not inevitable， but instead contingent， then which elements arevulnerable to action？ This appears to be a “chicken and the egg”problem。 Until one remembers that “the chicken and the egg” is not actually a paradoxthough， and is easily resolved by a dialectical science [evolutionarytheory]。 The people whose beings best equip them with the consciousness to lead these struggles are not hard to identify: listen to the demands of the global south， indigenous peoples， oppressed nations。It is easy to see that conditions are changing: socialism is no longer a dirty word，few labor aristocrats are convinced in ‘the end of history’anymore。 It doesn’t take a weatherman to feel which way the wind isblowing。 What are the immediateand emerging opportunities to exert leverage， to nudge our first-world neighborsinto stronger formations？ 。。。more
Eric Smart
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In the United States， ecological politics have been reduced to climate politics， which in turn have become synonymous with a Green New Deal。 There are various GNDs， but the one getting any serious attention from the US Congress and the corporate media ecosystem is the AOC/Ed Market GND。 Much noise has been made about this legislation， from hallucinatory adulation about its eco socialist credentials to delusional fear mongering about a communist Trojan horse aiming to substitute red meat for red In the United States， ecological politics have been reduced to climate politics， which in turn have become synonymous with a Green New Deal。 There are various GNDs， but the one getting any serious attention from the US Congress and the corporate media ecosystem is the AOC/Ed Market GND。 Much noise has been made about this legislation， from hallucinatory adulation about its eco socialist credentials to delusional fear mongering about a communist Trojan horse aiming to substitute red meat for red terror。 This book does something that most haven’t done before: actually look at the content of the legislation， situates it alongside other stated proposals such as the fortress nationalism of the powers that be， ecomodernism for the technocrats， and then his proposal for a People’s Green New Deal， which recenters the national question in climate politics while stressing core countries’ obligations to pay climate debts as outline in the Cochabamba people’s agreement。 Furthermore， he elaborates a basic program for agrarian and land reform in the US with an eye towards decolonization。 Anybody interested in anti-system ecological politics or a critical evaluation of the most popular proposal for the climate crisis should read this book。 。。。more
Zach Lassen
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Extremely important book that focuses on the main issues with current social democratic gnd proposals。 Mainly being that they do not address the lives of people living in the global south or accommodate their demands for reparations， land back， and the end to us imperialism。 This book highlights that it is impossible to stop climate change without dealing with the primary contradiction of us imperialism
Kai
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this book is a compelling intervention into debates concerning a potential Green New Deal that primarily focuses on two largely absent elements in other such plans: agroecology and north-south climate debts。 Ajl persuasively calls for these to not just be added on but centralized in any such GND， with a focus on the implications this has for how social life must change in the imperial core。 the division between critique and proposal means that some questions of politics-who and how-are still som this book is a compelling intervention into debates concerning a potential Green New Deal that primarily focuses on two largely absent elements in other such plans: agroecology and north-south climate debts。 Ajl persuasively calls for these to not just be added on but centralized in any such GND， with a focus on the implications this has for how social life must change in the imperial core。 the division between critique and proposal means that some questions of politics-who and how-are still somewhat abstract， and there are a few spots where i would disagree with the author's assessment （namely concerning whether the national question is best/only to be addressed through the nation-state form）。 but this is a polemical book which rests on the foundation that "clarity comes through disagreement and conversation"， and its clarification of stakes is not only needed but quite useful。 。。。more
Henry Hakamaki
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