Joel Wainwright
Author of Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future
About the Author
Joel Wainwright teaches political economy and social theory in the development of geography at the Ohio State University. He is the author of Decolonizing Development: Colonial Power and the Maya.
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I had to take a break in the middle of reading [b:Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|34146147|Climate Leviathan A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|Joel Wainwright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498926163l/34146147._SX50_.jpg|55183185], as it was making me too anxious in combination with news of February 2024 being the hottest on record in England, Wales, and the world. The rampant shifting baseline syndrome among show more family and friends in England, who complained about February weather being too cold when it was above 10°C, made me feel like my head was going to explode.
Anyway, the authors of [b:Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|34146147|Climate Leviathan A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|Joel Wainwright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498926163l/34146147._SX50_.jpg|55183185] attempt to condense the political possibilities of climate change into a neat two by two grid. This structure is similar to [b:Four Futures: Life After Capitalism|22551901|Four Futures Life After Capitalism|Peter Frase|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1474751383l/22551901._SY75_.jpg|42009582], except it draws predominantly on philosophy and political theory rather than science fiction. The two variables forming Wainwright and Mann's grid are planetary/anti-planetary sovereignty and capitalist/non-capitalist. Of the four possibilities, the one the book is named after combines planetary sovereignty (i.e. world government in some form) with capitalism. The name is inspired by Hobbes. Its non-capitalist counterpart is termed Climate Mao and seems to be a 'what if China takes over' scenario. The capitalist anti-planetary sovereignty scenario, which we're currently in, is termed Climate Behemoth and obviously isn't good. The fourth and final scenario is unfortunately named Climate X, which made me realise that Elon Musk has made an entire letter of the alphabet absolutely cringe. What a way to waste billions. In any case, the book argues that this non-capitalist and anti-planetary sovereignty scenario would be preferable to the other three but is also the least likely.
While reading [b:Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|34146147|Climate Leviathan A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|Joel Wainwright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498926163l/34146147._SX50_.jpg|55183185] I did find myself wondering: does this genuinely add anything to what I've already read? The authors critique, synthesise, and reference material from many authors old (including Marx, Gramsci, Einstein, Kant, & Adorno) and new (including [a:Andreas Malm|292496|Andreas Malm|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1469288948p2/292496.jpg], [a:Naomi Klein|419|Naomi Klein|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1494619590p2/419.jpg], [a:Joseph Stiglitz|22624320|Joseph Stiglitz|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], & [a:Thomas Piketty|795282|Thomas Piketty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1676594613p2/795282.jpg]). Of course building on previous research and placing your own contributions in a wider context is essential to academic writing. Yet I found little that seemed new to me and was merely reminded of the weakness of the Paris Agreement, the incompatibility of radical emissions cuts with capitalism, and the failures of adaptation to extreme weather. All very depressing, even when leavened with philosophical references. I did like how this point was phrased, though:
This, on the other hand, was merely a huge downer:
[b:Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|34146147|Climate Leviathan A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|Joel Wainwright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498926163l/34146147._SX50_.jpg|55183185]'s tone and conclusions essentially presuppose that hope is lost. Climate Behemoth, the path we're currently on, is the worst of the four options on offer. Climate Leviathan looks impossible and would be oppressive; Climate Mao likewise. The latter sounded to me somewhat the the Climate Change War Communism briefly outlined by Andreas Malm in [b:Corona, Climate, Chronic Emergency: War Communism in the Twenty-First Century|54619224|Corona, Climate, Chronic Emergency War Communism in the Twenty-First Century|Andreas Malm|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595822734l/54619224._SY75_.jpg|85217012]. Climate X, on the other hand, appears impossible to articulate, let alone build a path to. Including proposals from Osama Bin Laden among the examples was audacious but probably unwise, as theocratic sovereignty doesn't fit neatly into any of the four grid squares.
I think [b:Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|34146147|Climate Leviathan A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|Joel Wainwright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498926163l/34146147._SX50_.jpg|55183185] seeks to combine philosophy in an academic mode with political writing on climate change policies in a popular non-fiction mode. I found it perfectly readable and clearly phrased, just didn't get a lot out of it myself as it forced much that I'd already read into a reductive grid format. The depressing tone is par for the course for any climate change book published since 2019, as things really are going to hell. Nonetheless, I would recommend the alarming insights of Naomi Klein in [b:Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World|138505710|Doppelganger A Trip into the Mirror World|Naomi Klein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1689105362l/138505710._SY75_.jpg|167494133] and Andreas Malm in [b:White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism|56708410|White Skin, Black Fuel On the Danger of Fossil Fascism|Andreas Malm|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1623412638l/56708410._SY75_.jpg|88659555] instead. Both books are explanatory rather than theoretical; [b:Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|34146147|Climate Leviathan A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|Joel Wainwright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498926163l/34146147._SX50_.jpg|55183185] certainly reminded me that political theory based on 17th to 19th century philosophy isn't helpful or comforting in the face of climate catastrophe. For something hopeful, on the other hand, I suggest looking further back in time to [b:The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity|56269264|The Dawn of Everything A New History of Humanity|David Graeber|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1617072525l/56269264._SX50_.jpg|87659801] by Davids Graeber and Wengrow. show less
Anyway, the authors of [b:Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|34146147|Climate Leviathan A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|Joel Wainwright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498926163l/34146147._SX50_.jpg|55183185] attempt to condense the political possibilities of climate change into a neat two by two grid. This structure is similar to [b:Four Futures: Life After Capitalism|22551901|Four Futures Life After Capitalism|Peter Frase|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1474751383l/22551901._SY75_.jpg|42009582], except it draws predominantly on philosophy and political theory rather than science fiction. The two variables forming Wainwright and Mann's grid are planetary/anti-planetary sovereignty and capitalist/non-capitalist. Of the four possibilities, the one the book is named after combines planetary sovereignty (i.e. world government in some form) with capitalism. The name is inspired by Hobbes. Its non-capitalist counterpart is termed Climate Mao and seems to be a 'what if China takes over' scenario. The capitalist anti-planetary sovereignty scenario, which we're currently in, is termed Climate Behemoth and obviously isn't good. The fourth and final scenario is unfortunately named Climate X, which made me realise that Elon Musk has made an entire letter of the alphabet absolutely cringe. What a way to waste billions. In any case, the book argues that this non-capitalist and anti-planetary sovereignty scenario would be preferable to the other three but is also the least likely.
While reading [b:Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|34146147|Climate Leviathan A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|Joel Wainwright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498926163l/34146147._SX50_.jpg|55183185] I did find myself wondering: does this genuinely add anything to what I've already read? The authors critique, synthesise, and reference material from many authors old (including Marx, Gramsci, Einstein, Kant, & Adorno) and new (including [a:Andreas Malm|292496|Andreas Malm|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1469288948p2/292496.jpg], [a:Naomi Klein|419|Naomi Klein|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1494619590p2/419.jpg], [a:Joseph Stiglitz|22624320|Joseph Stiglitz|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], & [a:Thomas Piketty|795282|Thomas Piketty|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1676594613p2/795282.jpg]). Of course building on previous research and placing your own contributions in a wider context is essential to academic writing. Yet I found little that seemed new to me and was merely reminded of the weakness of the Paris Agreement, the incompatibility of radical emissions cuts with capitalism, and the failures of adaptation to extreme weather. All very depressing, even when leavened with philosophical references. I did like how this point was phrased, though:
Leviathan's sovereignity is posited as nothing less than the functional social adaptation to the state of nature. This thread ties the entire Western European tradition of political theory together. Historically, appeals to nature and biology are always used to justify and secure the position of the prevailing elite. Nature sides with the powerful.
None of this is to deny the value of scientific study of nature, the legitimacy of evolutionary theory, or valid uses of the concept 'adaptation' in social and political analysis. We are all subjects of ideology. No one can wholly rejects ones conceptual inheritance any more than one can wholly refuse the knowledge it affirms. But grave problems arise when we forget the irrevocably metaphorical quality of all natural and biological concepts that circulate in political life.
This, on the other hand, was merely a huge downer:
To address its contradictions - including the ecological contradiction that capital's growth is destroying the planet - capitalism needs a planetary manager, a Keynesian world state. But elites have proven reluctant to build it, and it appears unlikely to miraculously realise itself. So, the only apparent capitalist solution to climate change is presently impossible; the only even marginally possible green Keynesianism that could save us is still predicated upon the territorial nation-state.
[b:Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|34146147|Climate Leviathan A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|Joel Wainwright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498926163l/34146147._SX50_.jpg|55183185]'s tone and conclusions essentially presuppose that hope is lost. Climate Behemoth, the path we're currently on, is the worst of the four options on offer. Climate Leviathan looks impossible and would be oppressive; Climate Mao likewise. The latter sounded to me somewhat the the Climate Change War Communism briefly outlined by Andreas Malm in [b:Corona, Climate, Chronic Emergency: War Communism in the Twenty-First Century|54619224|Corona, Climate, Chronic Emergency War Communism in the Twenty-First Century|Andreas Malm|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1595822734l/54619224._SY75_.jpg|85217012]. Climate X, on the other hand, appears impossible to articulate, let alone build a path to. Including proposals from Osama Bin Laden among the examples was audacious but probably unwise, as theocratic sovereignty doesn't fit neatly into any of the four grid squares.
I think [b:Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|34146147|Climate Leviathan A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|Joel Wainwright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498926163l/34146147._SX50_.jpg|55183185] seeks to combine philosophy in an academic mode with political writing on climate change policies in a popular non-fiction mode. I found it perfectly readable and clearly phrased, just didn't get a lot out of it myself as it forced much that I'd already read into a reductive grid format. The depressing tone is par for the course for any climate change book published since 2019, as things really are going to hell. Nonetheless, I would recommend the alarming insights of Naomi Klein in [b:Doppelganger: A Trip into the Mirror World|138505710|Doppelganger A Trip into the Mirror World|Naomi Klein|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1689105362l/138505710._SY75_.jpg|167494133] and Andreas Malm in [b:White Skin, Black Fuel: On the Danger of Fossil Fascism|56708410|White Skin, Black Fuel On the Danger of Fossil Fascism|Andreas Malm|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1623412638l/56708410._SY75_.jpg|88659555] instead. Both books are explanatory rather than theoretical; [b:Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|34146147|Climate Leviathan A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future|Joel Wainwright|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498926163l/34146147._SX50_.jpg|55183185] certainly reminded me that political theory based on 17th to 19th century philosophy isn't helpful or comforting in the face of climate catastrophe. For something hopeful, on the other hand, I suggest looking further back in time to [b:The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity|56269264|The Dawn of Everything A New History of Humanity|David Graeber|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1617072525l/56269264._SX50_.jpg|87659801] by Davids Graeber and Wengrow. show less
The End, by Joel Wainwright, offers a very interesting take on Marx's change in ideas from early to late. In doing so, Wainwright also offers some broad ideas for making change based on how he interprets Marx.
I'll admit that it has been years since I've read Hegel or Marx, with a few short exceptions for both. While this doesn't affect getting a grasp on the arguments he makes, I would like to go back and reread some of the works, mostly Marx, with this new perspective in mind. Fortunately I show more have read some Darwin more recently for a project I was working on, so those areas were easier for me to keep up with.
The arguments are laid out relatively well, though if you're weak on connecting less obvious points you might wan to take your time and digest each section before moving on, or take good notes. Most of the book falls heavily into the theory you expect from some academic works, but it isn't inaccessible if you read with an open mind to new ideas. In the last part he aims to express his ideas in "relatively practicable terms." I'll admit he did make it more straightforward but it was far from a simple explanation. That said, if you didn't lose your footing during the first seven chapters, the eighth will help clarify some points for you. I do think this is one of those books that will reward a second reading, if you were reading to gain insight and not expecting to grasp some complex argument on one quick reading.
I also went back and reread some sections of the book he mentions, Climate Leviathan, which he wrote with Geoff Mann. This volume does help support much of what is there, and while it may go a bit further I think what it did was go a little deeper into some of their thinking. I would suggest reading both, though I'm not sure the order will matter very much.
Recommended for both academics interested in Marx as well as those wanting to figure out how we can escape almost certain extinction because of our self-righteous sense of superiority over other creatures and the world itself.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less
I'll admit that it has been years since I've read Hegel or Marx, with a few short exceptions for both. While this doesn't affect getting a grasp on the arguments he makes, I would like to go back and reread some of the works, mostly Marx, with this new perspective in mind. Fortunately I show more have read some Darwin more recently for a project I was working on, so those areas were easier for me to keep up with.
The arguments are laid out relatively well, though if you're weak on connecting less obvious points you might wan to take your time and digest each section before moving on, or take good notes. Most of the book falls heavily into the theory you expect from some academic works, but it isn't inaccessible if you read with an open mind to new ideas. In the last part he aims to express his ideas in "relatively practicable terms." I'll admit he did make it more straightforward but it was far from a simple explanation. That said, if you didn't lose your footing during the first seven chapters, the eighth will help clarify some points for you. I do think this is one of those books that will reward a second reading, if you were reading to gain insight and not expecting to grasp some complex argument on one quick reading.
I also went back and reread some sections of the book he mentions, Climate Leviathan, which he wrote with Geoff Mann. This volume does help support much of what is there, and while it may go a bit further I think what it did was go a little deeper into some of their thinking. I would suggest reading both, though I'm not sure the order will matter very much.
Recommended for both academics interested in Marx as well as those wanting to figure out how we can escape almost certain extinction because of our self-righteous sense of superiority over other creatures and the world itself.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. show less
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