Recent reading
Jul. 11th, 2018 10:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaDebt: the First 5000 Years by David Graeber (2011)
I'm so glad I discovered Graeber. This is a 600-page brick, but it's also a page-turner--I don't know how his prose is so compelling! And the subject is compelling, too. It's about how money and debt and society works. I vaguely remember when this book came out. I didn't read it then, thinking it was just one of a number of leftist books about the financial crisis. But it's so much more than that, and it is enriched so much by his anthropological perspective, having that breadth of what human societies can look like to draw on, rather than being limited to capitalism and its western history. Highly recommended; must get in physical form so I can reread and lend it.
Fossil Capital by Andreas Malm (2016)
This is also a brick, but not such a highly readable one--it loomed in my to-read pile for months before I finally tackled it. In contrast to the previous book, this one delves deeply into capitalism and its western history. But despite the occasionally dense prose, it is very rewarding! This is a really important book to read, if you want to understand what's standing in the way of stopping CO2 emissions. I first picked it up because I was so impressed by Timothy Mitchell's Carbon Democracy, and Malm's book seems on the surface to have the opposite conclusion: Mitchell is saying that workers used their control over fossil energy (coal, specifically) as a lever for greater democracy, and Malm is saying that coal was introduced by capitalists to better control workers. But in fact they are complementary rather than contradictory. Also highly recommended!
I have an almost-finished summary of Carbon Democracy, but now I want to write up a summary of this one, too. Both books are due at the library, let's see if I can make it before I head for the forest again on Friday.
I'm so glad I discovered Graeber. This is a 600-page brick, but it's also a page-turner--I don't know how his prose is so compelling! And the subject is compelling, too. It's about how money and debt and society works. I vaguely remember when this book came out. I didn't read it then, thinking it was just one of a number of leftist books about the financial crisis. But it's so much more than that, and it is enriched so much by his anthropological perspective, having that breadth of what human societies can look like to draw on, rather than being limited to capitalism and its western history. Highly recommended; must get in physical form so I can reread and lend it.
Fossil Capital by Andreas Malm (2016)
This is also a brick, but not such a highly readable one--it loomed in my to-read pile for months before I finally tackled it. In contrast to the previous book, this one delves deeply into capitalism and its western history. But despite the occasionally dense prose, it is very rewarding! This is a really important book to read, if you want to understand what's standing in the way of stopping CO2 emissions. I first picked it up because I was so impressed by Timothy Mitchell's Carbon Democracy, and Malm's book seems on the surface to have the opposite conclusion: Mitchell is saying that workers used their control over fossil energy (coal, specifically) as a lever for greater democracy, and Malm is saying that coal was introduced by capitalists to better control workers. But in fact they are complementary rather than contradictory. Also highly recommended!
I have an almost-finished summary of Carbon Democracy, but now I want to write up a summary of this one, too. Both books are due at the library, let's see if I can make it before I head for the forest again on Friday.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-07-12 10:46 pm (UTC)The magic of time travel says your Carbon Democracy precis is up--you are a full-service blogger! Audio fic to study guides.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-07-13 08:15 am (UTC)And there's yet another study guide up now. : )