Summary of Fossil Capital by Andreas Malm
Jul. 12th, 2018 09:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
luzulaAs a complement to Timothy Mitchell's Carbon Democracy, here is an attempt to summarize Andreas Malm's Fossil Capital. Mitchell does not dwell much on how fossil fuels first took off, which is Malm's focus for the first half of the book.
Chapter 1: In the Heat of the Past: Towards a History of the Fossil Economy
General introduction that talks about climate change, the weight of past emissions weighing on us now and present emissions weighing on the future. How did we end up burning so much fossil fuel?
Chapter 2: Scarcity, Progress, the Nature of the Human Species? Theories of the Rise of Steam
Steam power obviously arose during the Industrial Revolution. But why? One theory is that humanity and economic production was trapped in competition for the scarce energy resources of biofuels, wind and water, and coal broke the barrier and opened the way for economic expansion. There's a Malthusian variant: overpopulation and competition for resources makes people poor, and society is forced into technological innovation. Promoters of the "Anthropocene" concept often see the root of climate change in humanity as a whole, driven by human nature and sometimes ultimately in the invention of fire.
What comes first—steam engines or capitalism? "Productive force determinism" says that steam engines came first and were adopted because of their effectiveness, and this mode of production gave rise to capitalism, because of the division of labor it required. But was this actually what happened?
Chapter 3: The Long Life of the Flow: Industrial Energy Before Coal
Malm defines "the flow" as wind, sun, and waterpower, "animate power" as power from humans or animals working, and "the stock" as fossil fuels (he doesn't talk much about biofuels, not sure where he would class it). The flow is necessarily different depending on where or when you are, animate power is limited by people having to eat and rest and having a will of their own, but the stock could be transported and stored (though it required work). Early industrialization relied primarily on waterpower, where the cotton industry stands out in the period 1730-1820 for its exponential growth and high rates of profit for the owners.
At the same time, coal had been burnt for a long time for heating and cooking, and in the so-called proto-fossil economy of the Elizabethan leap (since 1650) it was used by many households. But not as a source of power, and without that, it would not lead to exponential growth of energy use since domestic heating needs are limited. Malm compares with the Chinese empire of the Northern Song which also had a proto-fossil economy but which never began using coal for power. Watt, who invented the steam engine, at first failed to sell it to mill-owners since coal was more expensive than water, which was free. So why was steam eventually adopted?
Chapter 4: "There Are Mighty Energies in those Masses": Mobilizing Power in a Time of Crisis
In the early 1820:s there was a boom and then an overproduction bust in the cotton industry. Depression led to protests and strikes, which were first forbidden, and then unions were grudgingly allowed. Mills were dependent on skilled labor which could impose wage hikes. Owners countered this by mechanization, leading to worse bargaining positions for unions. In the case of weavers, who wove at home: their labor was cheap and abundant, but they could pilfer material and control their own rate of work, which is why owners found it more profitable to mechanize in this case as well. But why were these factories increasingly driven by steam and not water?
Chapter 5: Puzzles of the Transition: The Lasting Advantages of Water
In fact waterpower was not scarce, and there were lots of unexploited locations that could have been used for factories. It was also a lot cheaper than coal, was entirely capable of delivering power in the quantities needed, and was operationally safer. So why was steam adopted instead?
Chapter 6: Fleeing the Flowing Commons: The Expansion of Waterpower that Never Happened
This chapter follows an engineer called Robert Thom who was an advocate of waterpower, and constructed ingenious systems of reservoirs to control it. But his plans for large-scale such systems failed, largely because capitalists were too competitive to work together well enough to fund such a venture, even if they would save money by it.
Chapter 7: A Ticket to the Town: Advantages of Steam in Space
Water mills were bound to a site with favorable conditions for waterpower, and had to bring the workers there by means of "colonies": they built expensive houses, schools, etc to make it an attractive place to work. By contrast, a steam-powered mill could be sited in a town with lots of workers, who could be fired at will when they got uppity. Towns were also closer to markets. At first, rural water mills had access to unfree labor (children from poor-houses) but this was increasingly regulated because of abuses. Also owners increasingly didn't want the responsibility of taking care of them—they preferred "free" workers.
Chapter 8: A Force to Count On: Advantages of Steam in Time
Waterpower varied with the seasons and with the weather. Workers were then expected to work longer on days when water was available, in return for getting time off when it wasn't. The labor unions pushed through legislation for the ten-hour working day, which turned into a disadvantage for waterpower since owners could not anymore make up for dry times. And correspondingly an advantage for steam, where owners responded by stepping up the speed of production.
Chapter 9: "No Government but Fuel": The Derivation of Power from Coal in Bourgeous Ideology
Steam was lauded almost as a living thing in bourgeous writing, precisely because it obeyed so well, in contrast to human workers. (Lots of examples follow...)
Chapter 10: "Go and Stop the Smoke!": The Moment of Resistance against Steam
In contrast, in worker's writings, steam was seen as an evil demon enslaving them. The general strike of 1842 was called the "plug riots" because workers pulled the plugs of steam engines to stop them. The strike started in the coal mines, and then spread. It was put down by military force.
Chapter 11: A Long Trail of Smoke: The Fossil Economy Consummated
Later in the 19th century, domestic consumption of coal lost its previous dominance (in 1903 it stood at 14%), in favor of production. Coal mines brought out more coal in answer to demand. Britain's CO2 emissions were 5-6 times higher in 1850 than France's and the USA's.
Chapter 12: The Myth of the Human Enterprise: Towards a Different Theory
Energy scarcity giving rise to steam power is thus falsified, and so is the Malthusian theory—coal consumption rose much faster than human population. It can't be blamed on humanity in general, that is letting the capitalists off the hook--steam power was foisted on the rest of society against its will. Also, "productive force determinism" seems falsified also since capitalism came first.
Chapter 13: Fossil Capital: The Energy Basis of Bourgeous Property Relations
Basic Marxist theory (C → M → C and M → C → M and stuff like that), bla bla, with the addition that fossil fuel is needed for each step in the accumulation of capital. Then Malm goes into how other societies have managed common-pool resources such as water, which mill-owners failed to do because they had to compete. Then some flights of theory about "abstract space" and "abstract time" which I think could be cut. Although there's also a lovely C S Lewis quote: "Man's power over nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with nature as its instrument." Then there's a comparison with American adoption of steam, and finally an examination of the Elizabethan leap: wood was scarce only around London, not in the whole country. Coal mining took off because land ownership laws were changed to allow it, and people living on that land protested but were subdued with force.
Chapter 14: China as the Chimney of the World: Fossil Capital Today
An examination of the Kuznets curve (environmental impact as a function of affluence) and the observation that capital in fact is drawn to countries on the high carbon intensity point of that curve, with lots of cheap labor but with infrastructure sufficient for factories. Thus companies relocating to China (and other places). Labor is more place-bound, which explains its relative defeat. When the influx of new workers from the countryside lessened, China's workers could more easily strike and get wage hikes. Then follows mechanization, capital flight, rinse, repeat.
Chapter 15: A Return to the Flow? Obstacles to the Transition
The problem of trying to stop burning fossil fuel in favor of renewable energy is that capitalists have sunk so much of their capital into the fossil infrastructure and fossil reserves. Renewable energy is not attractive to the big power companies precisely because sun and wind are free and the costs of e g solar panels are dropping. Also, all the things that made capital abandon the flow in the first place are still there, and there's tons of coal still to dig up even if oil runs out. Projects to utilize sun or wind power on a large scale still fail because of the cooperation needed. We would need basically a war-time economy directed at switching energy systems, but are neo-liberal governments going to do this? Capitalists push for geoengineering as a solution instead, so they can go on emitting (here there are some horrible scenarios).
Chapter 16: Time to Pull the Plugs: On CO2 as an Effluent of Power
Ending words where Malm tries to be upbeat despite the fact that we are probably fucked. States are the only actors that could organize the transition, but they're not going to do it unless a social movement makes them. So let's be that social movement.
Chapter 1: In the Heat of the Past: Towards a History of the Fossil Economy
General introduction that talks about climate change, the weight of past emissions weighing on us now and present emissions weighing on the future. How did we end up burning so much fossil fuel?
Chapter 2: Scarcity, Progress, the Nature of the Human Species? Theories of the Rise of Steam
Steam power obviously arose during the Industrial Revolution. But why? One theory is that humanity and economic production was trapped in competition for the scarce energy resources of biofuels, wind and water, and coal broke the barrier and opened the way for economic expansion. There's a Malthusian variant: overpopulation and competition for resources makes people poor, and society is forced into technological innovation. Promoters of the "Anthropocene" concept often see the root of climate change in humanity as a whole, driven by human nature and sometimes ultimately in the invention of fire.
What comes first—steam engines or capitalism? "Productive force determinism" says that steam engines came first and were adopted because of their effectiveness, and this mode of production gave rise to capitalism, because of the division of labor it required. But was this actually what happened?
Chapter 3: The Long Life of the Flow: Industrial Energy Before Coal
Malm defines "the flow" as wind, sun, and waterpower, "animate power" as power from humans or animals working, and "the stock" as fossil fuels (he doesn't talk much about biofuels, not sure where he would class it). The flow is necessarily different depending on where or when you are, animate power is limited by people having to eat and rest and having a will of their own, but the stock could be transported and stored (though it required work). Early industrialization relied primarily on waterpower, where the cotton industry stands out in the period 1730-1820 for its exponential growth and high rates of profit for the owners.
At the same time, coal had been burnt for a long time for heating and cooking, and in the so-called proto-fossil economy of the Elizabethan leap (since 1650) it was used by many households. But not as a source of power, and without that, it would not lead to exponential growth of energy use since domestic heating needs are limited. Malm compares with the Chinese empire of the Northern Song which also had a proto-fossil economy but which never began using coal for power. Watt, who invented the steam engine, at first failed to sell it to mill-owners since coal was more expensive than water, which was free. So why was steam eventually adopted?
Chapter 4: "There Are Mighty Energies in those Masses": Mobilizing Power in a Time of Crisis
In the early 1820:s there was a boom and then an overproduction bust in the cotton industry. Depression led to protests and strikes, which were first forbidden, and then unions were grudgingly allowed. Mills were dependent on skilled labor which could impose wage hikes. Owners countered this by mechanization, leading to worse bargaining positions for unions. In the case of weavers, who wove at home: their labor was cheap and abundant, but they could pilfer material and control their own rate of work, which is why owners found it more profitable to mechanize in this case as well. But why were these factories increasingly driven by steam and not water?
Chapter 5: Puzzles of the Transition: The Lasting Advantages of Water
In fact waterpower was not scarce, and there were lots of unexploited locations that could have been used for factories. It was also a lot cheaper than coal, was entirely capable of delivering power in the quantities needed, and was operationally safer. So why was steam adopted instead?
Chapter 6: Fleeing the Flowing Commons: The Expansion of Waterpower that Never Happened
This chapter follows an engineer called Robert Thom who was an advocate of waterpower, and constructed ingenious systems of reservoirs to control it. But his plans for large-scale such systems failed, largely because capitalists were too competitive to work together well enough to fund such a venture, even if they would save money by it.
Chapter 7: A Ticket to the Town: Advantages of Steam in Space
Water mills were bound to a site with favorable conditions for waterpower, and had to bring the workers there by means of "colonies": they built expensive houses, schools, etc to make it an attractive place to work. By contrast, a steam-powered mill could be sited in a town with lots of workers, who could be fired at will when they got uppity. Towns were also closer to markets. At first, rural water mills had access to unfree labor (children from poor-houses) but this was increasingly regulated because of abuses. Also owners increasingly didn't want the responsibility of taking care of them—they preferred "free" workers.
Chapter 8: A Force to Count On: Advantages of Steam in Time
Waterpower varied with the seasons and with the weather. Workers were then expected to work longer on days when water was available, in return for getting time off when it wasn't. The labor unions pushed through legislation for the ten-hour working day, which turned into a disadvantage for waterpower since owners could not anymore make up for dry times. And correspondingly an advantage for steam, where owners responded by stepping up the speed of production.
Chapter 9: "No Government but Fuel": The Derivation of Power from Coal in Bourgeous Ideology
Steam was lauded almost as a living thing in bourgeous writing, precisely because it obeyed so well, in contrast to human workers. (Lots of examples follow...)
Chapter 10: "Go and Stop the Smoke!": The Moment of Resistance against Steam
In contrast, in worker's writings, steam was seen as an evil demon enslaving them. The general strike of 1842 was called the "plug riots" because workers pulled the plugs of steam engines to stop them. The strike started in the coal mines, and then spread. It was put down by military force.
Chapter 11: A Long Trail of Smoke: The Fossil Economy Consummated
Later in the 19th century, domestic consumption of coal lost its previous dominance (in 1903 it stood at 14%), in favor of production. Coal mines brought out more coal in answer to demand. Britain's CO2 emissions were 5-6 times higher in 1850 than France's and the USA's.
Chapter 12: The Myth of the Human Enterprise: Towards a Different Theory
Energy scarcity giving rise to steam power is thus falsified, and so is the Malthusian theory—coal consumption rose much faster than human population. It can't be blamed on humanity in general, that is letting the capitalists off the hook--steam power was foisted on the rest of society against its will. Also, "productive force determinism" seems falsified also since capitalism came first.
Chapter 13: Fossil Capital: The Energy Basis of Bourgeous Property Relations
Basic Marxist theory (C → M → C and M → C → M and stuff like that), bla bla, with the addition that fossil fuel is needed for each step in the accumulation of capital. Then Malm goes into how other societies have managed common-pool resources such as water, which mill-owners failed to do because they had to compete. Then some flights of theory about "abstract space" and "abstract time" which I think could be cut. Although there's also a lovely C S Lewis quote: "Man's power over nature turns out to be a power exercised by some men over other men with nature as its instrument." Then there's a comparison with American adoption of steam, and finally an examination of the Elizabethan leap: wood was scarce only around London, not in the whole country. Coal mining took off because land ownership laws were changed to allow it, and people living on that land protested but were subdued with force.
Chapter 14: China as the Chimney of the World: Fossil Capital Today
An examination of the Kuznets curve (environmental impact as a function of affluence) and the observation that capital in fact is drawn to countries on the high carbon intensity point of that curve, with lots of cheap labor but with infrastructure sufficient for factories. Thus companies relocating to China (and other places). Labor is more place-bound, which explains its relative defeat. When the influx of new workers from the countryside lessened, China's workers could more easily strike and get wage hikes. Then follows mechanization, capital flight, rinse, repeat.
Chapter 15: A Return to the Flow? Obstacles to the Transition
The problem of trying to stop burning fossil fuel in favor of renewable energy is that capitalists have sunk so much of their capital into the fossil infrastructure and fossil reserves. Renewable energy is not attractive to the big power companies precisely because sun and wind are free and the costs of e g solar panels are dropping. Also, all the things that made capital abandon the flow in the first place are still there, and there's tons of coal still to dig up even if oil runs out. Projects to utilize sun or wind power on a large scale still fail because of the cooperation needed. We would need basically a war-time economy directed at switching energy systems, but are neo-liberal governments going to do this? Capitalists push for geoengineering as a solution instead, so they can go on emitting (here there are some horrible scenarios).
Chapter 16: Time to Pull the Plugs: On CO2 as an Effluent of Power
Ending words where Malm tries to be upbeat despite the fact that we are probably fucked. States are the only actors that could organize the transition, but they're not going to do it unless a social movement makes them. So let's be that social movement.
