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Kevin's Reviews > The Manufacturing of Greta Thunberg
The Manufacturing of Greta Thunberg
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Kevin's review
bookshelves: econ-environment, z-questionable-other, econ-finance, econ-imperialism, econ-resources
Jan 05, 2024
bookshelves: econ-environment, z-questionable-other, econ-finance, econ-imperialism, econ-resources
Follow the Money vs. Follow the White Rabbit?
Preamble:
--One of my favourite books I read in 2023 is The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions, where Greta Thunberg is credited as the “editor�, with her name (and essays) promoting the compilation featuring some of my favourite thinkers/popularizers on the topic:
i) Jason Hickel: Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World
ii) Naomi Klein: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate and On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal
--Now, reading a book that critiques the forces supposedly manufacturing/coopting Greta (and the “high liberal status� of Naomi Klein, etc.), I’m torn:
a) On the one hand, this critique uses 2 foundational methods: (1) global perspective, esp. Global South anti-imperialism, and (2) follow the money (anti-capitalism).
b) On the other hand, what mass alternatives does it actually propose for the Global North (which is still the target audience), and how much does this actually overlap with the wide spectrum supporting Greta/Klein etc.?
Highlights:
1) Leading by Critique vs. Leading by Example:
--If the content is legit, does the delivery really matter?
…Well, it turns out that in politics (I mean social decision-making in general, not merely the narrow realm of political theatre spectatorship), you need to at the very least communicate (thus, delivery) with others (unless you resort to dictating). We live in a huge world (much bigger than those you argue with online) with a tangled mess of contradicting contexts/perspectives.
--If we take a step back, what is the big picture project behind this book? Who will actually be influenced by it, what tools will they learn and how will their actions be affected?
a) General public?
--My project is trying to engage with those around me starting from where they are (as no one is born a radical/leftist), rather than provoking an immediate confrontation. The latter is so much easier, since all it takes to disagree is miscommunication, which is the norm in “politics� (see the foundational video series ). Dominance hierarchies know this intuitively, hence their key tactic of divide-and-rule.
…How do we learn various contexts, speak various “languages� and address various concerns, unearthing the roots of contradictions rather than being diverted by surface divisions?
…Here, I’m influenced by the shift I see in Vijay Prashad, deprioritizing “winning� obscure leftist theoretical debates with the “best� answers (popular in academic and online silos), seeking more to synthesize with others to shift their direction to find their better potentials despite disagreements elsewhere. This is why Vijay, a Global South anti-imperialist/communist, participates with Progressive International along with Naomi Klein, Bernie Sanders, Cornel West, Medea Benjamin (CODE PINK), and others who this book labels with “high liberal status�.
--Meanwhile, this book spends a lot of time tracing a sprawling web of connections to such “liberals�, often just to their names as if the consequences are self-explanatory. When specific reasons/examples are provided (i.e. connections to green capitalism), I will praise (see later); otherwise, this seems self-limiting when alternatives (i.e. Leading by Example) are surprisingly absent.
…I say surprising because the author does have content on alternatives elsewhere, but a specific alternative (rather than a general anti-imperialism/anti-capitalism) is only named in passing at the end of Chapter 3. Thankfully, I’ve read other sources accessibly promoting this book’s foundational alternative of the People’s Agreement of Cochabamba, Bolivia (thus, these other sources get A+ for both content and delivery); this is the basis of A People’s Green New Deal, which doesn’t just critique Global North “green capitalism� Green New Deals, but also details alternatives.
--Vijay also provides a general background of the geopolitics of the Global South in 20th century decolonization, including the G77:
-The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World
-The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South
--We can also add the accessible The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth (Nick Estes, a member of The Red Nation, also participates in Progressive International) for further synthesis.
b) Leftists?
--While I think this book is several levels above the critique of Hickel/degrowth by Less Sucks: Overpopulation, Eugenics, and Degrowth, I still worry about the narrow delivery; will it only reach fringe leftists, who may have the sharpest critiques, but mostly use them to cut more divisions between nearby leftists/potential allies?
--Yes, critique is an essential first step. Marx was a legend at it, and most likely a pain-in-the-ass to be around. But there is strategy behind the best critique. Marx’s Capital project, a critique of Classical liberal political economy, provided foundational tools, and still required more accessible/applicable delivery.
…One of Marx’s tools, historical materialism, requires carefully considering the material conditions, and in politics this comes down to bargaining power. Instead of merely supporting the “best� ideas in an abstract, idealistic manner, where is the materialist “power structure analysis� for building winning coalitions?
…If a strategy actually involves ostracizing progressives as “liberals� of “green capitalism�, then do carefully spell it out so we can evaluate. In this case, what are the winning coalitions to win and enforce the demands of Bolivia’s indigenous communities/G77/small island states, besides from your idealistic best wishes? What does that actually look like in the various contexts of the Global North (once again, this is the target audience)?
…These are not rhetorical questions. There are materialist strategies/tactics such as strikes (not just production but also distribution, focusing on chokepoints), prefigurative variations of strikes (i.e. keep production/distribution running but shut down the profit/rent superstructure, to demonstrate worker-control directed by social needs), learning from the Vietnam Syndrome to promote anti-war/anti-imperialism, etc. These are constructive alternatives beyond deconstructive critiques. But these need to be spelled out, because we haven’t invented mind-reading.
…see comments below for the rest of the review�
Preamble:
--One of my favourite books I read in 2023 is The Climate Book: The Facts and the Solutions, where Greta Thunberg is credited as the “editor�, with her name (and essays) promoting the compilation featuring some of my favourite thinkers/popularizers on the topic:
i) Jason Hickel: Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World
ii) Naomi Klein: This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate and On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal
--Now, reading a book that critiques the forces supposedly manufacturing/coopting Greta (and the “high liberal status� of Naomi Klein, etc.), I’m torn:
a) On the one hand, this critique uses 2 foundational methods: (1) global perspective, esp. Global South anti-imperialism, and (2) follow the money (anti-capitalism).
b) On the other hand, what mass alternatives does it actually propose for the Global North (which is still the target audience), and how much does this actually overlap with the wide spectrum supporting Greta/Klein etc.?
Highlights:
1) Leading by Critique vs. Leading by Example:
--If the content is legit, does the delivery really matter?
…Well, it turns out that in politics (I mean social decision-making in general, not merely the narrow realm of political theatre spectatorship), you need to at the very least communicate (thus, delivery) with others (unless you resort to dictating). We live in a huge world (much bigger than those you argue with online) with a tangled mess of contradicting contexts/perspectives.
--If we take a step back, what is the big picture project behind this book? Who will actually be influenced by it, what tools will they learn and how will their actions be affected?
a) General public?
--My project is trying to engage with those around me starting from where they are (as no one is born a radical/leftist), rather than provoking an immediate confrontation. The latter is so much easier, since all it takes to disagree is miscommunication, which is the norm in “politics� (see the foundational video series ). Dominance hierarchies know this intuitively, hence their key tactic of divide-and-rule.
…How do we learn various contexts, speak various “languages� and address various concerns, unearthing the roots of contradictions rather than being diverted by surface divisions?
…Here, I’m influenced by the shift I see in Vijay Prashad, deprioritizing “winning� obscure leftist theoretical debates with the “best� answers (popular in academic and online silos), seeking more to synthesize with others to shift their direction to find their better potentials despite disagreements elsewhere. This is why Vijay, a Global South anti-imperialist/communist, participates with Progressive International along with Naomi Klein, Bernie Sanders, Cornel West, Medea Benjamin (CODE PINK), and others who this book labels with “high liberal status�.
--Meanwhile, this book spends a lot of time tracing a sprawling web of connections to such “liberals�, often just to their names as if the consequences are self-explanatory. When specific reasons/examples are provided (i.e. connections to green capitalism), I will praise (see later); otherwise, this seems self-limiting when alternatives (i.e. Leading by Example) are surprisingly absent.
…I say surprising because the author does have content on alternatives elsewhere, but a specific alternative (rather than a general anti-imperialism/anti-capitalism) is only named in passing at the end of Chapter 3. Thankfully, I’ve read other sources accessibly promoting this book’s foundational alternative of the People’s Agreement of Cochabamba, Bolivia (thus, these other sources get A+ for both content and delivery); this is the basis of A People’s Green New Deal, which doesn’t just critique Global North “green capitalism� Green New Deals, but also details alternatives.
--Vijay also provides a general background of the geopolitics of the Global South in 20th century decolonization, including the G77:
-The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World
-The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South
--We can also add the accessible The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth (Nick Estes, a member of The Red Nation, also participates in Progressive International) for further synthesis.
b) Leftists?
--While I think this book is several levels above the critique of Hickel/degrowth by Less Sucks: Overpopulation, Eugenics, and Degrowth, I still worry about the narrow delivery; will it only reach fringe leftists, who may have the sharpest critiques, but mostly use them to cut more divisions between nearby leftists/potential allies?
--Yes, critique is an essential first step. Marx was a legend at it, and most likely a pain-in-the-ass to be around. But there is strategy behind the best critique. Marx’s Capital project, a critique of Classical liberal political economy, provided foundational tools, and still required more accessible/applicable delivery.
…One of Marx’s tools, historical materialism, requires carefully considering the material conditions, and in politics this comes down to bargaining power. Instead of merely supporting the “best� ideas in an abstract, idealistic manner, where is the materialist “power structure analysis� for building winning coalitions?
…If a strategy actually involves ostracizing progressives as “liberals� of “green capitalism�, then do carefully spell it out so we can evaluate. In this case, what are the winning coalitions to win and enforce the demands of Bolivia’s indigenous communities/G77/small island states, besides from your idealistic best wishes? What does that actually look like in the various contexts of the Global North (once again, this is the target audience)?
…These are not rhetorical questions. There are materialist strategies/tactics such as strikes (not just production but also distribution, focusing on chokepoints), prefigurative variations of strikes (i.e. keep production/distribution running but shut down the profit/rent superstructure, to demonstrate worker-control directed by social needs), learning from the Vietnam Syndrome to promote anti-war/anti-imperialism, etc. These are constructive alternatives beyond deconstructive critiques. But these need to be spelled out, because we haven’t invented mind-reading.
…see comments below for the rest of the review�
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February 17, 2020
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September 6, 2022
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December 28, 2022
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OMFG. "Less Sucks" sounds even more vulgar and intellectually dishonest than Leigh Phillips' take on degrowth.
Kevin wrote: "OMFG. "Less Sucks" sounds even more vulgar and intellectually dishonest than Leigh Phillips' take on degrowth."I'm mostly saddened by the narcissism of small differences amongst the Left/radicals. There's definitely a line between constructive critique vs. assuming the worst intentions in others.
It's one thing to assume the worst in individuals like Bill Gates/Al Gore/Richard Branson, as clearly their roles as elite capitalists deserves a large amount of suspicion (and we can then debate what range of suspicion is healthy).
But clearly Naomi Klein/Jason Hickel do not deserve such a scorched earth treatment, which I felt Less Sucks is more blatant with than this book... Klein/Hickel are usually quite careful with big labels that Gates/Gore/Branson types try to coopt...
--Perhaps the above is a lot to ask for from a short book, but we need to appreciate the (often unintentional) divisive costs of pure critique given the fractured state of the Left.
--Let’s summarize the tools provided in the book. Once again, much of the background foundations are missing, so I’ll try to fill those in:
i) Capitalism in crisis:
--The overall context is capitalism (which actually isn’t carefully defined, so I’ll assume as endless private accumulation via market commodification) is in crisis. The existing markets are saturated and contributing to social crises, thus lack new investments and growth. The cancerous irrationality of capitalism means it is very volatile, where a blockage in its circulation can cause a systemic crisis, a downward spiral of self-destructing pessimism popularized in the depiction of the Great Depression in The Grapes of Wrath.
ii) “Green Capitalism�:
--The remaining capitalist hope is in the new market commodification of nature, thus green capitalism. However, nature is a fictitious commodity as it is not produced by labour, where capitalists have to compete to reduce the cost of production, where the final product (commodity) is intended for market buying/selling (indeed, mass consumption in capitalism’s post-WWII “Golden Age�).
…Instead, nature will be commodified via the most hierarchical/complex financial markets dominated by elite/institutional investors, as a way to privatize/pillage/speculate on nature/the Commons. Thus, none of this is actually “green� in terms of addressing climate/ecological crises. It’s not even profit in the sense of industrial profits from competitive industrial firms innovating to cut their costs of production. It is violent (i.e. backed by the capitalist State) privatization and rent-seeking.
iii) “Non-Profit Industrial Complex�:
--Thus, “Green Capitalism� is not run by industrial firms; instead, its run by opaque Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) which administer the financial pillaging.
--Schemes include:
-ex. “Climate Finance Partnership�, backed by BlackRock (the world’s largest “asset� manager), the governments of France/Germany, etc.
-ex. Al Gore’s “Climate Reality Project�, “Generation Investment� which is pure capitalism thus pure cancerous growth.
--The privatization/rent-seeking targets: ecosystem services, technocratic options (Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), Bioenergy with CCS, Enhanced Oil Recovery, nuclear energy, etc.), and crucially collective institutional investors esp. the $100 trillion in pension funds. This is also the corporate cooptation of fossil fuel divestment.
iv) The Marketing of “Greta�:
--Thus, the forces behind Greta want to sell this “Green Capitalism� by marketing to the younger generation (who are most concerned about the future climate and who are falling behind the rent-seeking capitalism-in-crisis) through social media/digital marketing.
v) The “Green New Deal� Trojan Horse:
--Yes, peak liberal New York Times stooge Thomas L. Friedman’s supported a “Green New Deal� to revive capitalism in 2007.
--I have to interject here: radicals aware there are very liberal versions of the “Green New Deal�. We have to investigate pass the labels. I already referenced A People’s Green New Deal centering the Global South critique, and Klein’s On Fire: The Burning Case for a Green New Deal. We can add DiEM25’s "Green New Deal for Europe", Chomsky’s collaboration with progressive Pollin The Climate Crisis and the Global Green New Deal: The Political Economy of Saving the Planet, etc.
vi) A Pass for Imperialist Militarism:
--Global North (esp. US’s) military, with its sprawling Military Industrial Complex, is the world’s leading driver of climate/ecological destruction. Yet this is so often missed in Global North environmentalism, as it focuses on individual consumption rather than institutional polluters. Now, the details to this issue and strategies to combat it are missing in both this book and The Climate Book edited by Greta!
vii) A New “Green Revolution�:
--For the Global South, a new round of capitalist technocratic dispossessions are underway (as the Global South has always been capitalism’s source for raw materials/dumping ground; “Green Revolution� refers to the “Third Agricultural Revolution� that spread to the Global South in the 1960s), which really deserves an entire book.
-ex. Bill Gates� “Gates Foundation� using micro-finance to colonize the Global South into debt dependency/financial commodification, along with Mastercard etc.