> To summarise: coal gave working-class people and their unions new and remarkable power. Because it is bulky and requires many men to move it around, coal was a catalyst for democracy and progress. Western elites turned to oil partly because they wanted to regain control over energy supplies. The oil companies developed a complex system for restricting supply to maximise profits.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/dec/29/carbon-democracy-political-power-in-the-age-of-oil-by-timothy-mitchell #SusannaRustin on
#CarbonDemocracy by
#TimothyMitchell #EnegryPolicy #ClimateChangeCarbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil by Timothy Mitchell
It’s not exactly a festive read, but this analysis of the politics behind climate change deserves to be widely shared, writes Susanna Rustin
> There’s often thought to be a negative relationship between oil and democracy. If you have a lot of oil, if you’re a state that produces a lot of oil, you seem to be undemocratic. What I try to show in the book is there’s a much longer and more interesting history of this relationship between oil and democracy, and that it involves us as much as the countries that depend on the production of oil.
https://www.democracynow.org/2013/10/8/from_caspian_sea_to_arctic_to #CarbonDemocracy by
#TimothyMitchell is quoted in
#GreatDerangement
From Caspian Sea to Arctic to Middle East, How Oil Pipelines Threaten Democracy & Planet’s Survival
We spend the hour looking at politics, money and the pursuit of oil, from the series of pipelines originating in the oil-rich Caspian Sea to the deposits in the Arctic Sea where Russia has charged 30 people with piracy for a Greenpeace protest against drilling, to the vast reserves of the Middle East that have fueled conflict for decades. Three guests join us for a roundtable discussion: Anna Galkina, a member of the London-based arts, human rights and environmental justice organization Platform; Platform founder James Marriott, author of “The Oil Road: Journeys from the Caspian Sea to the City of London”; and Timothy Mitchell, Columbia University professor and author of the books “Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil” and “Colonizing Egypt.”
> 「カーボン・デモクラシー」 エネルギー供給体制が民主主義の姿を決める
> 第二次大戦後のヨーロッパで、「反民主的」な石油エネルギーへの転換を積極的に推進したのは米国です。戦後の復興を支援したマーシャルプランには石油への切り替えが盛り込まれておりました。目的はもちろん、労働運動の力をそぐことです。なにしろ戦後のヨーロッパは民主化の要求が非常に強く、支配層は全力で左翼の鎮圧にかかりました。左翼の牙城だった炭鉱労働組合はとりわけ目障りだったようです。だから強引に石炭生産をやめさせ、労働運動をくじきたかった。
http://democracynow.jp/editorblog/14-06-13-7917#CarbonDemocracy #TimothyMitchell
ブログ：「カーボン・デモクラシー」 エネルギー供給体制が民主主義の姿を決める | Democracy Now!
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