Third upload of my photos from the #LandschaftsparkNord at #Duisburg is now on #flickr. I've now figured out there will probably be nine uploads in total, so 50-60 photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelgrr/55304944109/

Third upload of my photos from the #LandschaftsparkNord at #Duisburg is now on #flickr. I've now figured out there will probably be nine uploads in total, so 50-60 photos. https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelgrr/55304944109/

“We’re entering the age of finitude capitalism”
* "There are many states, or “company-states”, which are currently setting up new types of semi-formal colonisation, in various places." Interview with economist Arnaud Orain >>
https://www.philonomist.com/en/interview/were-entering-age-finitude-capitalism
* What kind of capitalism is possible in a world of limited resources? Arnaud Orain
"Adapted to a world of limited resources, this "capitalism of finitude" seeks to privatize and militarize the seas and territories, impose high prices, consolidate resource "silos," and reserve exclusive markets. Drastically reducing our energy consumption is one alternative to this authoritarian capitalism, but the means to protect it remain unclear.' >>
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TD7wjURLJM
#FinitePlanet #LandGrabbing #FinitudeCapitalism #resources #energy #NaturalResources #oil #StraitOfHormuz #SeizeTerritories #militarisation #monopoly #predatory #colonisation #conquer #empire #TheLawOfSpoils #MaritimeRoutes #deindustrialisation #CompanyStates #ecology #EnvironmentalLimits #climate #limits #finitude #ConfiscatedWorld
Image: 'Ships of the East India Company at Sea', "A fleet of East Indiamen at sea", Nicholas Pocock, 1803 >>
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:A_fleet_of_East_Indiamen_at_sea.jpg
Good news to share 🎉 ‘The urban life of workers in post-Soviet Russia’ will be out in paperback on January 20th making the book more affordable and accessible.
ManchesterUP is currently offering 40% off all titles, including pre-orders, with the code JAN40, valid until January 31st.
North America-based customers should use the code at checkout 👉🏽https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526195746/
#workers #workingclass #inequality #everydaystruggle #deindustrialisation #resistance #Russia
While industrialisation remains a top priority for Global South countries, debt-driven austerity, corporate dominance, wars and sanctions keep many poorer nations locked into dependency and underdevelopment. By Vijay Prashad Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research CN at 30 In mid-
German vehicle giant #Volkswagen will close a manufacturing plant in #Germany on Tuesday for the first time in its 88-year history.
Volkswagen agreed with the works council and union in 2024 to lay off 35,000 people and reduce capacity in Germany in response to competition from Chinese manufacturers, declining demand in the European market, and slower-than-expected adoption of electric vehicles.
As part of the agreement, Volkswagen's vehicle production in #Dresden, the capital of the eastern German state of Saxony, was to cease by the end of this year.
The firm will halt vehicle production at its Dresden plant on Tuesday, marking the first time in its 88-year history that the company has closed a production facility in Germany.
The closure of the Dresden factory comes after Volkswagen experienced cash flow problems due to weak Chinese sales, declining European demand, and pressure on sales to the #US from tariffs. The company needs to finance investments of approximately €160 billion ($187.9 billion) over the next five years.
Volkswagen's Dresden factory has produced fewer than 200,000 vehicles since it began production in 2002.
The company had positioned the Dresden plant as a flagship showcasing the company's capabilities at the time. Initially, the Phaeton and later the ID.3 were produced there. However, neither model contributed to Volkswagen's success.
The closure of this factory was seen as a small step by Volkswagen to survive amid fierce competition from #China, US tariffs, excessive bureaucracy in Germany, high energy costs, extensive employee rights, and unprecedented internal bureaucracy.
An online conversation with Steven High on Deindustrialisation and the Environment, organized by CNR-ISMed Istituto di Studi sul Mediterraneo and Sisam - Società Italiana di Storia Ambientale
**Tomorrow**, 11 December 2025, 4:00 p.m (CET)
The conversation is open to the public, and the transcript will be published in an upcoming issue of Global Environment
Teams link to join: http://bit.ly/48EjPW9
A new book review on ‘The urban life of workers in post-Soviet Russia’ by Dr Anna Shadrina just out in Sociology journal. I’m very pleased to see the continuing interest in my book before its upcoming paperback release on 20 Jan 2026.
Read the book review 👉🏽 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00380385251386375
@bookstondon
@sociology
@anthropology
#ethnography #socialclass #workers #urban #life #inequality #deindustrialisation #russia
According to the head of the Siemens tax service, Christian Kezer (Kaeser), investing in #Germany is becoming pointless. “In fact, there is nothing that would speak in favour of investing in Germany. Therefore, our last investments were mainly made abroad,” Kezer admitted whilst participating in an open meeting of the finance committee of the #Bundestag, as quoted in local tabloid news outlet Bild. And truth be told, the tech conglomerate—one of the country’s largest, with annual revenue for 2024 of some $82.4 billion—joins a growing wave of firms struggling to prosper within Germany. As such, the exodus by companies from Europe’s biggest economy is ushering in an era of #deindustrialisation that many fear will take years to resolve.
Gitta Connemann agreed with Kezer’s position during the meeting. “Unfortunately, the analysis is correct. Germany still has a unique foundation—3.3 million enterprises, of which 99 percent are small and medium-sized companies,” the German politician and chairman of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany’s (CDU’s) Committee on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises said. “They used to go on the overtaking lane, but today they got stuck on the side of the road. They are hampered by huge energy prices, too-high taxes and contributions, paralysing bureaucracy and hostility to innovation.”
https://internationalbanker.com/finance/germany-has-an-escalating-deindustrialisation-problem/
The European Union’s largest economy, Germany, is experiencing a deindustrialisation trend due to factors such as high energy costs, unhelpful government policies and investment shortfalls. The country’s fading industrial competitiveness isn’t likely to improve soon, with firms, discouraged by their plunging profitability, fleeing Germany.
☀️ ManchesterUP sells all its books 50% off with code SUN50, including ‘The urban life of workers in post-Soviet Russia’. Get a copy with discount by using the code when check out 👉🏽
https://manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526167637/
@bookstodon
@sociology
@anthropology
@geography
#workers #everydaylife #inequality #deindustrialisation #russia