This reading is a comprehensive overview of how capitalism has shaped our response and reaction to climate change. This book is divided into three parts – Bad Timing, Magical thinking and Starting Anyway. Bad timing deals with how Free Market Fundamentalism, Invisible Hand and similar economic ideologies are used to fuel and promote climate denial culture and ecological amnesia. Magical Thinking tackles the issues of the ‘carbon credit’ scam led by a merger between Big Business and Big Green and how it allows consumers to buy into the philosophy of pollution being the solution to pollution. Starting Anyway points to the achievements by climate warriors, incidents where democracy has won, and the power of Indigenous Rights movements. This book also includes how economies and policies can move away from ‘extractivism’ and towards renewals.
Each of these sections will introduce students to a school of thought within capitalism and how that is being used to manipulate the consumer perspective towards Climate Change. It will help them understand the psychological implications of Free Market, Invisible Hands, Green Billionaire, and Extractivist Policies. Students will also be introduced to Atmospheric Commons, Ecological Amnesia, and Climate Denial Science. It will provide them with a good balance of which economics practices have worked and which haven’t to help get a full picture of how capitalism affects climate change.
Use this tool to help your students find answers to:
What is Capitalism? Name some Capitalist ideologies and Theories.
How has capitalism shaped our perception of and response to climate change?
What can we learn from success stories to help make economic practices and policies sustainable?
About the Tool
Tool Name
Naomi Klein: This Changes Everything – Capitalism vs. The Climate
Discipline
Economics, Social Sciences, Humanities
Topic(s) in Discipline
Capitalism, Free Market Economy, Invisible Hand, Green Economy, Atmospheric Commons, Social Theory, Culture and Cultural Studies
Climate Topic
Energy, Economics and Climate Change, Climate and Society, Climate and Food Security, Policies, Politics and Environmental Governance
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