In 2011 Christian Parenti wrote the powerful and, alas, prophetic book Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence. The climate crisis does not of itself dictate what will happen to human societies - instead the crisis in its many forms and features descends upon already existing social and environmental systems, intensifying, disrupting, and destroying.
Tropic of Chaos is a "prehistory" of the climate emergency in Africa, Asia, and Latin America examining the catastrophic convergence of poverty, violence, and climate change. Parenti frames analysis through an understanding of colonial histories, Cold War antagonisms, and structural adjustment and neoliberal development policies.
Militarism, counterinsurgency operations, climate fascism, and an armed lifeboat approach to the multiplying threats created by global heating shape technical and political adaptation - and risk possibilities for global cooperation to address the most ominous threat human civilization and life on earth has ever faced.
This blog attempts to update, develop, and advance Parent's research and analysis to our present moment. The blog is a collaborative effort of the students in Cultural Studies and Climate Change, ENVS & ENGL 4120 at Western Michigan University.
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