Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Carbon Capitalism: Energy, Social Reproduction and World Order

Modern civilization and its capitalist systems are bound inextricably with fossil fuels usage. But as carbon resources become scarce, what implications will this have for social reproduction based upon capitalism? Will renewable energy sustain these systems? Or will we witness the end of existing capitalist economies? This book provides an innovative and timely study that mobilizes a new theory of capitalism to explain the rise and fall of petro-market civilization. Di Muzio investigates how political economy theory has traditionally understood energy supply and usage and illuminates how the combination of carbon resources with technological development initiated the industrial revolution, building today s capitalist world order. He then examines the likelihood of renewable resources providing a feasible alternative and asks whether they can beat peak oil prices to sustain food production, health care, science and democracy. Interrogating capital as power this book examines who will be the winners and losers in a world that links energy security with social reproduction and capitalism Review With Carbon Capitalism, Tim Di Muzio has produced a real tour de force. A carefully researched historical and empirical account of the rise and fall of petro-market civilisation, and a ground-breaking attempt to address the neglect of the foundational importance of energy to our understanding of power in the global political economy. Engaging, theoretically sophisticated and rich in detail, the book is a must read for students, academics and practitioners. -- Peter Newell, co-author of Climate Capitalism and author of Globalization & the Environment: Capitalism, Ecology and Power, Professor of International Relations, University of Sussex Energy as a factor of production has been seriously neglected in political economy. In this eye-opening book, 20th century carbon capitalism emerges through lucid histories of England and the US, histories which reveal that power, debt, war, and energy have led to the crises of the 21st century: climate change, permanent war economies, and global environmental destruction. This book will prove an indispensable scholarly navigational tool to understand and act on these crises. -- Barbara Harriss-White, Oxford University, Oxford University In this path breaking and carefully researched study Tim Di Muzio throws a spotlight on the linkage between fossil fuel energy and capitalism. Challenging both mainstream and critical theories of international political economy, he argues that carbon is not simply a key commodity with geopolitical implications, but ineluctably connected to the power relations and social reproduction of the contemporary world order. --Alan Cafruny, Hamilton College About the Author Tim Di Muzio is a Lecturer in the School of History and Politics at the University of Wollongong in Australia. He has published in highly esteemed journals and is editor of The Capitalist Mode of Power (2013).