Perspectives on Anarchist Theory, the journal of the Institute for Anarchist Studies (IAS), is calling for submissions that address climate change and the current economic crisis from radical and revolutionary positions. We see the ecological crisis as an indictment of dominant social structures. With this in mind, we would like to publish essays exploring this moment as an opportunity to radically restructure society for the better.
The world today faces the immediate impact of a global recession, coupled with the quickly unfolding reality of catastrophic climate change. The economy and the environment are inextricably linked, as capitalist economic decisions erode ecological balance and long-term sustainability. Ecology may be the one question which capitalism can not answer. This climate crisis, a threat to the lives of billions of people - primarily the poor of the southern hemisphere - as well as countless plant and animal species, has not as of yet received due consideration by the anti-authoritarian Left. It has received some attention from the Left, and from the anti-civilization, primitivist Green Anarchy camps, but we are seeking further elaborations and more systematic treatments from social revolutionaries and anti-authoritarians.
We would like to publish articles presenting any and all of the following:
• analyses of the root causes of climate change, with an emphasis on industrial capitalism and the profit motive,
• ways in which an anarchist society would resolve the problems inherent in greenhouse gas emissions, as well as explorations of various aspects of the crisis, from transportation to energy production,
• organizing experiences and strategies, particularly those involving work for environmental justice and the struggle against environmental racism,
• the economic crisis from a revolutionary perspective,
• the origins of the economic crisis, both systemic and local, made clear and accessible for lay people,
• opportunities for change that the converging environmental and economic crises present to revolutionaries, and
• an anarchist economic model that would avoid the devastating consequences of capitalism, such as endemic poverty, unemployment, and the perennial “boom and bust” cycle.
We believe that this is a crucial year, one in which societies must begin to confront the catastrophic implications of climate change in a bold and revolutionary fashion. Without serious changes in social structures, the human systems and the natural environment may be changed in such negative ways as to make them unrecognizable, or even unlivable. As immediately, the economic crisis is taking its toll daily on the lives of poor and working class people, as well as the middle class. What analyses and what solutions do anarchists and anti-authoritarians have to offer?
Perspectives is published on-line and articles are posted as they are ready. We are also considering publishing an annual print edition. All accepted articles will be published on our website, and will be considered for the print edition.
Please submit articles as Word-compatible documents. Submissions should be double-spaced. Please do not use page numbers. All notes should be in endnote form; submissions with footnotes will be returned to their authors for reformatting.
Contact
Please contact Perspectives at perspectivesmagazine@googlegroups.com