Against the Crisis: Economy and Ecology in a Burning World

by Ståle Holgersen

Capitalism produces crises and crises reproduce capitalism. We need an ecosocialist way out.

Crisis is a buzzword, but does it actually mean? Many argue that multiple crises coexist, but how are they actually related? If crises are defining our time, why isn’t there a proper socialist crisis policy?

This book analyses economic and ecological crises, partly to understand the crisis itself, but, even more, to understand capitalism. Crises are not exceptions to an otherwise functioning capitalism, but integral parts of the system. Still, socialists often cling to the hope that crises are ’opportunities’, and resort to Keynesianism as soon as they need concrete policies. In contrast, this book shows how capitalism produces crises and how crises reproduce capitalism.

There are crucial similarities between the rooted in capitalism and having similar class characters. But there are also differences. Economic crises are solved through creative destruction, and the ruling class will ensure that these crises are resolved at any cost. But neither the mechanisms of the system nor the ruling class will save us from the climate catastrophe; only we ourselves can do that.

The tendency for crises to reproduce capitalism is, fortunately, not an iron law. Our historical mission in the face of the climate crisis is to create a historical exception to this rule. It is time for ecosocialism against crisis.

Genres: Nonfiction, Economics, Philosophy, Environment, Politics

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 26, 2024

Reviews

[Nate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Does a great job of explaining things in a clear and concise way even as someone with relatively low domain knowledge.

[Left_coast_reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone who's studied capitalism knows that there are periodic crises when the economy seems to fall apart. In Against the Crisis, Ståle Holgersen argues that these crises are not only a logical outcome of the way capitalism functions, but they are necessary for its long-term survival.

The book analyzes these crises at five levels of abstraction:
1) the shock and the event
2) the concrete organization of the economy and nature
3) crisis tendencies inherent in capitalism
4) the eternal pursuit of profit
5) use-value versus exchange-value

These crises, whether understood as a result of overproduction/underconsumption or the tendency for the rate of profit to fall (the two most common Marxist explanations) allow the capitalist class to reset the economy by firing working or destroying existing facilities. He also includes the possibility that environmental issues, including pandemics, can be a possible trigger of crises.

Sometimes the crisis is so serious that there is a challenge to the hegemony of the capitalist class, and they must reorganize the economy in a more significant way or under the leadership of a new class fraction. Holgersen says this happened in the 1970s with a shift away from Keynesianism toward neoliberalism. There were crises in 2008 and 2020, and neoliberalism seems to have run out of tools to spur the economy, but the hegemonic factions of the ruling class don't want to end the existing regime.

He ends with some recommendations so that socialists will be prepared for the next crisis. He argues that climate change by itself is not a death sentence for capitalism. Unless we are prepared to fight it will be a death sentence for us.

I will admit that I've been distracted lately and found it difficult to focus on this book. Maybe it deserves another read. I like that it challenges assumptions about crises while still using Marxist explanations. Readers familiar with Marxist economic theory will find some passages a bit basic. At a couple points the environmental angle didn't seem fully integrated into the discussion of crises. Overall, a good intro to the topic with some refreshing deviations, although I was hoping for a deeper dive.