Workers of the Earth: Labour, Ecology and Reproduction in the Age of Climate Change

by Stefania Barca

Capitalism is destroying our planet, but like most social progress in the last two centuries, ecological justice can only be achieved through working-class struggle. In  Workers of the Earth , Stefania Barca uncovers the environmental history and political ecology of labour to shed new light on the potentiality of workers as ecological subjects. Taking an ecofeminist approach, this ground-breaking book makes a unique contribution to the emerging field of environmental labour studies, expanding the category of labour to include waged and unwaged, industrial and meta-industrial workers. Going beyond conventional categories of ‘production’ and ‘reproduction’ as separate spheres of human experience, Barca offers a fresh perspective on the place of labour in today’s global climate struggle, reminding us that the fight against climate change is a fight against capitalism.

Genres: Nonfiction, Ecology, Labor, Politics, Feminism

208 pages, Paperback

Published June 20, 2024

About the author

STEFANIA BARCA é investigadora doutorada do CES, onde coordena a equipa do projecto FP7 Marie Curie ITN 'Entitle'. Obteve o seu Doutoramento em História Económica pela Universidade de Bari (Itália) em 1997; possui agregação como professora associada em História Contemporânea e em História Económica pelo Ministério da Educação, Universidade e Investigação (MIUR) na Itália, e lecciona cursos sobre a crise ecológica nos programas de doutoramento do CES/UC. Em 2005-06 foi investigadora visitante no âmbito do Programa de Estudos Agrários da Universidade de Yale, e de 2006 a 2008 foi pós-doutoranda 'Ciriacy Wantrup' na Universidade de California em Berkeley. As suas publicações incluem uma série de artigos em revistas italianas e internacionais, e três livros. O seu livro Enclosing Water. Nature and Political Economy in a Mediterranean Valley (Cambridge, UK: White Horse Press 2010) recebeu o prémio Turku Prize como melhor monografia em história ambiental européia.
Foi vice-presidente do conselho científico do CES, co-diretora do programa de doutoramento em 'Democracia no século 21' (2012-15) e co-coordenadora do núcleo 'Políticas sociais, trabalho e desigualdades' (2010-14). Foi vice-presidente da Sociedade Europeia de História Ambiental (ESEH) entre 2011 e 2013; actualmente integra o comité editorial da revista Environmental History (Oxford UP) e o Steering Committee do projecto 'Entitle'.
Os seus interesses de investigação abrangem a história ambiental e a ecologia política, com enfoque na relação entre trabalho e ambiente em perspectiva transnacional.

Reviews

[Kai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stefania Barca is one of the most important thinkers on the marxist ecological left right now. this book, however, is a collection of essays published between 2012-2020 which at times is a bit underdeveloped with respect to her more recent work. the theoretical perspective i find frustrating here is that drawn from Mies and Salleh which sees reproduction as value producing (rather than a condition of value producing exploitation). this allows an articulation of the 'subject' of ecopolitics to at times veer towards a conglomerate of care work, social reproduction, peasant/agriculture movements, and environmental justice struggles *instead of* working-class labor struggles. the last two essays in this collection still attend to social reproduction, but do focus more centrally on the question of (industrial) labor and think more carefully through the question of *why* marxist theories of labor action (or lack thereof) have been insufficient. i find these chapters to be indispensible, though i had read both of them before (they were both from 2019). so ultimately the book as a whole did not entirely meet my expectations, which were very very high (i recognize is a "me problem"). that quibble the historical work here is still relevant, with a couple of interesting histories of the Italian petrochemical industry and the role of Wages for Housework in an anti-nuclear struggle in the UK -- and still includes a masterful location of the problem of subjectivity in eco-marxism and degrowth alike, which is the problem of my academic work:

"I believe that what is missing to move forward with this common plan is a clearer vision of what political subjects and which processes of political subjectivation can make it happen. In other words, rather than presupposing a “general public” as the recipient of any political strategy, we need to build such strategy upon a more solid analysis of the social forces involved, their mutual relations and their possible common interests."

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

bars were dropped

[Simran · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author does a great job to establish links between climate change and labour, shedding light on this under studied intersection. I particularly enjoyed how the author drew upon participatory research with people working in agriculture, manufacturing, and trade unions to bring about just transitions that include marginalised groups, like those mentioned in this book.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my introduction to the concept of degrowth, and it just connected a lot of dots for me. “Nature as an external limit of growth” and taking back production process to the workers with the interest of putting social needs first instead of capital accumulation. Acknowledging reproductive work that extends outside the household, and includes care work for the planet and community. It makes a highly important point too on the point that for it this to work, the preseveration of livelihood needs to be taken into account.

[KT · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read investigating the tension between labour and the environment through the lens of an ecofeminist interpretation of reproduction set against the backdrop of the dramatic environmental changes of the industrial age that have directed affected workers in a variety of ways and turned them into ecological subjects

Challenges commonly held assumptions about the conflict between work and the environment as the environmental histories of working-class people and movements that the author features, such as in the oil fields of the Huasteca, the Amazon forest, the Italian "industrial triangle" or in the Appalachian mountains, working-class communities, union leaders and individual workers have been historical subjects endowed with ecological consciousness and agency as advocates for environmental health and conservation.

[nana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a reminder that workers built the world we know today; therefore, they should also be at the forefront of building a greener tomorrow.

[nerea · Rating 4 out of 5]

oh period