1st Edition
Climate Change, The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Public Pedagogies The Case for Ecosocialism
Climate Change, The Fourth Industrial Revolution and Public Pedagogies: The Case for Ecosocialism uses public pedagogy as a theoretical lens to examine climate change emergency and presents a solution to the issue in ecosocialism.
The book addresses the climate’s relationship with capitalism and the role of activism in highlighting the climate change emergency. With respect to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Cole assesses the pro-capitalist arguments that this revolution can be considered a progressive force and critiques them from a Marxist perspective. A case is made for ecosocialism, a form of socialism that is informed by feminism, inclusivity and real democracy. Ecosocialism, it is argued, can address climate change destruction and harness the potential fruits of the Fourth Industrial Revolution for the good of all. The book ends by addressing the other great threat to civilisation alongside climate change, with a postscript providing some final words of warning about the dual perils of climate change and nuclear warfare.
This highly topical book will be of interest to scholars, postgraduate students and researchers, as well as to advanced undergraduate students in the fields of environmental studies, pedagogy, and sociology. It will also appeal to all readers who are concerned with the onward march of climate change destruction.
Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Capitalism and planetary destruction: activism for climate change emergency
Section 1.1 Capitalism and planetary destruction
Section 1.2 Activism for climate change emergency
2. The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR): capitalist defence and Marxist critique
Section 2.1 The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) - capitalist defence
Section 2.2 The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) - Marxist critique
3. Saving the planet and harnessing technology for the good of all: the case for ecosocialism
Postscript: One hundred seconds to midnight
Notes and References
Index
Biography
Mike Cole is Professor in Education in The International Centre for Public Pedagogy at the University of East London, UK. He is the author of Trump, the Alt-Right and Public Pedagogies of Hate and for Fascism: What is To Be Done? (Routledge, 2020) and Theresa May, The Hostile Environment and Public Pedagogies of Hate and Threat: The Case for a Future Without Borders (Routledge, 2020).
"Using the resources of public pedagogy, Mike Cole proposes in this important new book a powerful (Marxist) critique of the planetary destruction by the capitalist mode of production, and of the negative consequences of the Fourth Industrial revolution. The alternative can only be an anti-capitalist one, combining the insights of eco-feminism and eco-socialism. "
Michael Löwy, Author of Ecosocialism. A radical alternative to the capitalist ecological catastrophe, 2018.
"This is the third installment of Mike Cole's trilogy on public pedagogy, following his highly acclaimed Trump, the Alt-Right and Public Pedagogies of Hate and for Fascism: What is To Be Done? and Theresa May, The Hostile Environment and Public Pedagogies of Hate and Threat: The Case for a Future Without Borders. Climate Change, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and Public Pedagogies is a powerful rejoinder to the perennial naysayers of socialism, as Cole brings to the fore unimpeachable arguments for a responsible and robust transition to a new ecosocialist civilization, with the help of advances made by the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Vintage Mike Cole, this volume should be carried in the hip pocket of educators as a persistent reminder that another world is not only possible, it is urgently necessary."
Peter McLaren, Chapman University, USA, author of Pedagogy of Insurrection
