Metabolic Politics / Stoffwechselpolitik
Work, Nature, and the Future of the Planet
From the Atlantic slave trade to the crisis of care work
In order to understand the ecological crisis, we need to understand the world of work. Because it is through labour, according to Karl Marx, that societies’ metabolic relationship with nature is carried out. As such, argues sociologist Simon Schaupp, labour politics is also climate politics – or as the title of this book suggests, »metabolic politics«. And nature itself plays an active role in these metabolic relationships: the more intensely human societies exploit nature, the more dramatic...
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In order to understand the ecological crisis, we need to understand the world of work. Because it is through labour, according to Karl Marx, that societies’ metabolic relationship with nature is carried out. As such, argues sociologist Simon Schaupp, labour politics is also climate politics – or as the title of this book suggests, »metabolic politics«. And nature itself plays an active role in these metabolic relationships: the more intensely human societies exploit nature, the more dramatic are the reciprocal effects of nature on the world of work.
Schaupp illustrates just how productive this perspective is by way of a series of historical case studies, demonstrating that, for example, we can understand neither the rise nor the fall of the plantation as an economic form without acknowledging the influence of the mosquito. Or that the establishment of trade unions was made possible in part by the power workers attained as a result of the material properties of coal. And that the assembly line was largely introduced because in early meatpacking factories, decaying animal carcasses were piling up because of strikes. If we want to at least slow down the process of global warming, Schaupp argues, we also need to transform the world of work: we need to move beyond the logic of an ever-expanding exploitation of nature, and instead take nature's autonomy seriously.
»Schaupp has produced a dense, theoretically ambitious and empirically rich book, which is both a compelling and enlightening read.« Hannah Schmidt-Ott, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
»In Metabolic Politics ... [Schaupp] has produced a convincing attempt to interweave the politics of production and labour with environmental politics. … In historical analyses that are as detailed as they are fascinating, [he] distils how the organisational forms of nature, labour, and production mutually affect one another.« Titus Blome, Süddeutsche Zeitung
»Apart from the vividness of his case studies, Schaupp’s strength consists in his uncompromising, analytical acumen. Introducing nature into the discourse but without declaring it to be the only player … but to set it against the agency of workers, opens up a perspective on environmental politics that is not pitted against labour politics.« Ulrike Baureithel, Der Tagesspiegel
»There are analyses of our utterly fragmented present that leave you a different person to the one you were at the outset. And with that, dear readers, welcome to Simon Schaupp’s Metabolic Politics ...« Lennart Laberenz, DIE ZEIT
»Metabolic Politics – Work, Nature and the Future of the Planet … is a major theoretical achievement.« Daniel Binswanger, Republik
»In Metabolitic Politics … [Schaupp] produces a convincing attempt to weave together the politics of production and labour with environmental politics. … In historical analyses that are as meticulous as they are fascinating, he teases out the ways in which the organisational forms of nature, labour, and production influence each other.« Titus Blome, Süddeutsche Zeitung
»Reads like a gripping novel.« Nina Scholz, Deutschlandfunk Kultur
»Indispensable.« Leon Switala, Portal für Politikwissenschaft
»Metabolic Politics brings together all the important approaches to the contemporary debate on environmental policy, and is full of fascinating information. … A worthwhile read for anybody who wants to gain a new perspective on the connections between economy and ecology.« Matthias Becker, Deutschlandfunk Andruck
»In Metabolic Politics ... [Schaupp] has produced a convincing attempt to interweave the politics of production and labour with environmental politics. … In historical analyses that are as detailed as they are fascinating, [he] distils how the organisational forms of nature, labour, and production mutually affect one another.« Titus Blome, Süddeutsche Zeitung
»Apart from the vividness of his case studies, Schaupp’s strength consists in his uncompromising, analytical acumen. Introducing nature into the discourse but without declaring it to be the only player … but to set it against the agency of workers, opens up a perspective on environmental politics that is not pitted against labour politics.« Ulrike Baureithel, Der Tagesspiegel
»There are analyses of our utterly fragmented present that leave you a different person to the one you were at the outset. And with that, dear readers, welcome to Simon Schaupp’s Metabolic Politics ...« Lennart Laberenz, DIE ZEIT
»Metabolic Politics – Work, Nature and the Future of the Planet … is a major theoretical achievement.« Daniel Binswanger, Republik
»In Metabolitic Politics … [Schaupp] produces a convincing attempt to weave together the politics of production and labour with environmental politics. … In historical analyses that are as meticulous as they are fascinating, he teases out the ways in which the organisational forms of nature, labour, and production influence each other.« Titus Blome, Süddeutsche Zeitung
»Reads like a gripping novel.« Nina Scholz, Deutschlandfunk Kultur
»Indispensable.« Leon Switala, Portal für Politikwissenschaft
»Metabolic Politics brings together all the important approaches to the contemporary debate on environmental policy, and is full of fascinating information. … A worthwhile read for anybody who wants to gain a new perspective on the connections between economy and ecology.« Matthias Becker, Deutschlandfunk Andruck
»Schaupp has produced a dense, theoretically ambitious and empirically rich book, which is both a compelling and enlightening read.« Hannah Schmidt-Ott, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
»In Metabolic Politics ... [Schaupp] has produced a convincing attempt to interweave the politics of production and labour with environmental politics. … In historical analyses that are as detailed as they are fascinating, [he] distils how the organisational forms of nature, labour,...
»In Metabolic Politics ... [Schaupp] has produced a convincing attempt to interweave the politics of production and labour with environmental politics. … In historical analyses that are as detailed as they are fascinating, [he] distils how the organisational forms of nature, labour,...
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2024, 422 pages
Persons
Simon Schaupp
Author
Simon Schaupp was born in 1988 and is a sociologist who currently works as senior researcher and lecturer at the University of Basel. His most recent book, Technopolitik von unten (Technopolitics From Below), won several awards. He has published on digitalization, ecological crisis and historical social conflicts. For Suhrkamp, he co-edited a reader on Theories of Digital Capitalism together with Tanja Carstensen und Sebastian Sevignani. Schaupp is part of the editorial board of the journal Work, Employment and Society.
Simon Schaupp
Author
Simon Schaupp was born in 1988 and is a sociologist who currently works as senior researcher and lecturer at the University of Basel. His most recent...
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