Ecologistas en Acción is one of the largest environmental and social grassroots organisations in Spain and forms part of very diverse platforms and international global justice networks. It locates itself in the ‘social ecology’ arena, analysing environmental problems against the background of a critique of globalised production and consumption. The urban-agrarian-industrial model needs to be changed and transformed in order to end the current ecological crisis and social injustices. To contribute to such transformation, Ecologistas en Acción proposes concrete and viable alternatives where the redistribution of wealth and a focus on equity are central. www.ecologistasenaccion.org
The Breakdown of Global Capitalism: 2000-2030
The Transnational Institute (TNI) was established in 1974 as an international network of activist scholars committed to carrying out critical analyses of the global problems of today and tomorrow. It builds alliances with grassroots social movements, and develops proposals for a more democratic, sustainable and just world. www.tni.org
This book may be critiqued as being pessimistic. But in reality it is attempting to prepare us for very great change – nothing less than the total collapse of industrial civilisation. Ramón Fernández Durán sees this collapse emerging from the current global crisis which is characterized by systemic chaos, ecological disaster and resource wars. He views the beginning of the end of fossil energy as the core element of this crisis which will bring a historic rupture. Indeed, The Breakdown of Global Capitalism: 2000–2030 describes the first phase of a long decline of industrial civilisation that may last for two to three centuries. This book is part of a much larger volume that Ramón Fernández Durán worked on for the last two years of his life. It contains the core thesis of that unfinished, more complex work, referred to by him as ‘the book of my life’. The current text culminates his rich political and ideological legacy and is also his last farewell. Despite his engagement with the harsh realities of the crisis, and journeying through some very complex terrain, Ramón Fernández Durán asserts the hope that human beings will one day declare peace with the planet and with humankind.
The beginning of the end of fossil fuels: a total historical rupture
ISBN: 978-84-939415-4-3
Ramón Fernández Durán (1945-2011), founding member of Ecologistas en Acción, is an indisputable reference for grassroots social movements. He has contributed significantly to critical thinking and social mobilisation with his many books. Some examples are - The Explosion of Disorder (1992) on globalisation; Against the Europe of Capital (1995) on the neoliberal policies of the European Union; Global Financial Capitalism and Permanent War (2003) on the financialisation of the economy; Tsunami of Urbanisation (2006) on geopolitical and socio-economic changes, the housing bubble and financial crisis and The Twilight of the Tragic Era of Oil (2008) on the role of fossil fuels in capitalism. Ramón is also a reference for the articulation of powerful collective responses. Again, he has contributed significantly in this arena – for example, the anti-NATO mobilisations, the global justice movement and the formation of Ecologistas en Acción. But, above all, Ramón is a reference for our humanity – an example of how to be and act in the world.
Ramón Fernández Durán Ramón Fernández Durán
Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) is a research and campaign group exposing and challenging the privileged access and influence by corporations and their lobby groups in EU policy making. This corporate capture of the EU leads to policies that exacerbate social injustice and accelerate environmental destruction across the world. CEO works in close alliance with public interest groups and social movements to develop alternatives to the dominance of corporate power. www.corporateeurope.org
The Breakdown of Global Capitalism: 2000-2030 Preparing for the beginning of the collapse of industrial civilisation