"This is a small book but its message is vital. Those who exploit the labour of others for profit also exploit the earth's precious resources for the same reason. If you campaign to save the planet, join a picket line, and vice versa. The struggle doesn't change - it is the class struggle, and this time we must win. Thank you Sarah and John." - KEN LOACH
The capitalist system, which sees everything in terms of profit, is exploiting the planet to destruction with the same ruthless logic that it exploits workers. The threat from climate change, and from capitalism's treatment of the planet as an infinite resource, is so large that our societies seem afraid to confront it; but when we understand that this threat comes from the same capitalist forces that dominate our everyday lives, the way forward becomes clear. The fight against the system that is destroying our planet, is the same as the fight against the system that is producing ever more mind-boggling inequalities.
This small book is made up of three short chapters totalling around 9,000 words, and illustrated with quotes from a range of writers. It is addressed, primarilly, to a working-class audience because most books on climate change ignore working-class concerns; because the working class will be affected first and worst, despite being least responsible; and because the people most responsible for climate change are too vested in the current system to countenance significant disruption, while the combined power of the working class is the force that can bring the world to its senses.
Clarke, John: - John Clarke came to Canada from Britain in the late 1970s and settled in London, Ontario, where he became active in trade union struggles. In the early 80s, he helped to form a union of unemployed workers that forged links with similar organisations in other cities and challenged the grossly inadequate social benefits system in Ontario.In 1990, the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (OCAP) was formed and John moved to Toronto to become one of its organisers. He stayed in this role for 28 years, helping to mobilise poor communities that were facing a deepening austerity agenda at the hands of governments at every level.In 2018, John was offered the position of Packer Visitor in Social Justice at Toronto's York University. There he developed and taught courses that related to the struggles of unions and social movements. He is presently teaching a course for union and community activists that considers the strategies those in power use to contain and control movements of social resistance and how these can be overcome.John remains active in anti-poverty struggles and is part of an organisation called 230 Fightback, which is resisting gentrification and fighting for social housing in Toronto's Downtown East. He also writes regularly for various publications on a range of issues related to working class resistance and popular struggles He can be reached at clarkecourse@gmail.com.
Glynn, Sarah: - "Sarah Glynn is a writer and activist. She has worked as an architect in England and as a university lecturer in Scotland, and has researched issues around lower-income housing and around multiculturalism. She is now based in Strasbourg, where she works for the Kurdish Freedom Movement and writes a weekly column reviewing Kurdish news. Sarah played a central role in the establishment and running of the Scottish Unemployed Workers' Network (SUWN), which combined grassroots support with campaigning. She has also organised tenants' campaigns - especially against demolitions - and contributed to debates on housing policy. She was a housing activist before she was a housing academic, and the academic research fed into the activism. She has been active in campaigns for Palestinian rights and for Scottish independence. website: www.sarahglynn.net"
