Capitalism, Fascism, and the Environment
3 - 4 July 2023
Workshop of the EASA Network Anthropology of Fascisms (ANTHROFA), EASA Anthropology of Economy Network (AoE)
Capitalism has produced ongoing environmental crises. Degradation, mass extinction, and violent conflict about resources dominate the relations between ecology, communities, and economy. While the signs of environmental collapse appear as floods, drought, and storms, capitalism as the dominant global economic model reigns mostly unquestioned. Often, green capitalism is seen as the only alternative in the fight against climate change. Around the world, resource-intensive lifestyles provide the blueprint for the aspirational dreams of many. Fascist movements and a political climate of authoritarianism seem to align with radicalised extractivism and a violent exacerbation of environmental destruction to sustain such lifestyles. The academic community sees a rise in literature discussing “fossil fascism” (Zetkin Collective 2021) or “carbofascism” (Acker 2021). This literature suggests a connection worth exploring between, on the one hand, fascism as a political movement and, on the other, capitalist modernity and its process of human exploitation of the Earth's resources. Examining this connection in relation to capitalism and past and current economic crises is equally important. To increase anthropological collaboration in the investigation of a decisive conjuncture for humankind, we propose to focus on the nexus between capitalisms and fascism through the prism of the environment. We are looking forward to the suggestions of anthropologists inspired by our call bringing together scholars from the Anthropology of Economy network with the Anthropology of Fascisms network.
Venue:
University Cologne, Global South Studies Center (GSSC)
Convenors:
Maddalena Gretel Cammelli, Michele Fontefrancesco, Ognjen Kojanić, Juliane Müller, Ingo Schröder, Andreas Streinzer, Sabine Teryngel
Keynote:
Alexandra Coțofană (Zayed University): Xenophobic Sentient Landscapes – Fascist Responses to Economic Colonialisms