Eddie Yuen teaches in the Urban Studies Department at the San Francisco Art Institute, and is on the editorial board of the journal Capitalism, Nature, Socialism. He is one of the authors of Catastrophism: The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth, published by PM Press. Yuen is also the co-editor, with Daniel Burton-Rose, and George Katsiaficas, of Confronting Capitalism: Dispatches from a Global Movement (Soft Skull Press, 2003) and The Battle Of Seattle: The New Challenge to Capitalist Globalization (Soft Skull Press, 2002). Yuen is working on a book on the political economy of extinction.
Catastrophism: The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth
SKU: 9781604865899
Authors: Sasha Lilley, David McNally, Eddie Yuen, and James Davis • Foreword by Doug Henwood
Publisher: PM Press/Spectre
ISBN: 9781604865899
Published: 11/2012
Format: Paperback, mobi, ePub, PDF
Size: 8 x 5
Page count: 192
Subjects: Politics/Current Events
Praise
“Catastrophism comes at the right moment: 2012, the year of
The End proclaimed across the political spectrum from deep ecologists to
the Mayan Calendarists. Instead of concentrating on the merits of the
claims of the various apocalypticians, Jim Davis, Sasha Lilley, David
McNally, and Eddie Yuen examine the political function of these claims
and find them to be deeply reactionary. This is a controversial book
that challenges many of the unexamined assumptions on the left (as well
as on the right). It is a warning not to abandon everyday
anti-capitalist politics for a politics of absolute fear that inevitably
leads to inaction.”
—Silvia Federici, author of Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle
“Bravo! This is the book that has been sorely needed for so long
to reveal the dead-end that a politics founded on catastrophic
predictions must lead to in terms of either preventing them or actually
changing the world. Essential reading for all those on the left who are
concerned with the question of strategy today.”
–Leo Panitch, coauthor of The Making of Global Capitalism
“I cannot overstate how critically important this volume is. Catastrophism
captures a problem that few have seriously grappled with. Anyone who
wishes, as I do, for a new kind of (occupied) politics will have to face
this formidable array of theoretically-inspired reflections on the
politics of apocalypse.”
—Andrej Grubacic, co-author of Wobblies and Zapatistas: Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism and Radical History
“In an age when even Mayan prophecies of the end of the long cycle are turned into prophecies of doom and destruction, this book offers a reasoned and lucid alternative understanding. Definitive and momentous, this book should be mandatory reading for everyone who wishes to comprehend the world we live in and change it for the better.” —George Katsiaficas, author of Asia’s Unknown Uprisings
“This important book aims to end the politics of The End. The authors of Catastrophism
claim that apocalyptic politics, though promising to motivate
revolutionary transformation, all too often leads to a fear-induced
paralysis and cynicism. This book provides a badly needed boost to our
political immunity systems against the apocalyptic claims bombarding us
in this purported terminal year for our planet.”
—George Caffentzis author of In Letters of Blood and Fire
“This groundbreaking book examines a deep current—on both the left
and right—of apocalyptical thought and action. The authors explore the
origins, uses, and consequences of the idea that collapse might usher in
a better world. Catastrophism is a crucial guide to understanding our tumultuous times, while steering us away from the pitfalls of the past.”
—Barbara Epstein, author of Political Protest and Cultural Revolution: Nonviolent Direct Action in the 1970s and 1980s
Book Events
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Reviews
- Catastrophism: A Review
- Catastrophism in EcoEquity
- Catastrophism in Socialist Resistance
- Catastrophism: A Publishers Weekly Review
- Crises Can Be Openings
- Catastrophism: A Review
- Catastrophism: A Review in Socialist Studies
- Dylan, Modest Mouse and the End of the World
- Hoping for the Worst
- The Bankruptcy of Doom and Gloom: Catastrophism in The Brooklyn Rail
- The Left’s Catastrophic Logic
- Catastrophism in Science & Society
- Catastrophism in Socialist Resistance
- Catastrophism in the San Francisco Book Review
- Catastrophism in the Socialist Review
- Catastrophism: A Climate Justice Activist’s Perspective
- Catastrophism: A Review on Left Eye On Books
- Catastrophism in EcoEquity
- Catastrophism — The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth: A Review
- Catastrophism — Left, Right, and Center