Mikaela Loach

For too long, representations of climate action in the mainstream media have been white-washed, green-washed and diluted to be made compatible with capitalism. We are living in an economic system which pursues profit above all else; harmful, oppressive systems that heavily contribute to the climate crisis, and environmental consequences that have been toned down to the masses. Tackling the climate crisis requires us to visit the roots of poverty, capitalist exploitation, police brutality and legal injustice. Climate justice offers the real possibility of huge leaps towards racial equality and collective liberation as it aims to dismantle the very foundations of these issues. In this book, Mikaela Loach offers a fresh and radical perspective for real climate action that could drastically change the world as we know it for the benefit of us all. Written with candour and hope, It's Not That Radical will galvanise readers to take action, offering an accessible and transformative appraisal of our circumstances to help mobilise a majority for the future of our planet.

It's Not That Radical

Karolina

Colonialism created a chasm between humanity and nature. It made us believe that humans are separate from and above nature, rather than part of it, so that the destruction of nature would be justifiable. In the words of Ayisha Siddiqa, Pakistani climate-justice organiser and poet, „Colonisers go to war with nature and call it a business opportunity.”

Fossil-fuel companies are simply neocolonialists. They replicate and perpetuate the colonial model in the modern day.

Exploitation and inequality are the operating logic of capitalism, in such an environment, not only will racism flourish, it will remain a prerequisite. This capitalist system requires systems of oppression to deem the lives of some people disposable in the name of profit-making. In this way, capitalism is inherently linked to white supremacy, colonialism and slavery, which were necessary in order to build the capitalist economies of the Global North.

Capitalism requires there to be someone at the bottom to exploit from. It requires inequity. We can never have collective liberation under a system like this.

Why is it that ending capitalism, whiteness and living in a world where all of us can live in dignity and safety can be harder to conceptualise than imagining the end of the world?

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