Re: <nettime> "fossil fascism" (was: The German "Open Letter" on Ukraine)

[Felix Stalder <felix@openflows.com>]

On 18.05.22 10:04, Alex Text wrote:

> In this context he also speaks of Putinism as a variation of what 
> Andreas Malm and the Zetkin Collective has called "fossil fascism" 
> (while Malm&Co. do not consider the case of the Russian Federation at all).

For a review of Malm's book "White Skin, Black Fuel", see here

https://climateandcapitalism.com/2022/03/26/the-danger-of-fossil-fascism/

I totally agree with Alex that the term should be expanded much further, 
in the sense of comprising the ever more violent (in terms of 
accumulating social and environmental damage) institutional world of 
fossil fuels -- companies, state agents, international organizations and 
market makers -- as well as the eco-fascist wing of the extreme right.

I'm pretty sure that this perspective also opens up productive 
perspectives on the war in the Ukraine. It's not just that selling 
fossil fuels finances the war, but also how the inevitable energy 
transition provides am imminent path to decline. Slowing down this 
transition for as much as possible is clearly in the interest of 
Russia's oligarchy (and many others). The fact that it may play out in 
the opposite direction (similar to the current wave of Nato expansion) 
does not mean that this wasn't intended.

https://bylinetimes.com/2022/03/30/weak-oil-the-looming-collapse-of-putins-petro-dictatorship

Also, one could even see this as an attempt to shift to a new (or at 
least acquire a second) strategic resource: grain. Before the war, 
Russia and Ukrain exported nearly a quarter of the world's grain. 
Controlling all of that is an important source of power.

https://bylinetimes.com/2022/04/21/putins-war-on-net-zero-controlling-europes-breadbasket-to-prevent-russias-fossil-fuel-collapse


All the more reason to support Ukraine and make sure fossil fascism 
doesn't win this war.


all the best. Felix








--
| |||||||||||||||| http://felix.openflows.com |
| for secure communication, please use signal |
#  distributed via <nettime>: no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime>  is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: http://mx.kein.org/mailman/listinfo/nettime-l
#  archive: http://www.nettime.org contact: nettime@kein.org
#  @nettime_bot tweets mail w/ sender unless #ANON is in Subject: