Author(s): Troy Vettese; Drew Pendergrass

Politics | Climate Change and Enviromental Politics

Our fossil fuel driven society has run out of time. Only by rapidly giving up our reliance on carbon can we pay down the debt of fossil capital and buy a liveable future without a mass extinction or global warming. In this visionary and incisive manifesto, environmental scholars Troy Vettese and Drew Pendergrass outline the structural, economic, and social changes de-carbonization will require. Drawing from detailed environmental modeling of our planet's many possible futures, Vettese and Pendergrass argue that we will need to give half of the earth's land, now used for agricultural and meat production, back to nature rewilding half the earth. The only political program that can give us a livable half-earth, they argue, is socialism- a planned socialist society can constrict the destructive industries ravaging our world fossil fuels, cars, aviation, meat, and real estate while expanding renewable energy systems, organic agriculture, public transport, and health and education systems. Half-Earth Socialism argues that we can consciously and democratically direct human society's interaction with nature and in fact, we must, if we want any kind of livable future on this planet.

Review: Half-Earth Socialism conclusively demonstrates how a liveable future requires a fundamentally different relationship to the Earth, the only home our species has ever known. A must read for post-capitalists and those who care about the climate crisis. -- Aaron Bastani, author of Fully Automated Luxury Communism
The best way to subvert a dystopia is to plan a utopia. In Half-Earth Socialism, Vettese and Pendergrass delve into this vital work of practical dreaming. So what does a better world look like? Blending science, history, philosophy and fiction, the authors thoughtfully chart a possible future to avert the worst impacts of the climate crises. Importantly, beyond climate mitigation and adaptation, this book tackles the critical need to address large-scale system change. Read this book if you not only dream of saving the world, but want a plan for how to do it. -- Ziya Tong, science broadcaster and author of The Reality Bubble
Finally, the book we have been waiting for. A real plan, simple and elegant. Half the planet is re-wilded. Within the vision of this book, is admirable forensic research, the science, that can power a vegan socialist world. Up to now, the capitalization of nature, has successfully delivered profit for the few, at the expense of all life. Capital is indifferent to the cries from slaughterhouses, the roar of anguish of burning forests, the animals who cannot flee infernos and flooding, sea creatures drowning in oceans of plastic and chemicals. The neo liberal capitalist ship sails on, a soulless machine, extracting humanity from humans. We can no longer see many stars through the haze of pollutants, but the stars shine on, within the idea of utopian socialism. We don't don't want to go to the stars as colonizing billionaires, we want to see the stars. This remarkable book, points the way. -- Sue Coe, artivist, author of Dead Meat, Cruel, and Sheep of Fools
Vegan cookbook meets Minecraft, starring an economist of the Munich soviet republic as unlikely hero - here is a book unlike any you've read. Half-Earth Socialism flips the age of dystopias into a renewal of the genre of utopia. Unlikely to suit everyone's taste, it empowers readers to write their own recipes for a future in peril: an exercise in democracy few books have dared to undertake. -- Andreas Malm, author of Fossil Capital

Refreshing ... Vettese and Pendergrass's is a humble utopia. There is solidarity, fulfilment, full bellies, and plenty of leisure time. Crucially, there is a climate in repair, which is more than enough to win me over in my darkest hours. -- Russell Warfield * Resurgence & Ecologist *
A radical vision of how to build a better world for all. -- Dan Carrier * Islington Tribune *

Author Biography: Troy Vettese is an environmental historian and a William Lyon Mackenzie King research fellow at Harvard University. His reviews and essays have appeared in n+1, Jacobin, Bookforum, Salvage, New Left Review, and In These Times. Drew Pendergrass is a PhD student in Environmental Engineering at Harvard University. His environmental writing has been published in Harper's and Current Affairs.