New resource: a short primer on militarism and the climate crisis (original) (raw)
18 Sep 2024
For many, the past years have in various ways been defined by climate change and war. Our everyday lives carry signs of escalating climate and military crises; seemingly infinite stories of ecological collapse and of armed conflict. Whether we are living through such violences ourselves, or coping with news flashes and social media images of burning forests and buildings bombed to rubble, ours is a time of global war and global warming. Most often, however, we do not consider these processes connected. The truth is, they very much are. But how so?
In this zine, we trace the paths, from industrial highways to muddy forest trails to desert ruts and tropical grooves, along which militarism and climate crises come together:
- Section 1 introduces some concepts and background for thinking about the relationships between war, militarism and climate breakdown.
- Section 2 offers a wide range of stories of impact, resistance and alternatives: where and how are the impacts of military and climate crises felt? What resistance is there to military power, armed violence, social injustices and ecological harm? What are the alternatives?
- Section 3 draws on these concepts and stories and suggests how to take action: against militarism, for social and climate justice.
Overall, we hope this zine serves as a toolbox, giving some initial direction and know-how as to where to search for signs of how militarism and armed conflict mix and mingle with environmental conditions, from global boiling and biodiversity loss to toxic pollution. Yet, amid such contexts of harm there are also an infinitude of stories of regrowth, of hope and mutual aid; of landscapes left for dead coming alive again, and of communities coming together to resist both armed and environmental violences and resow the social and ecological conditions for collective thrival (thrive/survival).
Importantly, this toolbox is not meant to be – couldn’t possibly be – exhaustive. The examples explored with each concept represent but a limited selection of climate-military links. As will become clear from the stories of impact and resistance, these links are plenty more than we can fit in a zine – ranging from subtle to direct, overt to covert and reaching far and wide. Our aim is not to tell the whole story, but to equip and inspire you to go look on your own for the particular ways in which military power, ecological harm and social injustices might be coalescing around you – and what to do about it.
Today’s climate action spaces are littered with false solutions: the over-emphasis on individual behaviours that distracts away from climate change’s (colonial capitalist) systemic roots; racist and badly evidenced arguments around overpopulation and resource scarcity that ignores social and economic inequities; the reliance on science and technology to miraculously fix all our climate problems and allow our current economic system to go on unchanged. As peace organisers we are witnessing the emergence of yet another false solution in the rise of militarised responses to both climate breakdown and social unrest. Our conclusion is clear: there will be no just transition unless we also take on – and deconstruct – militarism and military power. Effective action toward climate justice requires demilitarisation and the dismantling of the military-industrial complex.
Peace, climate and justice movements have only just begun to understand how deeply connected our causes are, both the harms that we address and the solutions we envision. We hope you will join us in weaving together these intersections and relationships, communicating within your organisations, movements and communities, and building strategies for imagining and enacting a demilitarised future rooted in climate justice principles – together.
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