90 | Ecological Materialism and Logistical Strategy w/ Dr. Jeff Diamanti
May 27, 2024
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Dr. Jeff Diamanti delves into ecological materialism and logistical strategy, exploring terminals as spaces where capitalism abstracts matter. Discussions range from indigenous resistance to sustainable provision, blending Marxist theory with environmental concerns and emphasizing the relationships between materiality, Marxism, and environmental issues.
Terminals serve as spaces where capitalism abstracts matter, transforming value into concrete entities.
Legislation on critical raw materials seeks to navigate economic affluence and sustainable resource supply.
Disruptions like the Ever Given incident expose the fragility of global supply chains, prompting reevaluations.
Aesthetics play a pivotal role in understanding capital circulation vulnerabilities and fostering innovative resistance tactics.
Deep dives
The Intersection of Climate and Capital: A New Perspective on Climate Change Relationships
The podcast episode delves into the work of Jeff Diamant, an assistant professor of environmental humanities, discussing his book on climate and capital. He challenges the traditional Marxist view of the contradictory relationship between capital and the climate. Diamant introduces the concept of terminals, locations where the logics of climate and capital converge, showcasing ways in which they cohere and reconcile in unpredictable ways. This new perspective offers a unique understanding of the dynamic between climate and the logic of capital.
The Significance of Critical Raw Materials Act in European Transition Economy
The conversation highlights the critical raw materials act in Europe, emphasizing the shift towards a transition economy as a response to global supply chain challenges. This legislation focuses on extracting materials crucial for economic affluence and facing supply risks. The act reflects an urgent need for increased extraction and investment in technologies, envisioning a future vastly different from the present economic landscape. By prioritizing critical raw materials, the legislation navigates a delicate balance between economic prosperity and securing sustainable resource supply.
The Delicate Logistics of Capital and Vulnerability of Global Supply Chains
Touching on the vulnerability of global supply chains, exemplified by events like the Ever Given incident in the Suez Canal, the episode explores how one disruption can impact the intricate web of capital circulation. It underscores the fragility of logistical systems and their susceptibility to disruption. The aesthetic lens reveals the structural vulnerabilities in global logistics, prompting a reevaluation of how we perceive and navigate capital circulation. The discussion prompts considerations of intentional disruptions as tactics for challenging the status quo.
Aesthetic Form, Imminent Critique, and Submerged Perspectives in Resistance
The discussion expands on the relationship between aesthetic form and imminent critique, highlighting how aesthetics influence our perception of capitalist structures and vulnerabilities. Emphasizing the importance of submerged perspectives in resistance, it explores the submerged knowledge and militancy present in contested terrains. The episode navigates the tactical functions of aesthetics in understanding the choke points of capital circulation and the potential for innovative forms of resistance, including contemplation of sabotage as a means to disrupt power structures.
Navigating Ecological Complexity and Alternative Aesthetics: Shaping Future Possibilities
Exploring alternative aesthetics informed by imminent critique, the episode emphasizes the intricate balance between ecological complexity and resistance. It advocates for a reevaluation of aesthetic forms that challenge established power dynamics and offer a critical perspective on capital's role in shaping landscapes. By examining the intersection of aesthetics and logistical systems, the episode encourages a nuanced understanding of future possibilities embracing ecological intricacies and alternative modes of resistance.
The Concept of Post-Human Socialism
The discussion delves into the concept of post-human socialism, which reconsiders traditional socialism in the context of anthropogenic climate change. It suggests that socialism needs to adapt to the challenges posed by climate change, shifting the focus from past injustices to future projections. By acknowledging the impact of climate change on socialist ideologies and practices, the concept of post-human socialism aims to redefine the framework of socialism based on anticipatory solidarity and the evolving nature of societal transitions.
The Role of Sabotage in Logistics and Infrastructure
The conversation explores the strategic role of sabotage within the realm of logistics and infrastructure. It highlights how sabotage can serve as a form of knowledge production and disrupt the seamless operations of logistical capital, revealing hidden aspects of supply chains and labor conditions. By defamiliarizing the norms of logistical systems, sabotage becomes a tactic to challenge dependencies and structural inequalities. The discussion emphasizes the necessity of engaging with those working within these spaces and reimagining infrastructural collaborations to address the complexities of logistical entanglements.
In this episode, we are joined by Jeff Diamanti to discuss what it looks like to watch the climate change. Our conversation shifts from analytical, aesthetic, and political perspectives, as we turn our attention from critical raw materials to the future cartographies already being carved out. We explore Jeff’s notion of the terminal as the kind of space where capitalism abstracts matter and value becomes concrete. As it turns out, there’s more to see in the logistics than philosophers might think, from indigenous resistance and sabotage to a possible world of sustainable provision.
leftofphilosophy.com | @leftofphil
References:
Jeff Diamanti, “Critical Raw Materials,” in Worlding Ecologies (2024), 135-43.
Jeff Diamanti, Climate and Capital in the Age of Petroleum (Bloomsbury, 2021).
Charmaine Chua, Martin Danyluk, Deborah Cohen, and Laleh Khalili, “Turbulent Circulation: Building a Critical Circulation with Logistics,” Society and Space 36(4)(2018): 617-629.
Music:
“Vintage Memories” by Schematist | schematist.bandcamp.com
“My Space” by Overu | https://get.slip.stream/KqmvAN
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