LA Burning: Capitalism, Climate Change, and Resistance

A combustible combination of capitalist development, climate change, and neoliberal policies transformed normal patterns of wind and fire into an inferno that has laid waste to whole sections of LA. This human made disaster has had devastating impacts particularly on the city’s multiracial working class. Join this Spectre Live event to discuss the roots of the killer fires, collective solidarity amidst it, and what must be done to prevent future climate catastrophes.

***Please note: This discussion was recorded on January 28, 2025.***

Speakers:

Dan Boscov-Ellen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Science and Cultural Studies at Pratt Institute and associate web editor for Spectre. He is currently working on a book manuscript entitled Critical Climate Ethics: Capitalism, Colonialism, and the Climate Crisis.

Maga Miranda is a community-engaged researcher, Chau Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Pomona College, and a member of the Spectre Editorial Board. She is working on a book entitled Domestic Codes: Latina Workers and the Data-Driven Politics of Care.

Promise Li is a socialist from Hong Kong and Los Angeles. He is a member of Tempest Collective and Solidarity and has been active in higher-education rank-and-file union work, international solidarity and anti-war campaigns, and Chinatown tenant organizing.

Abby Cunniff is a PhD candidate at UC Santa Cruz and is working on a dissertation, entitled, Prison Labor in the Wild: the Invisible Infantry of California Nature, which examines how incarcerated people are exploited to fight fires, construct roads, restore habitats, and build park infrastructure.

Joshua Frank is the managing editor at CounterPunch. He is a Southern California-based investigative journalist and author of the recent award-winning book Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America.

This event is sponsored by Haymarket Books and Spectre Journal.