The BREAK—DOWN

Capitalism is often defended on the basis of freedom — “free markets”, free choice, as well as being credited with producing the wealth and material abundance that has freed countless people from poverty.Marx, meanwhile, described workers under capitalism as “free in the double sense”: “free” to sell their labour power in the market, and “free” or divorced from the means of production: the land, machinery or materials to sustain themselves on their own. In other words: not particularly free, at all. We can add to this the countless things that are, within market systems, “free” insofar as they are assigned no value, from the free gifts of nature to uncompensated environmental destruction and the unpaid labour that creates and sustains life. What, then, does freedom really mean within a capitalist society? When wealth is so vastly unequal, can it really be argued that market exchange is “free” in any real sense? And when the harms of our economic actions are invisible in the prices we pay—from deforestation to child labour—can we really be said to be making “free choices”? These are the questions at the heart of Alyssa Battistoni’s book Free Gifts. In this episode, she joins Adrienne to talk about value, the politics of nature, and how we might live freely in a finite world. 

We hear a lot about “sustainable development”—it’s the buzzword of virtually every UN convening—but often with little clarity on what it means in practice. Countries like the US, Canada or the UK hardly developed “sustainably”, so to demand that others organise their economies and societies in ways that we never did can feel like pulling up the ladder behind us. Moreover, how is “development” really defined? Reaching a certain level of GDP per capita? Having the right kinds of “advanced” industries, like finance or tech? And what do any of these indicators  tell us about the things that really matter, like ensuring a decent, affordable life for everyone without compromising the planet?Joining Adrienne to answer these questions is Amir Lebdioui, a development economist, Associate Professor in Political Economy at the University of Oxford and author of “Survival of the Greenest”. In this episode, Amir breaks down the economics of sustainable development, the implications of global tariff wars and what we should all be learning from China.

When Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, or Lula, was re-elected as the President of Brazil in 2022, defeating Jair Bolsonaro in a tense election, the Brazilian left and many around the world breathed an almost literal sigh of relief. Under Bolsonaro, Brazil’s ecological and climate record was scorched, with deforestation in the Amazon reaching record highs.Hopes were high, and for good reason: Lula campaigned on the rights of the working class and Brazil’s Indigenous peoples; under his watch deforestation quickly began to fall; and at COP27 in Egypt he declared in no uncertain terms: "Brazil is back." Yet Lula’s record so far is complex, particularly when it comes to the challenges and perceived trade-offs of economic development and the climate, all while managing powerful competing forces in Brazilian politics. As COP30 begins in Belém Brazil, Adrienne is joined by Sabrina Fernandes, an economic sociologist and head of research at the Alameda Institute, to discuss her essay “Lula’s Dilemma”, which she wrote for the second print issue of The BREAK—DOWN, on the complexities of Brazilian ecological politics, the power of big agri-business and what we can expect from Brazil’s leadership of this year’s climate conference. Further reading: Sabrina Fernandes, Lula’s Dilemma, The BREAK—DOWN

To celebrate the launch of The BREAK—DOWN ISSUE #1, editor Adrienne Buller was joined by Quinn Slobodian and Geoff Mann for a timely conversation on the afterlives of neoliberalism, the climate crisis, and the global rise of the far right.ISSUE #1The BREAK—DOWN is dedicated to exploring the political economy of the climate crisis. We bring together personal stories, cultural critique, expert insight and radical imagination to explore the systems driving ecological collapse — and what it might take to confront them.In the wake of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, our first issue, RIGHT TURN, explores climate politics in an age of rising authoritarianism, asking what happens when the future of the planet is shaped by a hardening new right.Issue ⁠#1⁠ is available now. Buy a print copy ⁠here⁠.

In much of the media, the importance of the legacies of empire and colonialism are often dismissed, with the public conversation dominated by the "culture war" elements, from debates about statues to institutions like the National Trust becoming "woke". The implication within much of this discourse is that empire and colonialism are features of the past, and should be left there. In reality, it is far from that simple. Our guest for Episode 18 is legal scholar Kojo Koram, whose first book, Uncommon Wealth: Britain and the Aftermath of Empire, unpacks how the legacies of empire continue to structure every part of our unequal global economy, from international tribunals that protect corporate interests to the systems that leave countries trapped in cycles of debt. Rather than a thing of the past, Kojo expertly breaks down just how present empire really is, and critically, how it has shaped both the roots and impacts of climate and ecological crisis.

Hans Stegeman, Chief Economist at Triodos Bank and advocate for post-growth economics, challenges the conventional belief that economic growth is a cure-all for societal issues. He discusses the urgent need to abandon growth dependency for greater environmental sustainability. Stegeman critiques traditional banking practices and explores the potential of alternative financial systems that prioritize equity. He also delves into the skepticism surrounding innovative financial ideas, emphasizing the need for systemic reforms to navigate a sustainable future.

A lot has happened in the six months since we launched this project. It feels like every week of 2024 has packed a decade’s worth of news. In just the past few weeks, we've seen crises hit the French and German governments, the fall of the Assad regime in Syria, a day of martial law in South Korea, and, of course, Trump’s reelection to the White House. Amidst all of it, climate has generally taken a political backseat. This is despite 2024 having been a bumper year for the climate as well — whether it’s record breaking investment in energy; the hottest year on record; the highest annual emissions on record; or an alarming number of supposedly “once in a lifetime” storms and heatwaves.  With all of this in mind, progressive and independent media voices covering climate feel more important than ever. We’re therefore delighted to welcome James Meadway, host of the hit weekly economics podcast Macrodose, to the Break Down. For today’s crossover episode, James and Adrienne take a look back at a tumultuous 12 months.  If you're not already familiar with Macrodose, you can find their feed wherever you get your podcasts.  Thank you for joining us this year on The Break Down. We’ll see you in 2025. Further Reading Ned Beauman, Venemous Lumpsucker, Sceptre, 2022 Thomas Ferguson and Servaas Storm, "Oil Prices, Oil Profits, Speculation and Inflation", Institute for New Economic Thinking Michaël Aklin and Matto Mildenberger, "Prisoners of the Wrong Dilemma: Why Distributive Conflict, Not Collective Action, Characterizes the Politics of Climate Change", Global Environmental Politics Isabella Weber et al., "Inflation in times of overlapping emergencies: Systemically significant prices from an input–output perspective", Industrial and Corporate Change Jinshan Hong and Bhuma Shrivastava, "Yes, Everyone Really Is Sick a Lot More Often After Covid", Bloomberg

In 2024, we’re set to break a major climate threshold for the first time: this will be the first calendar year in which global average temperatures breach the 1.5 degree Celsius threshold enshrined in the Paris Agreement. Importantly, while one year at this temperature doesn’t mean all is lost, it does fire a profound warning shot over our faltering progress on mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis.While every fraction of a degree matters when it comes to the climate, the consensus is clear that above 1.5C the severity of impacts and risk of tipping points like mass coral reef die off or the collapse of the Greenland ice sheet become substantially higher. You might therefore expect this to be front page news. Yet compared with its gravity, it has barely made headlines. If, like us, you’re wondering why — as it turns out, this was always part of the plan.In this episode, Adrienne and Andreas Malm break down the concept of “overshoot”, how it’s tied up with the power of fossil fuels, and the future of climate politics, from ecofascism to geoengineering.Andreas Malm is an associate professor at Lund University, an activist and the author of several books, most recently Overshoot: How The World Surrendered to Climate Breakdown, co-written with Wim Carton.

In the wake of the US election, hot takes and autopsies of the Democrats’ fairly spectacular loss are a dime a dozen. Amid the swirl of diagnoses there has also been real fear about what a Trump presidency means for the climate — an issue that felt almost entirely absent from either campaign, despite its significant role in Biden’s policy platform.  How should we understand what just happened? What comes next for climate policy, both in the US and, through its huge influence, in countries around the world. And crucially, in a moment where it feels so politically sidelined, how can we build a broad base of popular support for action on climate? Joining us on The Break Down to work through these questions is Matt Huber, a Professor at Syracuse University and author of “Climate Change as Class War”. If the book’s title is any indication, Matt makes the case that climate and ecological crisis are fundamentally class issues, and that any chance of political success means taking climate out of the world of technocrats and experts, and connecting it to the everyday issues that shape people’s lives.

Amid the threat of “Project 2025”, ongoing genocide in Gaza, and a nation-wide battle over reproductive rights, to name a few major issues, the climate crisis has been considerably sidelined in the US election taking place on November 5th. But even if it’s not grabbing headlines, what the United States does — or does not do — on climate has profound implications for the entire world.   So where does climate stand in this election? With Kamala Harris praising both the Green New Deal and her role as a champion of fracking, how should we understand the Democratic position on climate? What is the legacy of the Inflation Reduction Act, and does it even register with voters? What, if anything, is the future of the Green New Deal? And, for the many people who don’t feel represented by either major party, is voting for a third party — or not voting at all — the answer? These are big questions — here to help us answer them are two brilliant guests, journalist Kate Aronoff and Democratic strategist Waleed Shahid. In this special episode, Adrienne, Kate and Waleed unpack the chaos and the stakes of the US election, and what it means for climate action in the US and beyond.