James Davis

James Davis




James Davis is an Irish writer and film maker based in California. His documentary films include Meeting Room, Safety Orange, and Autonomy and a Song. He is one of the four authors of Catastrophism: The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth, published by PM Press. He has contributed essays to Race and Class and Confronting Capitalism, edited by Eddie Yuen, George Katsiafikas, and Daniel Burton Rose.








Catastrophism: The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth

Catastrophism: The Apocalyptic Politics of Collapse and Rebirth

SKU: 9781604865899
Authors: Sasha Lilley, David McNally, Eddie Yuen, and James Davis • Foreword by Doug Henwood
Publisher: PM Press/Spectre
ISBN: 9781604865899
Published: 11/2012
Format: Paperback, mobi, ePub, PDF
Size: 8 x 5
Page count: 192
Subjects: Politics/Current Events


Praise

Catastrophism comes at the right moment: 2012, the year of The End proclaimed across the political spectrum from deep ecologists to the Mayan Calendarists. Instead of concentrating on the merits of the claims of the various apocalypticians, Jim Davis, Sasha Lilley, David McNally, and Eddie Yuen examine the political function of these claims and find them to be deeply reactionary. This is a controversial book that challenges many of the unexamined assumptions on the left (as well as on the right). It is a warning not to abandon everyday anti-capitalist politics for a politics of absolute fear that inevitably leads to inaction.”
—Silvia Federici, author of Revolution at Point Zero: Housework, Reproduction, and Feminist Struggle

“Bravo! This is the book that has been sorely needed for so long to reveal the dead-end that a politics founded on catastrophic predictions must lead to in terms of either preventing them or actually changing the world.  Essential reading for all those on the left who are concerned with the question of strategy today.”
–Leo Panitch, coauthor of The Making of Global Capitalism

“I cannot overstate how critically important this volume is. Catastrophism captures a problem that few have seriously grappled with. Anyone who wishes, as I do, for a new kind of (occupied) politics will have to face this formidable array of theoretically-inspired reflections on the politics of apocalypse.”
—Andrej Grubacic, co-author of Wobblies and Zapatistas: Conversations on Anarchism, Marxism and Radical History

“In an age when even Mayan prophecies of the end of the long cycle are turned into prophecies of doom and destruction, this book offers a reasoned and lucid alternative understanding. Definitive and momentous, this book should be mandatory reading for everyone who wishes to comprehend the world we live in and change it for the better.”
—George Katsiaficas, author of Asia’s Unknown Uprisings

“This important book aims to end the politics of The End. The authors of Catastrophism claim that apocalyptic politics, though promising to motivate revolutionary transformation, all too often leads to a fear-induced paralysis and cynicism. This book provides a badly needed boost to our political immunity systems against the apocalyptic claims bombarding us in this purported terminal year for our planet.”
—George Caffentzis author of In Letters of Blood and Fire

“This groundbreaking book examines a deep current—on both the left and right—of apocalyptical thought and action. The authors explore the origins, uses, and consequences of the idea that collapse might usher in a better world. Catastrophism is a crucial guide to understanding our tumultuous times, while steering us away from the pitfalls of the past.”
—Barbara Epstein, author of Political Protest and Cultural Revolution: Nonviolent Direct Action in the 1970s and 1980s



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