The Break Down: Climate Change as Class War w/ Matt Huber

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. 

Notes and Further Reading

Cedric Durand, Elena Hofferberth & Matthias Schmelzer, "Planning Beyond Growth: The Case for Economic Democracy Within Ecological Limits", Journal of Cleaner Production

Matt Huber, Climate Change as Class War, Verso, 2022

Matt Huber, The Problem with Degrowth, Jacobin

Gabriel Winant, "Exit Right", Dissent Magazine