Book #4: Recap
Resources and further reading.
Hi friends! I’m Jess and this is Book Club for the Planet, an online community for us to read about the climate crisis and solutions, together.
Big thank you to everyone who contributed in our book club meeting on On Fire by Naomi Klein! This book offered endless territory and topics to talk about—so much so that we only got to half of my prepared questions in our time together. I’m changing up this recap post to share the full list of book club discussion questions as well as a little additional reading. Even if you were unable to attend this time, or have stumbled upon this corner of the internet 10 years into the future and want to lead your own book club on On Fire, I hope this list of questions offers you a buoyant launchpad for discussion.
Book Club Questions:
The “Anthropocene” is a proposed geological epoch, a term that gained popularity in the early 2000s, to describe the period of time we’re in now where human activity is measurably impacting Earth’s systems. Naomi Klein challenges the use of this term. Do you agree with her? Why or why not? What could alternative language look like? (Skip ahead to 5:58 in this podcast, The Quarantine Tapes 158: Naomi Klein, for additional context for this question.)
Let’s talk about individual versus collective action. Naomi writes, “After years of recycling, carbon offsetting, and lightbulb changing, it is obvious that individual action will never be an adequate response to the climate crisis. Climate change is a collective problem, and it demands collective action.” As an individual, what do you take away from this idea?
In her essay, “Let Them Drown,” Naomi writes about Edward Said’s concept of “othering” and sacrifice zones. What are some ways you’ve seen this idea play out? What are some tools or concepts that have helped you confront this kind of mentality?
After reading this book, do you think capitalism and climate solutions can coexist?
Naomi Klein traveled to the Vatican to speak to Pope Francis’ climate change encyclical, “Laudato si,” and wrote about her conflicted feelings regarding that engagement. What role do you think organized religion could have in confronting the climate crisis?
In her essay, “Climate Time vs. The Constant Now,” Naomi argues that the climate crisis is “out of sight, out of mind” for many of us—especially when “daily existence is increasingly disconnected from the physical places where we reside.” When or what makes you feel personally connected to the place you live?
What excites you most about the Green New Deal or policy initiatives like it? What changes do you hope to see locally, regionally or globally by 2030?
Additional Reading:
Capitalism, as we understand and live it now, is incompatible with addressing the climate crisis. Constant growth and extraction, at the heart of the white supremacist, colonialist, capitalist project, is the heart of the problem we’re in. So let’s talk about the idea of “degrowth”! Our pal and co-organizer, Jess D., will be leading a side book club for those interested on Less is More: How Degrowth Will Save the World by Jason Hickel. Slack or email me to get connected.
More Naomi Klein! I’ll be checking out This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate.
What would happen if people owned the means of production—in renewable energy, like solar or wind, or waste management, like carbon removal? After Geoengineering: Climate Tragedy, Repair, and Restoration by Holly Jean Buck really helped me reframe in my own mind what this kind of post-capitalist future could look like.
Ready to learn more about the Green New Deal and what a more collectively equitable, healthier, happier future could look like? This primer, A Planet to Win: Why We Need A Green New Deal, is short and sweet.
During our meeting, I got on my soapbox and talked about why sci-fi writing is such a powerful tool in helping us collectively imagine other modes of being and organizing. Ursula K. Le Guin’s anarchist masterpiece, The Dispossessed, was one such novel for me. I still think about this book all the time.
Future Meet-Ups:
Our next book club meetings are Sunday, June 6 for Gun Island and Sunday, June 13 for The Ministry for the Future. Choose your own adventure… or read both!