Labour, land and the libidinal in the struggle for liveable futures

Abstract

Ariel Salleh's book, DeColonize EcoModernism! is relevant to our contemporary times in terms of deepening geopolitical conflicts, naked resource imperialism and ‘might is right’ guiding international relations and – now being torn apart before our eyes. While Trump and Netanyahu are merely ‘saying the quiet part out loud’, with the live-streamed ecocide-genocide in Gaza and the unprovoked and illegal war on Iran waged by America and Israel, we find Europe, bastion of human rights, liberalism and free trade, mute. Toxic masculinity, petromasculinity and ‘strong man’ politics are in the ascendant. Against this depressing backdrop, hope is to be found in the resilience of Palestinian people, defiantly demonstrating ‘sumud’ – ‘existence is resistance’ – in countries of the global South who support the South African case of genocide against Israel, and in the leadership of women ‘frontline and fence line’ land and water protectors around the world as outlined in this book.