World Orders and Catastrophic Change w/ Alfred McCoy
Published at : December 11, 2021
In his latest book, To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change, historian Alfred McCoy explains how a succession of catastrophes—from the devastating Black Death of 1350 through the coming climate crisis of 2050—has produced a relentless succession of rising empires and fading world orders.
During the long centuries of Iberian and British imperial rule, the quest for new forms of energy led to the development of the colonial sugar plantation as a uniquely profitable kind of commerce. In a time when issues of race and social justice have arisen with pressing urgency, the book explains how the plantation’s extraordinary profitability relied on a production system that literally worked the slaves to death, creating an insatiable appetite for new captives that made the African slave trade a central feature of modern capitalism for over four centuries.
After surveying past centuries roiled by imperial wars, national revolutions, and the struggle for human rights, McCoy seeks to prognosticate about the future, highlighting the ways in which climate change and changing world orders will shape the life opportunities for younger generations. What does the past tell us about the future of the global order? How and why is this order changed? And what will this mean for future generations?
Alfred McCoy
Alfred W. McCoy holds the Harrington chair of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he teaches classes on the Vietnam War, modern empires, and U.S. foreign policy. Most recently, he is the author of "In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power" (Chicago, 2017). He is also the author of "Policing America's Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State" (Madison, 2009) which won the Kahin Prize from the Association for Asian Studies.
His best-known book, "The Politics of Heroin," stirred controversy when the C.I.A. tried to block its publication back in 1972, but it has remained in print for nearly 50 years, been translated into nine languages, and is generally regarded as the "classic" work on global drug trafficking.
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Readings
To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change
https://www.amazon.com/Govern-Globe-Orders-Catastrophic-Change/dp/1642595780
During the long centuries of Iberian and British imperial rule, the quest for new forms of energy led to the development of the colonial sugar plantation as a uniquely profitable kind of commerce. In a time when issues of race and social justice have arisen with pressing urgency, the book explains how the plantation’s extraordinary profitability relied on a production system that literally worked the slaves to death, creating an insatiable appetite for new captives that made the African slave trade a central feature of modern capitalism for over four centuries.
After surveying past centuries roiled by imperial wars, national revolutions, and the struggle for human rights, McCoy seeks to prognosticate about the future, highlighting the ways in which climate change and changing world orders will shape the life opportunities for younger generations. What does the past tell us about the future of the global order? How and why is this order changed? And what will this mean for future generations?
Alfred McCoy
Alfred W. McCoy holds the Harrington chair of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he teaches classes on the Vietnam War, modern empires, and U.S. foreign policy. Most recently, he is the author of "In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of U.S. Global Power" (Chicago, 2017). He is also the author of "Policing America's Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State" (Madison, 2009) which won the Kahin Prize from the Association for Asian Studies.
His best-known book, "The Politics of Heroin," stirred controversy when the C.I.A. tried to block its publication back in 1972, but it has remained in print for nearly 50 years, been translated into nine languages, and is generally regarded as the "classic" work on global drug trafficking.
About TIR
Thank you, guys, again for taking the time to check this out. We appreciate each and every one of you. If you have the means, and you feel so inclined, BECOME A PATRON! We're creating patron-only programming, you'll get bonus content from many of the episodes, and you get MERCH!
Become a patron now: https://www.patreon.com/join/BitterLakePresents
Please also like, subscribe, and follow us on these platforms as well, especially YouTube!
THANKS Y'ALL
YouTube: www.youtube.com/thisisrevolutionpodcast
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/thisisrevolutionpodcast & www.twitch.tv/leftflankvets
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Thisisrevolutionpodcast/
Twitter: @TIRShowOakland
Instagram: @thisisrevolutionoakland
Pascal Robert in Black Agenda Report: https://www.blackagendareport.com/author/PascalRobert
Get THIS IS REVOLUTION Merch here: www.thisisrevolutionpodcast.com
Get the music from the show here: https://bitterlakeoakland.bandcamp.com/
Follow Djene Bajalan @djenebajalan
Follow Kuba Wrzesniewski @DrKuba2
Readings
To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change
https://www.amazon.com/Govern-Globe-Orders-Catastrophic-Change/dp/1642595780
WorldOrdersCatastrophic