Climate Wars What People Will Be Killed For in the 21st Century

by Welzer, Harald; Camiller, Patrick

• ISBN13: 9780745651453
• ISBN10: 0745651453
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-01-24
• Publisher: Polity

Summary

Struggles over drinking water, new outbreaks of mass violence, ethnic cleansing, civil wars in the earth's poorest countries, endless flows of refugees: these are the new conflicts and forces shaping the world of the 21st century. They no longer hinge on ideological rivalries between great powers but rather on issues of class, religion and resources. The genocides of the last century have taught us how quickly social problems can spill over into radical and deadly solutions. Rich countries are already developing strategies to garner resources and keep 'climate refugees' at bay. In this major new book Harald Welzer shows how climate change and violence go hand in hand. Climate change has far-reaching consequences for the living conditions of peoples around the world: inhabitable spaces shrink, scarce resources become scarcer, injustices grow deeper, not only between North and South but also between generations, storing up material for new social tensions and giving rise to violent conflicts, civil wars and massive refugee flows. Climate change poses major new challenges in terms of security, responsibility and justice, but as Welzer makes disturbingly clear, very little is being done to confront them.

Author Biography

Harald Welzer is Professor for Transformation Design at the University of Flensburg and Executive Director of the FUTURZWEI foundation.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. vi
A Ship in the Desert: The Past and Future of Violence	p. 1
Climate Conflicts	p. 8
Global Warming and Social Catastrophes	p. 24
A Brief Survey of Climate Change	p. 33
Killing Yesterday	p. 39
Killing Today: Ecocide	p. 51
Killing Tomorrow: Never-Ending Wars, Ethnic Cleansing, Terrorism, Shifting Boundaries	p. 88
Changed Realities	p. 138
The Revival of Old Conflicts: Faiths, Classes, Resources and the Erosion of Democracy	p. 155
More Violence	p. 160
What Can and Cannot Be Done - 1	p. 163
What Can and Cannot Be Done - 2	p. 179
Notes	p. 184
Index	p. 215
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