Populist Just Transitions Judson Charles Abraham Dissertation
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Populist Just Transitions Judson Charles Abraham Dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought Scott G. Nelson, Chair Shannon E. Bell Nicholas Copeland Timothy W. Luke Besnik Pula December 19, 2019 Blacksburg VA Keywords: labor unions, just transition, climate change, populism, internationalism, Antonio Gramsci, Tony Mazzocchi Copyright: Judson Abraham 2020 Populist Just Transitions Judson Charles Abraham ABSTRACT This dissertation argues that the just transition policy framework may not vivify labor internationalism or erode support for right-wing populists if just transitions are not part of left- wing populist projects. Labor internationalism, which involves labor unions cooperating across borders to pursue common goals, is increasingly important as unions strive to work with their foreign counterparts to influence the international community’s urgent efforts to address climate change. Right-wing populism is a growing threat to organized labor and climate protection efforts. Some labor activists hope that advocacy for the just transition policy framework, a set of guidelines for compensating workers in polluting industries who are laid-off as a result of environmental protections, will unite labor organizations from around the world and improve their approaches to international solidarity. Progressives hope that just transition policies will discourage voters from supporting right-wing populist candidates, who are often climate skeptics, out of fear of the job losses that accompany environmentalist reforms. However, I question the assumption that just transition policies, in and of themselves, can serve as solutions to the challenges posed by right-wing populism or overcome divisions within the global labor movement. It is possible for economic nationalism at the expense of global solidarity to continue and for right-wing populists to maintain support in decarbonizing areas where policy makers have indemnified laid-off fossil fuel workers. Integrating just transition policies into left-wing populist politics could potentially make just transitions more useful for countering the far-right and promoting labor internationalism. This dissertation looks to the political theorist Antonio Gramsci’s thoughts regarding the “national popular,” which Gramsci’s readers often associate with left-wing populism. The national popular entails intellectuals from different fields (such as the academy, journalism, and manufacturing) coming together to modernize patriotism and strip it of chauvinistic nationalism. I point out that the original proposals for just transitions prioritized providing free higher education for the workers laid-off from polluting industries. The just transition framework’s stress on higher education has populistic implications. Educators, particularly members of teachers’ unions, may practice populism throughout the implementation of a just transition for laid-off coal workers by encouraging the displaced workers to cooperate with knowledge workers to rethink nationalism. If workers displaced from polluting industries rethink nationalism in university settings while maintaining their connections to the labor movement, then these workers may in turn reject far- right politicians and discourage organized labor from supporting trade nationalism. Populist Just Transitions Judson Charles Abraham GENERAL AUDIENCE ABSTRACT Climate change renders strong environmental regulations increasingly necessary. Environmental protections aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions will reduce employment in carbon intensive industries. Climate protection measures may therefore disadvantage labor unions by eliminating jobs in well-organized, heavy industry occupations. For this reason, relationships between labor unions and environmentalists can be tense. Some labor organizers and environmental activists seek to overcome divisions between their movements by promoting just transition policies. Just transition policies aim to reconcile the needs of workers in polluting fields with the imperative of environmental protection by guaranteeing generous public supports (including free higher education and wage replacement) for all workers laid-off from polluting industries because of environmental reforms. Some advocates of just transitions are optimistic that such policies will be politically advantageous for progressives. Some progressives expect that state compensation for displaced fossil fuel workers will discourage working class voters from backing right-wing, climate skeptical politicians out of desperation and anger. Some labor activists hope that cooperation between unions in different countries will flourish as the workers of the world unite around the shared goal of promoting just transitions. I contend that it is overoptimistic to believe that just transition policies can assure victory over the far-right or overcome major divisions within the international labor movement. However, just transition policies that involve free higher education for displaced workers may marginally advance working class intellectual influence within environmentalist and international solidarity activist circles by increasing labor’s influence within the university. Internationalism and climate protection will become more appealing to workers, and thus more resilient against the right, as more activists committed to these causes draw from working class influences. Acknowledgements Chapter Two was presented at the Second Biennial Conference of the Caucus for a New Political Science in February 2019, and was subsequently published in the September 2019 issue of Journal of Labour and Society. The research that went into Chapter Two could not have been possible had I not spent a semester studying at Technische Universität Darmstadt in the fall of 2014 with generous support from the Virginia Tech political science department. Chapter Four was presented at the Symposium on Appalachian Studies in the Digital Age in November of 2019. Chapter Five was presented at the Sixth Annual Rural Studies Student Conference in November of 2018. IV Table of Contents Abstract ii General Audience Abstract iii Acknowledgements iv Table of Contents v List of Abbreviations vii Preface 1 Chapter One Does the Just Transition Framework Amount to Climate Solidarity? 8 JTs and CS: What are they and who do they Help? 10 Worker/Community Control Over Energy Production 22 Chapter Two Just Transitions in a Dual Labor Market: Populism and Austerity in the German Energiewende 31 What are JTs and why are they Associated with Social Dialogue, International Solidarity, and Anti-Populism? 32 Crisis Corporatism, Austerity, International Solidarity, and JT 39 Corporatism, Dualization, and the Rise of the AFD 43 Conclusion: JTs as Populism 46 Chapter Three The Just Transition Framework as Progressive Populism – A Gramscian Analysis 51 Why Populism? Why Gramsci? 53 Gramsci on Progress 59 The Economico-Corporate Phase 62 The Hegemonic Phase 69 The State Phase 77 Conclusion 83 Chapter Four Back to Mazzocchi: Reclaiming the Just Transition Framework’s Educative Potentials 87 Arguments for Democratic, Social Control as a Condition of JTs 89 Educative Elements of Social Control in Mazzocchi’s JT Proposal 96 JTs as an Educative Solution to Right-Wing Populism and a Step Toward Internationalism 103 Conclusion 108 Chapter Five Why, Exactly, Does Trump Dig Coal?: Monopoly Capital and State Intervention in the U.S. Coal Industry 112 The Monopoly Capital School 114 V The Monopoly Capital School and Appalachian Studies 118 Consolidation, Overcapacity, and Government Intervention under Trump 122 Coal Country’s Fiscal Crisis of the State 128 Conclusion 137 Chapter Six Conclusion 142 Further Research 150 References 154 VI List of Abbreviations ACE Affordable Clean Energy AfD Alternative für Deutschland/Alternative for Germany AFL-CIO American Federation of Labor-Congress of Industrial Organizations AFT American Federation of Teachers BLDTF Black Lung Disability Trust Fund CS Climate Solidarity DGB Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund/German Federation of Labor EPA Environmental Protection Agency FFW Fossil Fuel Worker IGBCE Industriegewerkschaft Bergbau, Chemie, Energie/Industrial Trade Union Mining, Chemical, Energy JT Just Transition LNS Labor Network for Sustainability MSHA Mining Safety and Health Administration NUW National Union of Workers NTEU National Tertiary Education Union OCAW Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers OSMRE Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands/Social Democratic Party of Germany TUED Trade Unions for Energy Democracy UMWA United Mine Workers of America USW United Steel Workers of America VII Preface On February 7th, 2019, New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez submitted a nonbinding resolution entitled “Recognizing the duty of the Federal Government to create a Green New Deal.” The resolution, which drew intense media attention for its expansive proposals to advance progressive social and economic causes while dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, is notable not only for its policy prescriptions but also for its unabashed ideological content. Ocasio-Cortez, who refers to herself as a democratic socialist and intends to challenge the Democratic Party’s leadership from the left (Taylor 2019), hopes for her resolution to alter the political