From Climate Change to Climate Action to Climate Justice: An Ecological Neo-Gramscian Analysis of Ecosocialism’s Potential by Evangelia (Eve) Maria Croeser Bachelor of Arts 1982 Graduate Diploma in Education 1997 Master of Education Technology 2005 A dissertation in the fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Discipline of Politics and International Relations, School of Social Sciences, College of Arts, Law and Education September 2017 Declaration of Originality This thesis contains no material which has been accepted for a degree or diploma by the University or any other institution, except by way of background information and duly acknowledged in the thesis, and to the best of my knowledge and belief no material previously published or written by another person except where due acknowledgement is made in the text of the thesis, nor does the thesis contain any material that infringes copyright. Authority of Access This thesis may be made available for loan and limited copying and communication in accordance with the Copyright Act 1968. Statement of Ethical Conduct The research associated with this thesis abides by the international and Australian codes on human and animal experimentation, the guidelines by the Australian Government’s Office of the Gene Technology Regulator and the rulings of the Safety, Ethics and Institutional Biosafety Committees of the University. Signed: Date: 14 September 2017 ii Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest appreciation for the guidance and support so competently, consistently and selflessly provided by my primary supervisor, Associate Professor Fred Gale. In our many weekly discussions and through his thoughtful reviews of my written drafts, Fred’s feedback not only motivated me by introducing different perspectives on the issues I explore in this research project, but also consistently challenged me to question my assumptions and justify my arguments. In doing so, Fred helped me develop a more sophisticated analysis, and for this I am very grateful. Fred admirably achieved all this while simultaneously ensuring that I had the intellectual space to reach my own conclusions, and all arguments and views presented in this dissertation are entirely my own. My gratitude for Fred’s supervision extends to the University of Tasmania for employing such an excellent supervisor and for generously providing the Tasmania Graduate Research Scholarship, the additional funding to subsidise the travel I undertook for fieldwork, and the facilities and support services without which I would not have had the resources to conduct this research project. I also thank my secondary supervisor, Professor Richard Eccleston, for his input in the final version of this dissertation. I am deeply indebted to my partner and best friend, John Studholme, who supported me in every way possible throughout my studies. Without John’s encouragement, patient care, and reassurances, it is unlikely that I would have either embarked on or completed this journey. John’s unwavering support took many forms, including participating in many discussions with me that challenged my assumptions and identified arguments that did not make sense. In addition, and crucially for both my health and this research project, John became an expert at just generally calming me down when the issue of climate change became emotionally overwhelming. In effect, as well as providing essential practical and emotional support throughout the lifetime of this research project, John acted as an informal additional ‘supervisor,’ engaging in extensive discussions with me about the issues I analyse and providing valuable feedback that helped me present my ideas more clearly and logically; thank you, John. iii I was very fortunate to have had yet another extremely competent informal ‘supervisor’: my daughter, Dr Sky Croeser, who encouraged me throughout these studies and also reviewed written drafts, providing invaluable feedback that helped me stay on topic. In addition, I would like to thank the rest of my family for their unconditional support; as always, my son Kyle, and my parents, brother, and sister- in-law provided the encouragement and stability I need to succeed in all my endeavours. I am particularly grateful to my parents, Tony and Roula Gregoriadis, who instilled in me the important values that inform this research project: a dedication to truth and knowledge, and a deep caring for other people. One of the most important habits my father helped me develop as he listened to radio news broadcasts every hour on the hour, was that of paying attention to my world. I am very grateful to him for thereby provoking a lifelong interest in current affairs that led, indirectly, to my awareness of contemporary global challenges and hence to this research project. While it is not possible to acknowledge and thank everyone I am indebted to for contributing to my intellectual development, and hence to this research project, I feel compelled to acknowledge the important contributions of Professors Tom Lodge and Eddie Webster, two of the academics who introduced me to critical perspectives during my undergraduate studies in Political Science and Industrial Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It is through their efforts and competent guidance, as well as that of my good friend, Daryl Glaser (now also an Associate Professor at our alma mater) that I first learned how to critically analyse not only the apartheid society that prevailed in South Africa at that time, but also how to apply the analytical power of the critical Marxist perspective more widely, to issues that include the subject of this research project. Thank you Tom, Eddie and Daryl. I would also like the thank my interviewees, who gave so generously of their valuable time to respond to my questions; in particular, I am grateful to Ian Angus for setting aside time for two interviews as well as less formal discussions in between his Australian conference presentations in 2016. Other individuals I am indebted to and would like to thank for their attention, caring, support and iv encouragement throughout the challenges of our studies include members of my PhD cohort, Daria Varenova, Dain Bolwell, Laura Ripoll Gonzales, and Melissa Belle; our exchanges about the travails we encountered throughout this journey helped me immensely by reminding me that I was part of a community of scholars, thereby diminishing my feelings of isolation and providing much-needed camaraderie as well as many interesting conversations and some respite from the seriousness of the challenges I explore in this research project. Finally, and most importantly, I would like to extend my empathy to the millions (perhaps billions) of people who, through no fault of their own, will suffer the devastating effects of anthropogenic global warming. It is the thought of what the poor, the young, and future generations will have to endure that motivated me to continue focusing on identifying the causes of, and socially just solutions to, the existential and exceedingly distressing issue of anthropogenic global warming and the catastrophic effects of the climate change and ‘extreme weather’ disasters it causes. v Table of Contents Declaration of Originality ................................................................................................................ ii Authority of Access ............................................................................................................................ ii Statement of Ethical Conduct ........................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures .................................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ...................................................................................................................................... viii List of Acronyms ................................................................................................................................ ix Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. xi Chapter One: Introduction and Overview ....................................................................... 13 The organic crisis of global capitalism in the Anthropocene .................................................. 13 Research Questions and Aims ............................................................................................................... 17 Research Methodology and Methods ................................................................................................. 17 Theoretical perspective and general approach ............................................................................. 19 Structure of the dissertation .................................................................................................................. 21 Chapter Two: The post-WWII global political economy and the Anthropocene .................................................................................................................................. 26 The Anthropocene: A new geological epoch ..................................................................................