Petrochemical Planet: Multiscalar Battles of Industrial Transformation

Mah, A. (2023) Petrochemical Planet: Multiscalar Battles of Industrial Transformation. Duke University Press. ISBN 9781478025122 (doi: 10.1215/9781478027126)

Abstract

In Petrochemical Planet Alice Mah examines the changing nature of the petrochemical industry as it faces the existential threats of climate change and environmental activism. Drawing on research from high-level industry meetings, petrochemical plant tours, and polluted communities, Mah juxtaposes the petrochemical industry’s destructive corporate worldviews with environmental justice struggles in the United States, China, and Europe. She argues that amid intensifying public pressures, a profound planetary industrial transformation is underway that is challenging the reigning age of plastics and fossil fuels. This challenge comes from what Mah calls multiscalar activism—a form of collective resistance that spans local, regional, national, and planetary sites and scales and addresses the interconnected issues of environmental justice, climate, pollution, health, extraction, land rights, workers’ rights, systemic racism, and toxic colonialism. Reflecting on the obstacles and openings for critical interventions in the petrochemical industry, Mah offers important insights into the possibilities for resistance and for developing alternatives to the reliance on fossil fuels.

• Item Type: Books
• Additional Information: This title is freely available in an open access edition made possible by a generous contribution from the Leverhulme Trust. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (erc) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant Agreement No. 639583), with additional funding from the Philip Leverhulme Prize.
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Mah, Professor Alice
• Authors: Mah, A.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Urban Studies
• Publisher: Duke University Press
• ISBN: 9781478025122
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2023 Duke University Press
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License