"Build From Existing Strengths" - Max Ajl on Theories of Political Ecology

In this episode is the conclusion of our 2 part conversation with Max Ajl.  Max Ajl is an educator and a researcher and the author of A People’s Green New Deal, which we highly recommend and had a previous discussion of back in 2021. He is also the associate editor of Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy. Here we continued our discussion of his piece “Theories of Political Ecology: Monopoly Capital Against People and the Planet." In this section of the conversation we talk about China’s role in the world system and Max discusses the question of imperialism with regard to China, specifically on the African continent. From there we get into a discussion of degrowth, what Ajl sees as its strengths and weaknesses as a camp of ecological thought engaging at a popular level. We also dig deeper into Max’s interventions in the realm of ecologically unequal exchange, something we began to discuss in part 1 of the conversation. We thank Max Ajl for this conversation and will include links to a bunch of the citations in the show notes as well as to the article we’re discussing and Agrarian South Journal. We recorded this conversation way back in early August, but this is the first episode we’ve released since the most recent phase of Palestinian Resistance to apartheid and colonialism began on October 7th and since the apocalyptic Israeli siege on Gaza began as a form of collective punishment. We want to express our unequivocal solidarity with the Palestinian people in this time in their anticolonial struggle, and enduring the crimes against humanity that the Israeli state is enacting on the whole population of Gaza. We will be looking to do some more work on that specific topic soon. But for now we want to make sure to relay that to our listeners along with this episode. Links/Citations: “Theories of Political Ecology: Monopoly Capital Against People and the Planet.” by Max Ajl (the subject of the episode) https://www.agrariansouth.org Ching Kwan Lee's The Specter of Global China The Future is Degrowth Jason Hickel  Ali Kadri Danny Faber  Vladimir Kontorovich  Zeyad El Nabolsy -  pieces on Cabral