William Westgard-Cruice
Geographer • renewable energy, labour regimes, critique of political economy • Postdoc at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
www.williamwestgardcruice.com
- On the decline of process knowledge and its significance: "The point is not to romanticize traditional working-class occupations. But in the frenzy of digitalization, both right and left have forgotten that software presupposes hardware ... modern human life presupposes building and manufacturing."
- När väst började avveckla ned sina industrier förlorade vi också den kunskap som behövs för att ställa om. Det är dags att återuppbygga den, skriver @jonasalgers.bsky.social. www.flamman.se/arbetarklass...
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- "For us, flourishing is inseparable from the transformation of the technical and social means by which we reproduce our lives." "Hegel helps us see that work like Saito’s is premised on a false dichotomy—the choice is not between growth and degrowth but capital growth and rational growth."
- Reposted by William Westgard-CruiceSamtidigt som USA blir allt mer auktoritärt blir vi mer beroende av deras energi. Ja Sveriges _elsystem_ är fossilfritt - men inte industrin och transporterna. I 2024 lade Sverige ✨205 miljarder kronor✨ på att importera fossil energi. Kunde lagts på annat
- "In 2009, the proposition that Reza Pahlavi might constitute a political alternative to the Islamic Republic would have been widely dismissed... This shift tells us less about the intrinsic strength of monarchism than about the erosion of alternative pathways for political transformation..."
- As the imperialist confrontation between the US and the EU intensifies, the next major advance in Chinese capitalism is quietly underway. More powerful wind turbines mean less reliance on foreign fuel imports and a growing Chinese edge over Europe in the export of wind power technology.
- Matt Huber against the dour, anti-political degrowthism of the contemporary Left "...if we struggle, and wrestle control of production away from the depredations of capital, there is nothing we can’t do. An energy transition is not only possible; it’s only the beginning of what we can accomplish."
- "The transformation of America in the past 30 years into an 'hour glass' society, leaving only yuppies and the homeless in cities like Manhattan and devastating the life conditions of the urban working class and marginal Bohemia, is a major factor in the decline of reading." - Loren Goldner, in 1995
- Reposted by William Westgard-CruicePreliminary proofs are in......
- Reposted by William Westgard-CruiceI've been rereading this excellent piece today - it sheds light on so many of the vital debates within Marxist and heterodox political economy in recent years. I really recommend checking it out.
- New article out with @histmat.bsky.social I revisit Marx's critique of the relationship between labour, technology and the surplus population and situate it within the context of capitalism's directionality
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- Strong arguments here. The real problem is we don't live in a society in which we genuinely plan power production decades in advance. If we did, both nuclear and renewables would be built faster and cheaper as we wouldn't face the same grid constraints and economies of scale would be much greater.
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- In recent Danish municipal elections, the far-right made big gains by mobilizing voters against renewable energy. Jonas and I argue that this was a winning strategy because the left has mostly ignored problems in the industry like social dumping and mass layoffs. Sadly relevant far beyond Denmark.
- Sammen med @jonasalgers.bsky.social har jeg skrevet en artikel om, hvordan venstrefløjens svage forbindelse til arbejderklassen bidrager til højredrejningen i debatten om vedvarende energi. For at ændre debattens præmisser må venstrefløjen styres mindre af miljø-NGO’er og mere af arbejderklassen.
- Massefyringer i vindenergisektoren og social dumping i solindustrien er begge problemer, som venstrefløjen i stor udstrækning har ignoreret. Som følge heraf ser mange i landdistrikterne grøn energi som et symbol på forringelsen af hårdt tilkæmpede arbejdsforhold. Hvordan reagerer venstrefløjen nu?
- Sammen med @jonasalgers.bsky.social har jeg skrevet en artikel om, hvordan venstrefløjens svage forbindelse til arbejderklassen bidrager til højredrejningen i debatten om vedvarende energi. For at ændre debattens præmisser må venstrefløjen styres mindre af miljø-NGO’er og mere af arbejderklassen.
- Sammen med @jonasalgers.bsky.social har jeg skrevet en artikel om, hvordan venstrefløjens svage forbindelse til arbejderklassen bidrager til højredrejningen i debatten om vedvarende energi. For at ændre debattens præmisser må venstrefløjen styres mindre af miljø-NGO’er og mere af arbejderklassen.
- Can't wait to read this
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- Ørsted carries out layoffs of nearly 200 employees in Denmark a few weeks after announcing a massive global firing round. A clear consequence of betting big on an unstable US market instead of focusing on building offshore wind in Scandinavian waters, where it's very much needed.
- A lot of writing on renewable energy depicts the industry as "laborless," suggesting that workers in the industry aren't really central to the politics of the "energy transition." My new article in @societyandspace.bsky.social shows how mistaken this view is. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
- It looks at how the natural conditions of offshore wind power production and the development of the productive forces necessitate the organization of highly socialized labour regimes, giving rise to new forms of structural power on the part of maritime workers.
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- Radikale politikere i Information: “Blackstone har gjort en positiv forskel i lejernes liv … trukket huslejerne nedad.” Begrundelsen? Et studie fra USA, der kun sammenligner kapitalfonde med en hypotetisk situation med flere småudlejere, ikke med det reelle alternativ: flere almene boliger.
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- The myth of the labour aristocracy is a fixation of professional class writers: "The image of privileged workers protecting their global position seems out of step with daily headlines of skyrocketing wealth flowing to the top and a cost-of-living crisis and economic insecurity for the majority..."
- More bad news from the wind energy sector: Vestas cuts 900 jobs worldwide, including 190 in Denmark. Govt. talks about a green transition. Meanwhile, the people who design and build wind turbines lose their jobs by the hundreds. Hvad er venstrefløjens reaktion? @enhedslisten.bsky.social @sf.dk
- The Scottish Government's plans for offshore wind expansion continue to fall apart as Shell cancels a 3GW floating wind project. As @brettchristophers.bsky.social argues, even large-scale renewables development is seldom profitable enough for oil majors. A public pathway is the only way forward.
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- The crisis in Europe’s wind industry deepens: 2/3 of all workers at LM Wind Power in Denmark to be laid off. What’s the response from the green left in Denmark? Kommunalvalget får al opmærksomheden for tiden – men hvad tænker I om det her? @pelledragsted.bsky.social @piaolsendyhr.bsky.social
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- Spot on. The far right (PVV+JA21+FvD+SGP) won even more votes this election than they did in 2023. Middle class voters will always cycle between the various liberal parties. The real story here is the utter collapse of the Dutch left and the continued shift of working class voters to the right.
- A lot of people are saying this is going to be one of the best books of the decade 👇👇
- "[the Urbanization of Capital] puts capital's imperative to innovate and disrupt at the heart of the argument, along with the inevitable financial crises and urban revolutions that result. The theory is timeless in making clear that none of the shocks to the old ... order should come as a surprise."
- "[David Harvey's] Consciousness and the Urban Experience never endorses any nostalgic search for lost time nor a headlong embrace of absolute modernization. Instead, David prises open the dialectic of modernity, the creative destruction that infused, and goes on infusing, our lives."
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- Can't wait for this one to come out in paperback this month! A further development of two of Nimtz's previous books, both very sharp, namely "Marx and Engels: Their Contribution to the Democratic Breakthrough" and "Marxism versus Liberalism: Comparative Real Time Political Analysis"
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