Michael J Albert
Biographic Data
| ID | 1370758 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael J Albert |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael J |
| FAMILY NAME | Albert |
| SIGNATURE | ALBERT M J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Edinburgh |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8334-9544 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 37 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 20 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1981 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Abolition forum response
It has been a pleasure to help spearhead this stimulating forum on abolitionist politics in the current conjuncture. The responses to my initial article raise some disagreements regarding the value of ‘security’ for counterhegemonic politics, the role of the state, and the kind of strategic thinking needed to advance abolitionist goals effectively. This brief response will address these critiques while also elaborating my working theory of how le…
Security, left populism, and abolitionist politics in the age of neo-fascism
This article makes the case for a left populist challenge to hegemonic “security” imaginaries and policies. It argues that the left should invest more energy in building popular support for alternative frameworks of national and global security that prioritize the real risks to people’s safety in the 21st century. It also shows that a left populist rethink of security should be developed in dialogue with abolitionist analyses of racial capitalism…
Reframing ‘Collapse’ Futures
The claim that global capitalist civilisation is headed for ‘collapse’ has become increasingly common among scientists and sustainability researchers. This article will engage critically with the growing literature on global collapse futures by highlighting two problematic tendencies: (1) the tendency to think of ‘the future’ in singular terms; and (2) to use ‘collapse’ or ‘apocalypse’ as the master signifier through which these futures are under…
Abolitionist Ecological Security
As ecological crises deepen, many scholars have challenged dominant practices of security by developing more progressive environmental or ecological security discourses. Others, on the other hand, critique these moves by emphasizing the inherently repressive features of security discourse. This article engages this debate by proposing a more radical form of ecological security informed by the ‘abolitionist’ tradition – which I call Abolitionist E…
It's not just climate
Just as political ecologists have critiqued narratives of ‘climate migration’ and ‘climate conflict’ for their implicit climate determinism, this article argues that scholars should move beyond climate-centric accounts of ‘climate emotions.’ To do so, I will critically analyze climate emotions scholarship through the lens of Feminist Marxist analyses of the ‘care crisis’ of neoliberal capitalism. By bringing these literatures together, this paper…
Growth hegemony and post-growth futures
To date, the vast majority of post-growth thinking has been focused on explaining why a post-growth transition is needed and the policies this would entail. Less attention, in contrast, has been paid to the relations of power and structural mechanisms through which ‘growth hegemony’ is continuously reproduced, and even less to the mechanisms, counter-hegemonic strategies, and coalitions that could plausibly drive post-growth transitions in core s…
Ecosocialism for Realists
Ecological Marxists have succeeded in developing compelling ecological critiques of capitalism and principles for alternative ecosocialist political-economies. However, they have devoted relatively little attention to strategic questions, such as: How might ecosocialist transitions take place? What are the challenges, trade-offs, and risks they would likely confront? And how may ecosocialists and allied movements best strategize to navigate them?…
Climate emergency and securitization politics
There is an ongoing debate among climate activists and scholars on the merits of 'climate emergency' frames, which mirrors debates in critical security studies on the benefits and risks of 'securitization'. Climate emergency advocates demonstrate that rapid transformative action beyond 'normal' politics is needed to meet the Paris agreement targets. Critics, on the other hand, highlight the risks of deploying emergency frames to galvanize climate…
Covid-19 and the Planetary Crisis Multiplicity
The COVID-19 crisis gives us occasion to reflect on the insights and limitations of Marxist crisis theory. While ecological Marxists in particular have made incisive analyses of these crises, I argue that traditional Marxist frameworks are insufficient for conceptualizing twenty-first century global crises, which emerge from complex material entanglements across multiple socio-ecological systems and take on self-organizing dynamics that exceed hu…
The global politics of the renewable energy transition and the non-substitutability hypothesis
This essay will investigate the question of how the renewable energy (RE) transition may reshape world politics. To date, most IPE scholars of the RE transition assume that renewables will simply substitute for fossil fuels and thereby continue similar patterns of economic growth and military competition that have characterized world politics over the past two centuries. However, they do not systematically consider what I call the ‘non-substituta…
The Climate Crisis, Renewable Energy, and the Changing Landscape of Global Energy Politics
This essay reviews three recent books on the changing landscape of global energy politics in the era of climate change. Key questions that the authors investigate include: how will the renewable energy transition reshape the global balance of power? How will political-economic interdependencies and geopolitical alignments shift? Will contemporary petro-states adapt or collapse? And what new patterns of peace and conflict may emerge in a decarboni…
The Dangers of Decoupling
The question of whether global capitalism can resolve the earth system crisis rests on the (im)possibility of ‘absolute decoupling’: whether or not economic growth can continue indefinitely as total environmental impacts shrink. Ecomodernists and other techno‐optimists argue for the feasibility of absolute decoupling, whereas degrowth advocates show that it is likely to be neither feasible in principle nor in the timeframe needed to ward off ecol…
Capitalism and Earth System Governance
Growing recognition of the Anthropocene era has led to a chorus of calls for Earth System Governance (ESG). Advocates argue that humanity’s newfound sociotechnical powers require institutional transformations at all scales of governance to wield these powers with wisdom and foresight. Critics, on the other hand, fear that these initiatives embody a technocratic impulse that aims to subject the planet to expert management without addressing the po…
Beyond continuationism
An apocalyptic zeitgeist infuses global life, yet this is only minimally reflected in International Relations (IR) debates about the future of world order and implications of climate change. Instead, most approaches within these literatures follow what I call a “continuationist” bias, which assumes that past trends of economic growth and inter-capitalist competition will continue indefinitely into the future. I identify three key reasons for this…
Quiet Revolution in Welfare Economics
In Defense of Participatory Economics
Participatory economics for the 21st century
(1992). Participatory economics for the 21st century. Peace Review: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 3-7
Participatory Planning
The Political Economy of Participatory Economics
Unorthodox Marxism
Ecosocialism for Realists
Ecological Marxists have succeeded in developing compelling ecological critiques of capitalism and principles for alternative ecosocialist political-economies. However, they have devoted relatively little attention to strategic questions, such as: How might ecosocialist transitions take place? What are the challenges, trade-offs, and risks they would likely confront? And how may ecosocialists and allied movements best strategize to navigate them?…
Beyond continuationism
An apocalyptic zeitgeist infuses global life, yet this is only minimally reflected in International Relations (IR) debates about the future of world order and implications of climate change. Instead, most approaches within these literatures follow what I call a “continuationist” bias, which assumes that past trends of economic growth and inter-capitalist competition will continue indefinitely into the future. I identify three key reasons for this…
In Defense of Participatory Economics
Capitalism and Earth System Governance
Growing recognition of the Anthropocene era has led to a chorus of calls for Earth System Governance (ESG). Advocates argue that humanity’s newfound sociotechnical powers require institutional transformations at all scales of governance to wield these powers with wisdom and foresight. Critics, on the other hand, fear that these initiatives embody a technocratic impulse that aims to subject the planet to expert management without addressing the po…
The Climate Crisis, Renewable Energy, and the Changing Landscape of Global Energy Politics
This essay reviews three recent books on the changing landscape of global energy politics in the era of climate change. Key questions that the authors investigate include: how will the renewable energy transition reshape the global balance of power? How will political-economic interdependencies and geopolitical alignments shift? Will contemporary petro-states adapt or collapse? And what new patterns of peace and conflict may emerge in a decarboni…
Abolitionist Ecological Security
As ecological crises deepen, many scholars have challenged dominant practices of security by developing more progressive environmental or ecological security discourses. Others, on the other hand, critique these moves by emphasizing the inherently repressive features of security discourse. This article engages this debate by proposing a more radical form of ecological security informed by the ‘abolitionist’ tradition – which I call Abolitionist E…
Climate emergency and securitization politics
There is an ongoing debate among climate activists and scholars on the merits of 'climate emergency' frames, which mirrors debates in critical security studies on the benefits and risks of 'securitization'. Climate emergency advocates demonstrate that rapid transformative action beyond 'normal' politics is needed to meet the Paris agreement targets. Critics, on the other hand, highlight the risks of deploying emergency frames to galvanize climate…
The global politics of the renewable energy transition and the non-substitutability hypothesis
This essay will investigate the question of how the renewable energy (RE) transition may reshape world politics. To date, most IPE scholars of the RE transition assume that renewables will simply substitute for fossil fuels and thereby continue similar patterns of economic growth and military competition that have characterized world politics over the past two centuries. However, they do not systematically consider what I call the ‘non-substituta…
It's not just climate
Just as political ecologists have critiqued narratives of ‘climate migration’ and ‘climate conflict’ for their implicit climate determinism, this article argues that scholars should move beyond climate-centric accounts of ‘climate emotions.’ To do so, I will critically analyze climate emotions scholarship through the lens of Feminist Marxist analyses of the ‘care crisis’ of neoliberal capitalism. By bringing these literatures together, this paper…
Participatory Planning
Unorthodox Marxism
The Political Economy of Participatory Economics
Participatory economics for the 21st century
(1992). Participatory economics for the 21st century. Peace Review: Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 3-7
Participatory Planning
In Defense of Participatory Economics
Quiet Revolution in Welfare Economics
The Dangers of Decoupling
The question of whether global capitalism can resolve the earth system crisis rests on the (im)possibility of ‘absolute decoupling’: whether or not economic growth can continue indefinitely as total environmental impacts shrink. Ecomodernists and other techno‐optimists argue for the feasibility of absolute decoupling, whereas degrowth advocates show that it is likely to be neither feasible in principle nor in the timeframe needed to ward off ecol…
Capitalism and Earth System Governance
Growing recognition of the Anthropocene era has led to a chorus of calls for Earth System Governance (ESG). Advocates argue that humanity’s newfound sociotechnical powers require institutional transformations at all scales of governance to wield these powers with wisdom and foresight. Critics, on the other hand, fear that these initiatives embody a technocratic impulse that aims to subject the planet to expert management without addressing the po…
Beyond continuationism
An apocalyptic zeitgeist infuses global life, yet this is only minimally reflected in International Relations (IR) debates about the future of world order and implications of climate change. Instead, most approaches within these literatures follow what I call a “continuationist” bias, which assumes that past trends of economic growth and inter-capitalist competition will continue indefinitely into the future. I identify three key reasons for this…
The global politics of the renewable energy transition and the non-substitutability hypothesis
This essay will investigate the question of how the renewable energy (RE) transition may reshape world politics. To date, most IPE scholars of the RE transition assume that renewables will simply substitute for fossil fuels and thereby continue similar patterns of economic growth and military competition that have characterized world politics over the past two centuries. However, they do not systematically consider what I call the ‘non-substituta…
The Climate Crisis, Renewable Energy, and the Changing Landscape of Global Energy Politics
This essay reviews three recent books on the changing landscape of global energy politics in the era of climate change. Key questions that the authors investigate include: how will the renewable energy transition reshape the global balance of power? How will political-economic interdependencies and geopolitical alignments shift? Will contemporary petro-states adapt or collapse? And what new patterns of peace and conflict may emerge in a decarboni…
Climate emergency and securitization politics
There is an ongoing debate among climate activists and scholars on the merits of 'climate emergency' frames, which mirrors debates in critical security studies on the benefits and risks of 'securitization'. Climate emergency advocates demonstrate that rapid transformative action beyond 'normal' politics is needed to meet the Paris agreement targets. Critics, on the other hand, highlight the risks of deploying emergency frames to galvanize climate…
Covid-19 and the Planetary Crisis Multiplicity
The COVID-19 crisis gives us occasion to reflect on the insights and limitations of Marxist crisis theory. While ecological Marxists in particular have made incisive analyses of these crises, I argue that traditional Marxist frameworks are insufficient for conceptualizing twenty-first century global crises, which emerge from complex material entanglements across multiple socio-ecological systems and take on self-organizing dynamics that exceed hu…
Ecosocialism for Realists
Ecological Marxists have succeeded in developing compelling ecological critiques of capitalism and principles for alternative ecosocialist political-economies. However, they have devoted relatively little attention to strategic questions, such as: How might ecosocialist transitions take place? What are the challenges, trade-offs, and risks they would likely confront? And how may ecosocialists and allied movements best strategize to navigate them?…
Growth hegemony and post-growth futures
To date, the vast majority of post-growth thinking has been focused on explaining why a post-growth transition is needed and the policies this would entail. Less attention, in contrast, has been paid to the relations of power and structural mechanisms through which ‘growth hegemony’ is continuously reproduced, and even less to the mechanisms, counter-hegemonic strategies, and coalitions that could plausibly drive post-growth transitions in core s…
Reframing ‘Collapse’ Futures
The claim that global capitalist civilisation is headed for ‘collapse’ has become increasingly common among scientists and sustainability researchers. This article will engage critically with the growing literature on global collapse futures by highlighting two problematic tendencies: (1) the tendency to think of ‘the future’ in singular terms; and (2) to use ‘collapse’ or ‘apocalypse’ as the master signifier through which these futures are under…
Abolitionist Ecological Security
As ecological crises deepen, many scholars have challenged dominant practices of security by developing more progressive environmental or ecological security discourses. Others, on the other hand, critique these moves by emphasizing the inherently repressive features of security discourse. This article engages this debate by proposing a more radical form of ecological security informed by the ‘abolitionist’ tradition – which I call Abolitionist E…
It's not just climate
Just as political ecologists have critiqued narratives of ‘climate migration’ and ‘climate conflict’ for their implicit climate determinism, this article argues that scholars should move beyond climate-centric accounts of ‘climate emotions.’ To do so, I will critically analyze climate emotions scholarship through the lens of Feminist Marxist analyses of the ‘care crisis’ of neoliberal capitalism. By bringing these literatures together, this paper…
Abolition forum response
It has been a pleasure to help spearhead this stimulating forum on abolitionist politics in the current conjuncture. The responses to my initial article raise some disagreements regarding the value of ‘security’ for counterhegemonic politics, the role of the state, and the kind of strategic thinking needed to advance abolitionist goals effectively. This brief response will address these critiques while also elaborating my working theory of how le…
Security, left populism, and abolitionist politics in the age of neo-fascism
This article makes the case for a left populist challenge to hegemonic “security” imaginaries and policies. It argues that the left should invest more energy in building popular support for alternative frameworks of national and global security that prioritize the real risks to people’s safety in the 21st century. It also shows that a left populist rethink of security should be developed in dialogue with abolitionist analyses of racial capitalism…
Political science (16 works) · Law (13 works) · Politics (12 works) · Economics (11 works) · Law (11 works) · Political economy (11 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Capitalism (7 works) · Economic system (6 works) · Political Economy and Marxism (5 works)