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Challenging the green machine : Rejoinder to Schwartzman

Roos, Andreas LU and Hornborg, Alf LU (2025) In Capitalism, Nature, Socialism
Abstract
We respond to David Schwartzman’s critique of our paper. We argue that his
“solar communism,” his approach to the question of energy return on energy
investment (EROI), and his critique of Georgescu-Roegen’s fourth law of
thermodynamics situate him as a left ecomodernist, albeit with sympathy for
degrowth. Schwartzman’s take on these issues illustrates how the ontological
separation of human ingenuity and global social metabolism obscures the
question of for whom a high-energy modern society is possible. This is
further exacerbated by his commitment to the notion of perfect recycling,
which has been proven practically impossible in inorganic systems.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
epub
subject
in
Capitalism, Nature, Socialism
pages
8 pages
publisher
Routledge
external identifiers
  • scopus:85214385545
ISSN
1548-3290
DOI
10.1080/10455752.2024.2449479
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
442fe784-d07f-4349-afbf-d1022e6f5c64
date added to LUP
2025-01-09 12:46:17
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:18:17
@article{442fe784-d07f-4349-afbf-d1022e6f5c64,
  abstract     = {{We respond to David Schwartzman’s critique of our paper. We argue that his<br/>“solar communism,” his approach to the question of energy return on energy<br/>investment (EROI), and his critique of Georgescu-Roegen’s fourth law of<br/>thermodynamics situate him as a left ecomodernist, albeit with sympathy for<br/>degrowth. Schwartzman’s take on these issues illustrates how the ontological<br/>separation of human ingenuity and global social metabolism obscures the<br/>question of for whom a high-energy modern society is possible. This is<br/>further exacerbated by his commitment to the notion of perfect recycling,<br/>which has been proven practically impossible in inorganic systems.}},
  author       = {{Roos, Andreas and Hornborg, Alf}},
  issn         = {{1548-3290}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{01}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  series       = {{Capitalism, Nature, Socialism}},
  title        = {{Challenging the green machine : Rejoinder to Schwartzman}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10455752.2024.2449479}},
  doi          = {{10.1080/10455752.2024.2449479}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}