development models, climate change, sustainability, Polanyi, climate capitalism, degrowth

Abstract: This article identifies a triple crisis of capitalism based on the three fictitious commodities as identified by Karl Polanyi: labour, money and land. This framework is used to integrate the environmental crisis into the wider crisis of capitalism. It argues that international actions required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are going to present major challenges for capitalism with implications for the current dominance of market power and the subservience of state and social power. The article critically examines the potential of climate capitalism to achieve a low-carbon society by 2050 and introduces the need to face the challenges of degrowth.

Irish Journal of Sociology, Vol. 21.2, 2013, pp. 62–75