Our current predicament traced back to the rise of the steam age in a Britain driven by capitalist concerns - reviewed by John Tomane

Tomaney, John

LSE Research Online

Fossil	Capital:	The	Rise	of	Steam	Power	and	theRoots	of	Global	Warming	–	Book	ReviewFossil	Capital:	The	Rise	of	Steam	Power	and	the	Roots	of	Global	Warming.	Andreas	Malm.	Verso.	2016.Find	this	book:	In	this	bold,	original	and	provocative	book,	Andreas	Malm	offers	a	radicalreinterpretation	of	the	origins	of	the	steam	age	as	means	to	challenge	conventionalanalyses	of	global	warming.	He	aims	to	develop	a	Marxist	account	of	climatechange	that	emphasises	the	link	between	carbon-centric	development	and	capitalistaccumulation.	He	proffers	the	concept	‘Capitalocene’	to	replace	‘the	Anthropocene’in	a	challenge	to	the	idea	that	the	build-up	of	carbon	in	the	atmosphere	is	a	long-term	process	reflecting	a	universal	trait	of	the	human	species.	The	underlying	claimis	that	capitalist	social	relations	produced	the	steam	age	and	global	warming,	andthat	they	will	prevent	the	emergence	of	the	large-scale	collective	efforts	essential	tothe	successful	application	of	renewable	energy.	Understanding	the	origins	of	thesteam	age,	then,	is	crucial	to	understanding	the	way	that	socio-economic	processesare	welded	to	distinctive	forms	of	energy	use.Fossil	Capital:	The	Rise	of	Steam	Power	and	the	Roots	of	Global	Warming	issuperbly	written	and	is	scholarly,	measured	and	rigorous.	Despite	the	novelty	of	itsargument,	the	book	has	a	refreshingly	old-fashioned	feel.	This	is	narrativeeconomic	history	of	a	type	that	seems	increasingly	rare	in	a	discipline	that	hasfetishised	econometric	techniques.	Much	of	the	argument	rests	on	disinterring	original	scientific	and	engineeringsources:	Andrew	Ure,	Charles	Baggage,	Nassau	Senior,	William	Jevons	and	others	are	resurrected	to	bolster	ananalysis	that	challenges	the	findings	of	cliometric	techniques.Malm	surveys,	synthesises,	incorporates	and	critiques	many	influential	recent	contributions	to	British	economichistory	(Wrigley,	von	Tunzleman,	Crafts,	etc),	but	challenges	their	assumptions,	analysis	and	conclusions.	Thecrux	of	the	argument	concerns	a	novel	explanation	of	how	steam	replaced	water	as	the	‘prime	mover’	of	theemerging	machine	age.	Malm	distinguishes	between	three	forms	of	energy.	Flow	energy	is	uncaptured	byphotosynthesis	and	is	accessible	for	collection	and	concentrated	use	by	machinery,	conditioned	by	landscapeand	weather	and	exemplified	by	wind	and	water.	Animate	power	refers	to	sources	of	energy	embodied	in	livingcreatures	and	conditioned	by	the	imperatives	of	metabolism.	Stock	energy	consists	of	the	relics	of	solar	energyfrom	the	distant	past,	residing	outside	the	landscape,	freely	transported	and	stored,	but	requiring	human	labour	toexploit.	The	story	of	the	industrial	revolution	is	the	replacement	of	flow	and	animate	power	with	stock	energy.Malm	is	concerned	to	explain	why	this	happened.Early	industrialisation	relied	on	flow	and	animate	energy,	especially	the	watermill.	Eighteenth	and	earlynineteenth-century	innovations,	such	as	Arkwright’s	water	frame	and	Crompton’s	mule,	were	attached	to	watermills	mainly	located	in	the	deep	valleys	of	the	west	of	Scotland	and	north	of	England,	most	notably	in	Lancashirewhere	it	powered	the	rise	of	the	cotton	industry.	The	expansion	of	coal	production	during	this	period	was	mainlyto	provide	heat	for	industry	and	the	home	rather	than	for	steam.Growing	interest	in	the	use	of	steam	power	for	industry	occurred	following	the	waves	of	industrial	militancy	duringthe	crisis	of	overproduction	in	the	1820s.	Ure	promoted	mechanisation	to	liberate	production	from	reliance	on	theworker.	The	self-acting	mule	was	developed	to	be	driven	by	steam	power.	As	spinning	was	mechanised,	weavingremained	a	scattered	cottage	industry	powered	by	low-cost	animate	power	–	workers	–	who	masters	found	hardto	discipline.	The	invention	of	the	steam-driven	power	loom	allowed	the	creation	of	the	‘combined	factory’:	a	newgeneration	of	mills	that	integrated	the	production	process	under	one	roof,	thereby	ending	the	role	of	the	unrulycottage	weavers.	Steam	power	was	therefore	a	critical	manifestation	of	class	power.LSE Business Review: Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming – Book Review Page 1 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-07-09Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2017/07/09/fossil-capital-the-rise-of-steam-power-and-the-roots-of-global-warming-book-review/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/The	orthodoxy	assumes	the	shift	from	water	to	coal	reflected	a	growing	scarcity	of	usable	water	and	the	fallingcost	of	coal	as	fuel:	that	is,	it	was	the	outcome	of	‘market	forces’.	But	Malm’s	evidence	suggests	there	wasneither	a	shortage	of	water	nor	was	it	more	expensive	than	steam	or	less	technologically	advanced.	Steamengines	in	this	period	required	costly	coal	and	were	unreliable,	being	prone	to	disastrous	breakdowns.	Water	wasdefeated	in	the	battle	with	steam	by	two	factors.	First,	the	management	of	water	power	required	cooperationbetween	competing	mill	owners.	A	feasible	system	of	reservoirs	on	the	River	Irwell	that	would	guaranteedependable	low-cost	water	supplies	to	Manchester	was	rejected	by	mill	owners.	Steam	engines,	although	moreexpensive,	could	be	operated	independently.	Second,	steam	freed	mill	owners	from	settlements	in	upper	rivervalleys	and	allowed	production	to	be	concentrated	in	towns	with	large	supplies	of	labour.	Small	remotesettlements,	such	as	Arkwright’s	Cromford,	provided	their	own	labour	problems,	requiring	large	investments	bymill	owners	in	expensive	physical	and	social	infrastructure,	such	as	schools,	chapels	and	housing.The	emergence	of	the	fully	integrated	factory	required	large	concentrations	of	workers,	while	towns	attractedlabourers	because	of	the	availability	of	unskilled	jobs.	In	towns,	generic	infrastructure	could	be	suppliedspeculatively.	Housing	workers	was	no	longer	the	responsibility	of	the	mill	owner.	Towns	expressed	‘spatialcrystallisations	of	the	wage	relation’	(148)	and	steam	was	adopted	because	of	its	‘mobility	in	space’	(156).	Therapid	growth	of	Manchester,	‘Cottonopolis’,	gave	expression	to	these	developments.	For	the	first	time	in	history,machine	and	energy	source	–	the	engine	and	the	mine	–	were	separated,	allowing	the	concentration	of	factoriesin	large	towns.	‘The	flow	was	stationary	and	the	stock	on	the	move’	(164).	This	generated	working-classresistance,	notably	in	the	form	of	the	1842	General	Strike,	which	saw	attacks	on	mills	and	mines	with	the	cry	of‘Stop	the	Smoke’.	Carbon	emissions	were	linked	to	the	entrenchment	of	capitalist	social	relations,	hence	‘fossilcapital’.With	this	evidence,	Malm	offers	a	reformulation	of	Marxist	theory.	The	production	of	surplus	value	is	still	central	tocapital	accumulation	because	labour	power	creates	anthropogenic	products,	but	the	transformation	of	fossilsfuels	into	carbon	dioxide	is	intrinsically	linked	to	capital	accumulation.	Malm	extends	Marx’s	notion	of	a	distinctionbetween	the	formal	and	real	subsumption	of	labour	to	the	realm	of	nature	to	emphasise	the	way	it	is	subordinatedto	the	production	of	surplus	value.	This	is	a	version	of	Marxism	in	which	an	analysis	of	the	production	of	space	isforegrounded,	with	Henri	Lefebvre,	Michael	Storper	and	others	mobilised	in	the	argument.	It	is	a	productionistaccount	which	is	dismissive	of	the	role	of	mass	consumption	as	the	cause	of	carbon	emissions.The	book	ends	with	an	essay	on	China’s	contemporary	rise	to	the	status	of	top	carbon	emitter,	reflecting	globallymobile	capital’s	search	for	cheap	and	disciplined	labour	power	by	means	of	the	massive	consumption	of	fossilenergy:	the	latest	twist	in	an	old	story.	For	Malm,	the	solution	to	global	warming	lies	in	a	return	to	the	flow,	buthistory	indicates	the	difficulties	ahead.	The	rejected	reservoirs	on	the	River	Irwell	are	testament	to	the	difficultiesof	organising	the	collective	management	of	the	flow.Fossil	Capital	is	a	brilliant	book	that	reveals	both	the	value	and	limits	of	Marxist	insights.	Its	strength	lies	in	itsoriginal	account	of	the	birth	of	the	British	steam	age.	But	the	categories	of	capital	and	labour	seem	too	large	toorganise	our	understanding	of	the	complexities	of	our	current	predicament	or	to	guide	our	political	responses	to	it.Malm	acknowledges	that	twentieth-century	efforts	to	plan	on	the	scale	necessary	to	manage	the	transition	torenewable	energy	have	failed,	but	he	has	no	faith	in	market	forces	to	achieve	this	objective.	Nevertheless,	thisimpressive	book	should	be	read	by	anybody	interested	in	the	history	of	fossil	capital.♣♣♣This	blog	post	was	published	originally	by	LSE	Review	of	Books..The	post	gives	the	views	of	the	interviewee,	not	the	position	of	LSE	Business	Review	or	of	the	LondonSchool	of	Economics	and	Political	Science.Featured	image	credit:	Castleton	Mill	Mark	Stevenson	CC	BY	2.0Before	commenting,	please	read	our	Comment	Policy.LSE Business Review: Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming – Book Review Page 2 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-07-09Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2017/07/09/fossil-capital-the-rise-of-steam-power-and-the-roots-of-global-warming-book-review/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/John	Tomaney	is	Professor	of	Urban	and	Regional	Planning	in	the	Bartlett	School	of	Planning,University	College	London.			LSE Business Review: Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming – Book Review Page 3 of 3		Date originally posted: 2017-07-09Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/2017/07/09/fossil-capital-the-rise-of-steam-power-and-the-roots-of-global-warming-book-review/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessreview/

Fossil capital: the rise of steam power and the roots of global warming - Book Review

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