‘Labour, Nature and Capitalism . . . illuminate[s] the power of local struggles in offering pithy critiques of global capitalism… In an era of planetary crises, these chapters do more than chronicle local struggles. They document a careful critique of where we are headed’.’
Development and Change

‘a careful and well-researched sociological analysis of the water pollution and overall environmental degradation caused by the industries in the Eloor-Edayar area’
Asian Affairs

‘Labour, Nature and Capitalism is a carefully researched as well as theoretically astute book on a subject of vital importance to India and the world. Based on fieldwork in Kerala, Dr Silpa Satheesh studies the tensions between grassroots environmental groups and trade unions, analysing how factory labour finds itself in opposition to other, even more vulnerable sections, of the working-class. Importantly, she explores both the organizational as well as affective aspects of struggle, allowing activists to speak loud and clear in their own voices. Through her work, Dr Satheesh convincingly demonstrates that the conventional polarity of “environment versus development” is false and even pernicious.’

Ramachandra Guha, author of Speaking with Nature: The Origins of Indian Environmentalism

‘This work is an important contribution to an understudied and weakly understood arena, the relationship between trade unions and environmental movements. While anecdotal accounts of the tensions (and sometimes complementarities) between the two movements are common, detailed and systematic studies are not. Given the urgent need to bring these movements together to challenge capitalist exploitation and unsustainability, this study is very timely.’

Ashish Kothari, environmental activist and author

‘There are many environmental grassroots movements in the state of Kerala. This fascinating book focuses on the Periyar River gravely and persistently polluted by discharges of “company water”. Competent activists have denounced the environmental and public health damages for many years, counting on support from farmers and fishers. However, another section of the working class, smaller in number but more powerful politically, the industrial trade unions – together with factory owners and the state administration- accuses them of being at the service of “anti-national” interests. By poignant, long outspoken interviews with members of both opposite groups and thorough documentation, the sociologist Silpa Satheesh brilliantly answers a question of world relevance – is there an environmentalism of the working class?’

Joan Martinez Alier, Autonomous University of Barcelona

‘Silpa Satheesh’s book is a very welcome addition to environmental labour studies for many reasons. It adds a case from the Global South to the growing literature on labour and the environment; it examines the dynamics between labour and environment through an ethnographic approach that provides nuance and empathy; and demonstrates that labour is not homogeneous as workers are central to both the labour and environmental side of her story. In that sense it alerts us to the fact that workers, people who need to work to reproduce themselves, are not just one category amongst others but the largest category, short of human beings and citizens of one country or another. From such a starting point the tensions between labour and environmental priorities are not solely conflicts between categories of people but, also, within the very broad category of labour. As a result of the above, Dr Satheesh’s well-written book broadens and enriches environmental labour studies and should be read widely and productively.’

Dr Dimitris Stevis, Colorado State University, USA

‘Strong alliances between the labour and the environmental movement are an essential precondition for combatting the climate crisis. At the same time, they are far from being easy to build. Labour, Nature, and Capitalism brilliantly demonstrates why this is the case. Based on deep empirical insights and sound theoretical reflections, it illuminates labour-environment relationships and explores how they can be turned into a force of socio-ecological transformation.’

Markus Wissen, Berlin School of Economics and Law