Strangely Like War - Softcover

Derrick Jensen; George Draffan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1903998387 ISBN 13: 9781903998380

Publisher: Green Books, 2004

Synopsis

Ever since Gilgamesh cut down the ancient cedar forests of Mesopotamia, civilizations and empires have foundered and collapsed in the wake of widespread deforestation. Today, with three-quarters of the world's original forests gone and the pace of cutting, clearing, processing, and pulping ever accelerating, Jensen and Draffan lay bare the stark scenario we face unless deforestation is slowed and stopped - a scenario which will affect not only people, but the non-human fabric of life itself. Strangely like War is a story of corruption and killing: the genocide of indigenous peoples and the systematic destruction of our ecosystem. It is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand the relationship between deforestation and the current ecological crisis we face, and a valuable source of information for forest and anti-globalisation adtivists.

About this title

About the Author:

Derrick Jensen is the prize-winning author of A Language Older Than Words, The Culture of Make Believe, Listening to the Land, Strangely Like War, Welcome to the Machine, and Walking on Water. He was one of two finalists for the 2003 J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, which cited The Culture of Make Believe as "a passionate and provocative meditation on the nexus of racism, genocide, environmental destruction and corporate malfeasance, where civilization meets its discontents." He is an environmental activist and lives on the coast of northern California.

From Publishers Weekly:

Jensen (The Culture of Make Believe) and Draffan (A Primer on Corporate Power) are both pessimistic and angry about the state of the world's forests. In the U.S. only five percent of native forest remains; forests on a global level are also under attack, with one estimate claiming that two and a half acres are cut every second. International deforestation causes the extinction of plants and animals in addition to driving human forest dwellers, like the Karen of Burma, the Mapuche of Chile and the Penan of Malaysia, from their homelands. The destruction of forests also results in flooding, erosion and landslides. Production of paper products releases highly toxic chemicals into both the air and water. The authors provide many instances of collusion between industry and government, which has led to a U.S. commercial timber and logging industry permitted to destroy forests almost without restriction. Environmental agencies such as the Sierra Club or the Environmental Defense Fund, according to Jensen and Draffan, are more interested in raising money than in raising discomfort among the economically powerful. Globalization, they argue, is a network of financial, legal and political structures that operate for the benefit of the economic elite, allowing those in power to consume the natural resources of other nations. Although the text is occasionally overwrought, the authors have carefully documented worldwide deforestation, as well as the serious environmental and human consequences, and point a finger at those responsible.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Green Books
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1903998387
• ISBN 13: 9781903998380
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1