New Books in Public Policy Nicholas Beuret, "Or Something Worse: Why We Need to Disrupt the Climate Transition" (Verso, 2025)
Mar 6, 2026
Nicholas Beuret, lecturer in environmental politics and activist-scholar on climate and capitalism. He maps the 'war of transition' where elites shape the green shift for profit. Short takes on rising everyday costs, de-risked investment, coercive 'green' jobs, and the case for disruptive tactics and community-linked organizing to build alternative power.
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Transition Economy Is State Led Growth For Capital
- The transition economy is a state-led reconfiguration that treats climate action as a growth opportunity while de-risking investment for capital.
- Nicholas Beuret shows this produces guaranteed markets, contracts for difference, and regulatory rollbacks to speed private investment.
War Of Transition Means Politics On The Move
- In a war of transition everything is politicized because the terrain is in motion and actors must navigate a constantly changing field.
- Beuret adapts Gramsci: struggle is against a moving target, not occupying fixed positions.
The Squeeze Connects Cost Of Living To Climate
- The squeeze describes how climate-driven price rises and everyday disruptions contract incomes, time, and political imagination.
- Beuret ties potholes, higher bills, and service cuts to a common lived condition that shrinks capacity for collective action.
