Carbon societies’ past, present and future: History, crisis and social transformation

Ongoing societal commitments to carbon energy systems means that escalating climate catastrophe becomes the unavoidable outcome of a system of reasoning and institutional practice that historically has enabled the consolidation and global advance of a fossil fuel hegemony. To understand the ‘rational’ component of these developments, it is necessary to examine how the reasoning and practices associated with this hegemony gradually came to be embedded in everyday social interaction, cultural and political exchange, and identity formation. This forum examines the central contribution of Peter Wagner's Carbon Societies to understanding these issues. Contributing authors reflect on some of the major arguments raised by Wagner on the societal advancement of carbon living, as well as obstacles currently standing in the way of necessary socio-ecological transformations.