Revisiting Polanyi’s <i>The Great Transformation</i> to understand present-day climate obstruction

Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation offers vital insights for today’s social-ecological transformation research. It suffers, however, from misreadings that disregard Polanyi’s concern for understanding and combatting fascism. By exposing the supremacist foundations of economic liberalism, Polanyi helps to understand current authoritarian politics. As today, climate backlash is only one of several manifestations of a broader cultural and political backlash, it is necessary to foster unconventional alliances beyond the silo of those convinced of the priority of climate action.

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Publication Details

Journal
GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society
Published
2026-03-13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.14512/gaia.35.1.14
Primary Topic
HIV, TB, and STIs Epidemiology
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Revisiting Polanyi’s The Great Transformation to understand present-day climate obstruction

Andreas Novy, Nora R. Dornis
GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and Society
HIV, TB, and STIs Epidemiology
article

Revisiting Polanyi’s The Great Transformation to understand present-day climate obstruction

Andreas Novy, Nora R. Dornis
article en

Abstract

Karl Polanyi’s The Great Transformation offers vital insights for today’s social-ecological transformation research. It suffers, however, from misreadings that disregard Polanyi’s concern for understanding and combatting fascism. By exposing the supremacist foundations of economic liberalism, Polanyi helps to understand current authoritarian politics. As today, climate backlash is only one of several manifestations of a broader cultural and political backlash, it is necessary to foster unconventional alliances beyond the silo of those convinced of the priority of climate action.

GAIA - Ecological Perspectives for Science and SocietyVol. 35(1)
Climate action
Openalex Percentile: Top 43%
HIV, TB, and STIs Epidemiology
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