Articles by Robert Jensen
The Politics of Overconsumption and Getting the Scale Right
Common Dreams · September, 2022
An excerpt from An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity. https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268203665/an-inconvenient-apocalypse/
Knowledge versus Ignorance: The Limited Scope of Human Competence
LA Progressive · August, 2022
An excerpt from An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity. https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268203665/an-inconvenient-apocalypse/
The Dual Population Problem: People and Things
Common Dreams · July, 2022
An excerpt from An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity. https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268203665/an-inconvenient-apocalypse/
We Are One Species
Counterpunch · July, 2022
An excerpt from An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity. https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268203665/an-inconvenient-apocalypse/
Why Is This Not Enough?
Merion West · July, 2022
An excerpt from An Inconvenient Apocalypse: Environmental Collapse, Climate Crisis, and the Fate of Humanity. https://undpress.nd.edu/9780268203665/an-inconvenient-apocalypse/
A portrait of the artist as an old man: Wes Jackson in conversation with Robert Jensen
The Ecological Citizen · July, 2022
An edited transcript of Episode 5 of “Podcast from the Prairie.” https://podcastfromtheprairie.com/
Men and feminism: Do your own thing and do the right thing
Good Men Project · May, 2022
Offering men arguments from justice and self-interest for embracing feminism.
Earth Day: Enemies and Opportunities
Common Dreams · April, 2022
It’s time to talk honestly about “fewer and less”: fewer people consuming less energy and materials.
“Methodism to My Madness”: A “Podcast from the Prairie” Conversation with Wes Jackson
Resilience.org · March, 2022
An edited transcript of Episode 4 of “Podcast from the Prairie.” https://podcastfromtheprairie.com/
Take Nobody’s Word for It: A Conversation with Wes Jackson
Los Angeles Review of Books · February, 2022
An edited transcript of Episode 3 of “Podcast from the Prairie.” https://podcastfromtheprairie.com/
Interview: 10 Questions for Radical Feminist Robert Jensen
Counter-Currents · February, 2022
A Practical Radical Politics
Counterpunch · February, 2022
In this essay I want to present a case for a practical radical politics—holding onto radical analyses while making decisions based on our best reading of the threats and opportunities in the moment. This requires consistency in analysis (which is always a good thing) while being wary of dogmatism in strategy (which is almost always a bad thing).
My plan is to articulate the values on which my worldview is based; identify the hierarchical systems within the human family that undermine those values; and describe the history of the ecological break between the human family and the larger living world. From the analytical, I will offer thoughts on coping with the specific political moment of 2022 in the United States and with long-term global ecological realities. I have no grand strategy to propose, but instead will try to face my fears about the tenuous nature of life today politically and the even more tenuous nature of what lies ahead ecologically.
Working for what is possible requires commitment. Recognizing what is not possible requires humility. All of it requires us to embrace the anguish that is inevitable if we face the future without illusions.