#17 Communism, the Highest State of Ecology - with Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro & Henry Hakamäki

In this session of Peacemongers we had the honor of having Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro and Henry Hakamäki on, the translators of Guillaume Suing’s “Communism, the highest state of ecology” from iskra books. We dive into the different parts of the book and a surrounding discussion about ecology, biology and socialism.

We explore the ecological experiences of Cuba established in the 90’s, the so-called “special period” after the overthrow of its ally and trading partner the Soviet Union. What contradictions there are within Cuba at that point and its conditions for realizing a transformation on a massive scale.

We discuss the not so linear history of the Soviet Union through the lens of ecological development. A country often demonized as ecologically destructive in a totalizing manner, while the historical data throws a wrench in that narrative.

The book also delves into a discussion about biology and genetics, how scientific theories are politicized in the polemic of the sides in the cold war and why the marxist philosophy of dialectical materialism is useful for understanding evolution and biology.

On the topic of this book we discuss the relationship between imperialism and ecology, history and science. How research is weaponized, whether historical or scientific, to fit the narrative of the vampire like beast of capitalism and fascism.

This is a quite long, sometimes challenging subject we found to be very educational and interesting. We hope that you will too.

A big thanks to our guests Salvatore and Henry for coming on.

You can find the book at https://www.iskrabooks.org/communism-....

This and many other fantastic books there are all available as PDF for free but we encourage you to support their work by buying some beautiful books.

For Swedes who are interested in iskra books and have trouble getting a hold of them, email bokkallarenorebro(AT)gmail.com for what you are looking for and Erik might have it, otherwise he will get it in his next order from iskra.

Some references in the episode: Salvatore Engel-Di Mauro: Socialist states and the environment https://www.plutobooks.com/product/so...

Davies & Wheatcroft The Years of Hunger: Soviet Agriculture, 1931–1933

Levins & Lewontin: The Dialectical biologist https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978...

And in case you have lived in a cave, Henry Hakamäki is the cohost of Guerrilla History Podcast (https://guerrillahistory.libsyn.com/) with friend of the show Adnan Hussein where you can find 5+ years of top class counter-historical discussions from politicization of dinosaur fossils to war, decolonization to football.

Here is the episode with Salvatore that we mention in this episode: https://guerrillahistory.libsyn.com/s...

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