Fires: An ecosocial critique of flammable capitalism

(“Incendios, una crítica ecosocial del capitalismo inflamable”)

A conversation with its author, Alejandro Pedregal

Alejandro Pedregal y Álvaro de Regil Castilla

Alejandro Pedregal is a researcher at the Finnish Research Council in the Department of Film at Aalto University. He is an associate editor of the *Journal of Labour and Society*, and has been a researcher at the Institute of History of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and a lecturer at the University-Wide Art Studies (UWAS) programme at Aalto University. He is the author of, amongst other books, *Evelia: Testimonio de Guerrero* (2018) and two works on Rodolfo Walsh, and has published articles in journals such as *Monthly Review*, *Journal of Labor and Society*, *Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy*, *Ecología Política*, *Third Text*, *Kamchatka: Revista de análisis cultural* and *Alphaville: Journal of Film and Screen Media*, amongst others. He is a regular contributor to *El Salto Diario*, amongst other media outlets. He is also a filmmaker and was the founder and director of the Media Lens Politica Film and Art Festival.

In *Incendios*, his most recent book, Alejandro lays bare the diabolical system of capitalism through a narrative steeped in humanism and written in a poetic yet anguished style. He warns us that, in its frenzy in pursuit of boundless greed, it is dragging us towards the final cliff of our existence.

Alejandro develops an anatomy of capitalism and offers an incisive critique of the system whilst denouncing the normalisation of phenomena that are a direct consequence of its nature, yet are deliberately presented by the dominant media system as if they were natural disasters. To this end, the increasingly common large-scale urban and rural wildfires occurring with growing frequency across all latitudes and continents serve as a perfect metaphor.

In this way, Alejandro exposes the predatory nature of capitalism at a time when Marx’s theory of the ‘Metabolic Rift’ – concerning the metabolism between humanity and nature – is becoming increasingly evident and catastrophic, and is posing a grave existential threat to us. This situation, which places the sustainability of humankind and all species at great risk, must be addressed and halted with urgency. Alejandro, therefore, eloquently sets out the urgent transition we must make towards a new, planned, fair and sustainable ecosocial paradigm.

For a full read of this essay, click here or on the picture to download the pdf file.