Working Through Planetary Breakdown

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Working Through Planetary Breakdown

Labour, Skill and the Changing Climate

Sociology: work and labour Labour / income economics Environmental economics Business and the environment; ‘green’ approaches to business Environmental policy and protocols Climate change Social impact of environmental issues

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Collection: Routledge Explorations in Environmental Studies

Language: English

Published by: Routledge

Published on: 8th August 2025

Format: LCP-protected ePub

ISBN: 9781040430118


Introduction

This book offers a genuinely interdisciplinary engagement with the future of paid and unpaid work in the context of the twin challenges of decarbonisation and the growing impacts of an unstable climate. It is innovative in its grounding of such discussions in the everyday realities of workers' experiences with an empirical focus on skill, occupational shifts and technological change at the workplace level.

Part I: Skills and Training

Delves into how workers gain crucial skills across their lifetimes. From survivalist "preppers" to local microgrid operators, the chapters reveal practical and often unrecognised but essential expertise. Case studies include air-conditioning technical educators and construction trades leveraging tacit knowledge of sustainable practices.

Part II: Industrial Transformation

Draws on empirical studies from coal mining, manufacturing, defence and construction to highlight workers' experiences of climate shifts, heat and industrial transition. Theoretical contributions explore novel legal strategies such as fossil fuel "cessation" and examine the role of health and safety frameworks in addressing worker democracy and climate-change mitigation.

Additional Information

This collection will resonate with scholars, students, policymakers and trade unionists interested in environmental labour studies, just transitions and the future of work. It offers vital lessons for navigating complex industrial transformations.

Key features

Detailed case studies in critical sectors such as energy, construction, defence and manufacturing; A dynamic interdisciplinary fusion of human geography, political economy, sociology, industrial relations and law; Emphasis on worker agency, practical skill and grassroots adaptability amid intensifying climate impacts.

Open Access

Introduction and Chapter 5 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons [Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND)] 4.0 license.

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