Doomed to resist

: from just transition to the insurgent interregnum

Abstract

Just transition is a critical proposition that originates within radical trade unionism. The concept recognises that tens of thousands of jobs will be lost in the extractive and carbon intensive industries. In order to mitigate these loses the just transition process seeks to deliver emancipatory opportunities to negotiate fair compensation for workers, reskilling and community support. However, asa concept, just transition has been almost fully recuperated into the greenwashed frameworks of international environmental policymaking. These frameworks are not only a deception for business-as-usual but also act in a counterinsurgent manner, crushing dissent and legitimising forms of eco-apartheid across the world. This thesis challenges that process and moves to reinstate the possibility of a radical just transition through the displacement of its current illusionary representation. The displacement of just transition involves its total appropriation, redirected as a motive for rebellious mediations, protest and resistance. The starting point for a radical just transition is to be found in exploring the spatio-temporality of Gramsci’s frame of the ‘interregnum’. Renovated and recast in this thesis as the insurgent interregnum. The spatio-temporal capacity of Gramsci’s interregnum is over-looked and under theorised and yet within is liminality (its in-betweenness) lies the constant possibility of revolt. The ramifications of this realisation are clear; the struggle against ecocidal capitalism is not lost and the future can be manifestly different. In this thesis, it will be shown how radical praxes can be re-found and made visible. That successful insurgencies existed, that capitalist colonialism fails and how the utility of insurgent autonomies to bring about a truly just transition can be recognised and actualised in the present for a post-capitalist future.

Thesis embargoed until 31st December 2027.

Date of Award	Dec 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Supervisor	Stefan Andreasson (Supervisor) & John Barry (Supervisor)