How to Blow Up a Pipeline

Learning to Fight in a World on Fire

De: Adreas Malm

Narrado por: Brian Arens

Property will cost us the earth.

The science on climate change has been clear for a very long time now. Yet despite decades of appeals, mass street protests, petition campaigns, and peaceful demonstrations, we are still facing a booming fossil fuel industry, rising seas, rising emission levels, and a rising temperature. With the stakes so high, why haven't we moved beyond peaceful protest?

In this lyrical manifesto, noted climate scholar (and saboteur of SUV tires and coal mines) Andreas Malm makes an impassioned call for the climate movement to escalate its tactics in the face of ecological collapse. We need, he argues, to force fossil fuel extraction to stop—with our actions, with our bodies, and by defusing and destroying its tools. We need, in short, to start blowing up some oil pipelines.

Offering a counter-history of how mass popular change has occurred, from the democratic revolutions overthrowing dictators to the movement against apartheid and for women's suffrage, Malm argues that the strategic acceptance of property destruction and violence has been the only route for revolutionary change. In a braided narrative that moves from the forests of Germany and the streets of London to the deserts of Iraq, Malm offers us an incisive discussion of the politics and ethics of pacifism and violence, democracy and social change, strategy and tactics, and a movement compelled by both the heart and the mind. Here is how we fight in a world on fire.

This audio edition of How to Blow Up a Pipeline is skillfully narrated by Brian Arens, an Audible listener favorite. It was produced and published by Echo Point Books & Media, an independent bookseller in Brattleboro, Vermont.

©2021 Adreas Malm (P)2024 Echo Point Books & Media, LLC

Important!

Anyone who is even remotely worries about the fate of the climate should read/listen to this — not necessarily in preparation for joining some radical eco-activist plank but in understanding the stakes involved.

interesting analysis of climate action, and what might work to prevent the harms caused by climate change.

This book is positive in an unemotional way. I enjoyed the facts and the presentation, and feel galvanized toward action.

Concise and Insightful

The book is concise and provides hope like a ray of sunshine breaking thru the noxious smog churned out by the capitalists.

I'd urge everyone who reads the title to pause and take a moment before they judge this book. It does not call for people to be harmed, or otherwise mistreated. In fact, the author eloquently argues against it with full force.

The book is short, so why not listen and consider the author's position in full, rather than assuming what the book is about based on it's clickbait title. We're all stuck in this capitalist paradise for at least the foreseeable future, and authors need to move copies of their books to pay the bills.

read this; the basic claim is obvious once you hear it

Malm wants us to know that sabotage and other militant, though not necessarily violent, actions will be increasingly prevalent -- as our societies hurdle towards further and worse environmental destruction.

People will not continue to stand by when their choice is between two different kinds of death. The fear of state repression only holds people back when it is a choice between living poorly or dying violently. Once it's a choice between dying as a result of climate catastrophe or dying because of security personnel with a gun, what's the difference? Parents and elders may be especially compelled as these decision are not just for themselves, but also on behalf of their kiddos and community.

I think many people could find compelling arguments in Malm's work, for their own involvement in militant action. That seems like a perfectly valid experience to have of this book, but I would say that the main intention of the book is for you to be prepared for an increasingly militant world.

With 10 toes on the ground and open eyes, we will be able to see what is already here and what is coming in the very near future.

incredible book

while listening to this book I literally said yo myself "wow what an incredible mind!"

Protest < Resistance

Short and to the point. From a seasoned climate activist, the imperative to not wait passively for governments to make change is the energy we need going forward.

Great read and inspiration

Very interesting arguments and supporting evidence. I enjoyed the examples and thought provoking stories. Definitely worth a read. There are a few weird audio skips throughout, I think mistakes made in editing. It’s frustrating but not a deal breaker. Other than that I liked the book.

Empowering

Fantastic breed suggested to me by someone else had a no Kings rally.

Lots of great ideas in here pertaining to resistance and how to resist both corporate and governmental structures.

Sabotage and frustrate my friends.

Food for thought

Compelling arguments and an instructive lesson in the commonly censored versions of famous historical uprisings. Gandhi and Martin Luther King certainly appeared more peaceful before I heard this book. Some odd glitches in the audio though.

good but...

I really appreciate the book as a whole however there are a few weird skips through various points.