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John Merrick

@johnmerrick.bsky.social
4.5K followers 1.8K following 972 posts

Deputy editor: @the-breakdown.bsky.social johnphilipmerrick@gmail.com / john.merrick@break-down.org www.johnmerrick.co.uk

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Reposted by John Merrick
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Every essay inside Issue 4# China. Subscribe now to get your copy. www.break-down.org/subscribe-now/
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University of Manchester School of Social Sciences @uomsoss.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
In @the-breakdown.bsky.social, James and Mathias broaden the discussion, asking what China’s experience can tell us about climate and environmental policy — and how political systems can shape climate-policy outcomes. 📝 www.break-down.org/the-inconven... #Research #China #GreenTransition #EVs
break-down.org
The Inconvenient Case of China
When it comes to the green transition, China poses an inconvenient but important challenge to liberal democracies.
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Albert Pinto @70sbachchan.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
NEW: The big story is not Chinese EVs everywhere —but Chinese EV factories everywhere. And its not just Chinese firms going out. Our CM-FDI database tracks every foreign Solar, Wind, EV and battery manufacturing plant built in 21st century. cmfdi.netzeropolicylab.com
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Christian Roselund @roselund.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I have some minor quibbles with the developments & timelines described around China's turn to an internal market for #solar, but overall I think this piece is another good explanation of the confluence of factors that led China to become the dominant global manufacturer of EVs/solar/batteries etc.
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Christian Roselund @roselund.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
It's so rare for me to read an analysis of China's unparalleled expansion of #cleanenergy manufacturing that looks deeply at the complex interplay of factors that brought this about. Nice work @kaiserkuo.bsky.social and David Fishman. Some highlights. (thread) www.break-down.org/the-machine/
break-down.org
The Machine
Is China's green technology revolution a model—or a warning?
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Reposted by John Merrick
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
If the energy transition looks at first blush like a technology problem, then that scene in Beijing shows that more than anything else it is a problem of political economy. 🌫️ ’The Machine’ by KAISER KUO and DAVID FISHMAN for our Issue #4: CHINA is available on our website!
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Issue #4 China is out now. Subscribe to get your copy. www.break-down.org/subscribe-now/
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Jeremy Wallace @jeremywallace.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Climate Week Strong. Hope I can get a chance to run into some of you! thechinalab.substack.com/p/climate-we...
thechinalab.substack.com
Climate Week Strong
Community amidst and against collapse
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Reposted by John Merrick
City Atlas @cityatlas.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
www.break-down.org/the-machine/
If the energy transition looks at first blush like a technology problem, then that scene in Beijing shows that more than anything else it is a problem of political economy. Producer profitability comes at the expense of consumer affordability. At present, clean tech solutions are expensive, so to keep the products cheap enough that the world actually buys them somebody must carry producers through their initial losses. And it must keep doing so, at scale, for decades. What China has built—partly by design, partly by the accident of its own institutions—is the one system in which this can happen, where capital cannot easily walk away and where the state backstops the losses.

Though it may not have been created with this goal in mind, what has been created is a machine for subordinating producers’ returns to other aims.
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Dr. Genevieve Guenther (she/they) @doctorvive.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Necessary, brilliant, and powerful #ClimateWeek OpEd by @dwallacewells.bsky.social @zekehausfather.com “Don’t be fooled: The risks are far too high and growing still with each molecule of carbon. The world still isn’t nearly concerned enough.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Climate Catastrophe Is Still on the Table
Harrowing temperature increases remain unnervingly possible.
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Brad Bolman @brad.bolman.com · 22/09/2026
Really good new essay on what makes China’s unique economic “machine” so essential to renewables in @the-breakdown.bsky.social www.break-down.org/the-machine/...
break-down.org
The Machine
Is China's green technology revolution a model—or a warning?
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Reposted by John Merrick
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
The contributors to Issue 4 explore this complexity while acknowledging an inescapable truth: there is no route out of the climate crisis that does not pass through China. SUBSCRIBE to get your copy now www.break-down.org/tag/issue-4/
break-down.org
CHINA - The BREAK—DOWN
When it comes to the climate, China is often described in conflicting terms, from awe over its dominance in green tech to derision over its use of coal. But the many and, at times, contradictory…
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Reposted by John Merrick
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Issue #4 China is out now! When it comes to the climate, China is often described in conflicting terms, from awe over its dominance in green tech to derision over its use of coal.
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
🇨🇳 The BREAK–DOWN Issue 4 is here: CHINA 🇨🇳 Essays and dispatches from Jeremy Wallace, Yan Lianke, Judith Shapiro, Kaiser Kuo & David Fishman, and more, exploring why there's no path through the climate crisis that doesn't run through China.
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Zeke Hausfather @zekehausfather.com · 21/09/2026
This year's El Niño event is moving into record territory, with the daily Oceanic Niño Index (ONI) tying the record previously set during the 2015/2016 super-El Niño. My latest over at Carbon Brief: www.carbonbrief.org/...
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Quinn Slobodian @quinnslobodian.com · 21/09/2026
Perhaps the best piece I've read yet on this emergent politics ⬇️
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
🇨🇳 The BREAK–DOWN Issue 4 is here: CHINA 🇨🇳 Essays and dispatches from Jeremy Wallace, Yan Lianke, Judith Shapiro, Kaiser Kuo & David Fishman, and more, exploring why there's no path through the climate crisis that doesn't run through China.
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"None of this requires China to say the phrase it carefully avoids: “climate leadership”. It requires China to keep doing what it has, half-accidentally, been doing all along—but to do it now with more purpose: to walk its mundane path to the end." www.break-down.org/an-accidenta...
break-down.org
An Accidental Climate Revolution
Rather than taking up the mantle of "climate leadership", China is walking a mundane path to global transformation.
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Jeremy Tiang @jeremytiang.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
includes my translation of Yan Lianke's "The Re-birth of Village Trees" www.break-down.org/tag/issue-4/
break-down.org
CHINA - The BREAK—DOWN
When it comes to the climate, China is often described in conflicting terms, from awe over its dominance in green tech to derision over its use of coal. But the many and, at times, contradictory stran...
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Reposted by John Merrick
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Capitalism isn't just an economic system - it touches and changes everything: from politics, to culture, and ideology. On our latest episode of The BREAK–DOWN, we're joined by Joel Wainwright, Professor at Ohio State and author of Geopiracy and Decolonizing Development youtu.be/VO8mBZC5SQ0
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Reposted by John Merrick
John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The CHINA issue of the @the-breakdown.bsky.social is now online and available to subscribers! www.break-down.org/tag/issue-4/
break-down.org
CHINA - The BREAK—DOWN
When it comes to the climate, China is often described in conflicting terms, from awe over its dominance in green tech to derision over its use of coal. But the many and, at times, contradictory stran...
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
The CHINA issue of the @the-breakdown.bsky.social is now online and available to subscribers! www.break-down.org/tag/issue-4/
break-down.org
CHINA - The BREAK—DOWN
When it comes to the climate, China is often described in conflicting terms, from awe over its dominance in green tech to derision over its use of coal. But the many and, at times, contradictory stran...
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Reposted by John Merrick
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Join us www.break-down.org/tag/issue-4/
break-down.org
CHINA - The BREAK—DOWN
When it comes to the climate, China is often described in conflicting terms, from awe over its dominance in green tech to derision over its use of coal. But the many and, at times, contradictory stran...
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
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Reposted by John Merrick
James Jackson @james7jackson.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
A new article out in @the-breakdown.bsky.social that outlines why China is an inconvenient case for many colleagues working on climate politics. It is as an accompanying piece to our recently published article in @environmentalpol.bsky.social available here - www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
The political economy of China’s electric vehicle transition: eco-authoritarianism and policy durability
There is an ongoing debate amongst scholars as to whether democratic or authoritarian political systems are more effective in achieving climate policy outcomes. In this article, we follow the latte...
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Reposted by John Merrick
Mathias Larsen @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
New article out, co-authored with @james7jackson.bsky.social in @the-breakdown.bsky.social: "The Inconvenient Case of China: When it comes to the green transition, China poses an inconvenient but important challenge to liberal democracies." www.break-down.org/the-inconven...
break-down.org
The Inconvenient Case of China
When it comes to the green transition, China poses an inconvenient but important challenge to liberal democracies.
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Reposted by John Merrick
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
A sneak peek inside Issue #4: CHINA. 🔗 SUBSCRIBE to get your copy now! www.break-down.org/tag/issue-4/
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Reposted by John Merrick
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
The success of China’s authoritarianism raises its own normative question: would we rather have a system that allows us to vote for policy failures, or would we relinquish our democratic participation if climate breakdown could be averted?
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Is decarbonization compatible with democracy? Great to have @james7jackson.bsky.social and @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social in the latest issue of @the-breakdown.bsky.social on what lessons the West can, and can’t, learn from China www.break-down.org/the-inconven...
break-down.org
The Inconvenient Case of China
When it comes to the green transition, China poses an inconvenient but important challenge to liberal democracies.
041
Reposted by John Merrick
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Print supporters have early access to the entirety of Issue 4 from Sept 16. Paid readers make this work possible—subscribe today. www.break-down.org/subscribe-now/
break-down.org
Subscribe
Reader subscriptions makes our work possible. Become a part of our community from just £15/year and support vital new writing and conversations on capitalism, nature and the climate. **New print subsc...
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Reposted by John Merrick
Adrienne Buller @adriennebuller.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
"China is by no means the exclusive answer to the question of how we design more effective climate policy, but it surely challenges those who claim that democracy is." New essay from @the-breakdown.bsky.social issue 4 by @mathiaslarsen.bsky.social & James Jackson www.break-down.org/the-inconven...
break-down.org
The Inconvenient Case of China
What if saving the climate means giving up on democracy?
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Reposted by John Merrick
Iza Ding @izading.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
www.break-down.org/an-accidenta...
break-down.org
An Accidental Climate Revolution
Rather than taking up the mantle of "climate leadership", China is walking a mundane path to global transformation.
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Reposted by John Merrick
Iza Ding @izading.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
"Technology diffusion should therefore be China’s core offer. This is the genuinely irreplaceable thing China brings to the table: not moral authority, but a recipe that has made decarbonization affordable for the first time." In @the-breakdown.bsky.social with Deborah Seligsohn
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Now with added @jeremywallace.bsky.social!
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
There is no grand strategy for planetary decarbonization, no long game to lead the collective struggle. What China has instead is something that may ultimately matter more: a sprawl of largely uncoordinated actors each pursuing its own passions and interests.
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Will Davies @will-davies.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
People like @meadwaj.bsky.social have been foreseeing this for a while, but quite a historic moment when the Governor of the BoE cites 'weather' as a threat to price stability www.ft.com/content/faa6...
ft.com
War and weather threaten fresh burst of UK inflation, BoE governor warns
Comments by Andrew Bailey add to problems facing Andy Burnham ahead of next month’s Budget
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
China now leads the way with green technology, but how did they manage it? According to @izading.bsky.social and @debseligsohn.bsky.social, China's path to climate leadership was far more mundane than the both China's boosters and its detractors will admit.
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Quinn Slobodian @quinnslobodian.com · 08/09/2026
Reposting the piece @williamcallison.bsky.social and I wrote seven years ago about Sahra Wagenknecht who is in a position now, if she chooses, to put AfD in power in Saxony-Anhalt. Wolfgang Streeck remains among her advisers. dissentmagazine.org/article/pop-...
dissentmagazine.org
Pop-Up Populism: The Failure of Left-Wing Nationalism in Germany
Aufstehen’s leaders insisted that their movement was not defined by its opposition to migrants. But they consistently cast migrants as either pawns in the game of finance capital or as the phony poste...
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Adrienne Buller @adriennebuller.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
If you're in New York during climate week, join us for the launch event for Issue 4 at the Verso Books offices in Manhattan. Featuring @johnmerrick.bsky.social in conversation with Li Shuo followed by general mirth Registration is free, full details at the link below! luma.com/jm7p0ygl
luma.com
The Break—Down x Phenomenal World present: ISSUE #4 Launch Party · Luma
Join us to celebrate the fourth issue of THE BREAK—DOWN: CHINA, with a live podcast featuring a conversation between Deputy Editor John Merrick and Li…
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Adrienne Buller @adriennebuller.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
"This is the irreplaceable thing China brings to the table: not moral authority, but making decarbonization affordable for the first time." Our 4th issue, CHINA, is out in just two weeks, and today we've released the first essay, by Iza Ding and Deborah Seligsohn www.break-down.org/an-accidenta...
break-down.org
An Accidental Climate Revolution
Rather than taking up the mantle of "climate leadership", China is walking a mundane path to global transformation.
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Adrienne Buller @adriennebuller.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
It's a really rich and at times slightly mad collection of essays, dispatches and interview. Pre-orders now live at the link www.break-down.org/tag/issue-4/
break-down.org
CHINA - The BREAK—DOWN
When it comes to the climate, China is often described in conflicting terms, from awe over its dominance in green tech to derision over its use of coal. But the many and, at times, contradictory stran...
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Adrienne Buller @adriennebuller.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Plus an editorial from me and @johnmerrick.bsky.social introducing the issue "To understand what is to come, we must try to see the country as it actually is, in all of its messiness and apparent contradiction—not how we would wish it was or want it to be" www.break-down.org/introducing-...
break-down.org
Introducing Issue #4: CHINA
A note from the editors
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
China now leads the way with green technology, but how did they manage it? According to @izading.bsky.social and @debseligsohn.bsky.social, China's path to climate leadership was far more mundane than the both China's boosters and its detractors will admit.
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
China is streaking ahead in the global green energy transition, which raises the troubling question: can the liberal democratic state even compete, or are they destined to lose the battle for green technology? Here's the introduction to the CHINA issue of @the-breakdown.bsky.social
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Tobias Jones @tobiasjones.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Very sad to hear of Wendell Berry's death. His writings had a huge influence on me & on Windsor Hill Wood (our little community in Somerset). We painted his line about soil/community at the entrance to our polytunnel. He was always so inspiring. Sit tibi terra levis.
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Nick Turse @nickturse.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Ecocide in Iran The U.S.–Israeli war has caused massive environmental devastation, adding to the long history of American wars with toxic legacies. A new must-read @tomdispatch.bsky.social by Ashley Gate. theintercept.com/2026/08/31/i...
theintercept.com
Ecocide in Iran
The U.S.–Israeli war on Iran has caused massive environmental devastation, adding to the long history of American wars with toxic legacies.
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
ICYMI: in the @the-breakdown.bsky.social, @olibasciano.bsky.social follows the scientists preparing for the spread of new and potentially lethal diseases that are emerging as the planet warms www.break-down.org/on-the-hunt-...
break-down.org
On the Hunt for Disease X
As the planet warms, scientists are preparing for the spread of new and potentially lethal diseases.
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
ICYMI: in the @the-breakdown.bsky.social, @olibasciano.bsky.social follows the scientists preparing for the spread of new and potentially lethal diseases that are emerging as the planet warms www.break-down.org/on-the-hunt-...
break-down.org
On the Hunt for Disease X
As the planet warms, scientists are preparing for the spread of new and potentially lethal diseases.
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Reposted by John Merrick
The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Issue #4 is coming. Subscribe before September 1st and get a free copy of #3 AIRBORNE. www.break-down.org/subscribe-now/
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
the most cursed of reviews
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