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The BREAK—DOWN

@the-breakdown.bsky.social
4.5K followers 210 following 365 posts

📖🎙️📺 New writing and conversations on capitalism, nature and the climate 🌎 Hosted by @cmmonwealth.bsky.social linktr.ee/breakdownradio

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David Klemperer @dmk1793.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
"But there is no straight line between experience and opinion. All experience is mediated via pre-existing political beliefs" Fascinating analysis here of experience vs media coverage in shaping climate salience - with wider implications for how we think about the drivers of political opinion
break-down.org
Making people care about the climate
As the world heats up, are we really taking notice?
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
🔗 SUBSCRIBE to read the essay through our link in bio and to get access to our full archive! www.break-down.org/ordosmaxxing/
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Ordosmaxxing
The contradictions of the energy transition collide in the Inner Mongolian city of Ordos.
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
The contradictions of the energy transition collide in the Inner Mongolian city of Ordos. 🌫️ ’Ordosmaxxing’ by JEREMY WALLACE for our Issue #4: CHINA is available on our website!
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Huw C. Davies @huwcdavies.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Excellent article that supports agenda setting theory - ‘the media may not tell us what to think but tells us what to think about’. Also, climate deniers with money and media access have successfully made net-zero controversial having lost the scientific ‘argument’ but the result is the same.
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
As the world heats up, are we really taking notice? www.break-down.org/making-peopl...
break-down.org
Making people care about the climate
As the world heats up, are we really taking notice?
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John Merrick @johnmerrick.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
This is a brilliant piece of research, on how we keep attention focused on the climate crisis
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Morgan Jones @morganj0nes.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Pleased to have this out today with @steveakehurst.bsky.social, discussing @persuasionuk.bsky.social's work on climate salience and public attitudes. I'm really pleased with the piece, do give it a read: www.break-down.org/making-peopl...
break-down.org
Making people care about the climate
As the world heats up, are we really taking notice?
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Get your ticket in our bio. Wednesday, 21 October Close-Up Cinema, E1 6HR The Panel Discussion will be broadcasted live by @montezpressradio
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Join us the 21st of October at Close Up Film Center for a film screening and conversation co-hosted by Forensic Architecture and The BREAK-DOWN for the launch of the new investigation "Without Consent: Mining in Neskantaga's ancestral Homelands"!
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Has Issue #4 made you think about China? Here's what we recommend.
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
🌫️ ’Sheer Force of Will’ with JOHN MERRICK and JUDITH SHAPIRO for our Issue #4: CHINA is available on our website! 🔗 SUBSCRIBE to read the essay through our link in bio and to get access to our full archive! www.break-down.org/subscribe-now/
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Ryan Katz-Rosene, PhD @ryankatzrosene.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Our era today is... beset with macroeconomic instability... crumbling political settlements across the Global North, growing inequality, ...unbridled speculation in AI, trade wars, actual wars and—sadly all too often forgotten in economic discussions—ecological and climate breakdown.
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Our era of volatility is intimately tied to climate change. 💥 ’The Great Volatility’ by James Jackson and Ryan Katz-Rosene SUBSCRIBE to read the full essay on our website www.break-down.org/the-great-vo...
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Oil shocks, wars both real and trade, AI bubbles, a warming planet. Each one interacting with the others, making them worse. Welcome to the era of climateflation @ryankatzrosene.bsky.social @james7jackson.bsky.social www.break-down.org/the-great-vo...
break-down.org
The Great Volatility
Our era of volatility is intimately tied to climate change.
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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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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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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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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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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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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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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
🔗 SUBSCRIBE to read the essay through our link in bio and to get access to our full archive! www.break-down.org/subscribe-now/
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Subscribe
Reader subscriptions makes our work possible. Become a part of our community from just £15/year (or £3/month) and support vital new writing and conversations on capitalism, nature and the climate.
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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 · 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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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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City Atlas @cityatlas.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Back to @the-breakdown.bsky.social and a particular local crisis for NYC, where offshore wind should be doing the heavy-lifting for getting off of natural gas: www.break-down.org/the-machine/
American offshore wind, however, failed differently: not as an individual company but as a business model. When wind farm developers won contracts in the late 2010s and early 2020s, they promised to deliver power at fixed prices. When the pandemic raised input costs and the Federal Reserve raised rates, the arithmetic inverted and rather than build at a loss they paid to leave. Ørsted, the Danish developer that pioneered the industry, ceased development of Ocean Wind 1 and 2 off the coast of New Jersey in October 2023, booking roughly US$4 billion in impairments and setting aside up to US$1.55 billion more for cancellation fees. Across the industry, developers concluded that paying tens of millions to abandon clean energy was better business than building it.
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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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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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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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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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Jakob @jakobjuhola.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Lot to chew on here, like a closer look at the promises, strengths and weaknesses of the Santa Marta Conference.
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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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Mike Tucker @michaeltucker.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
An excellent presentation of the state were in and fragile hopes for an alternative.
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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
We can't shy away from the fact that we are facing what could be the end of our civilisation. 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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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
For decades, the environmental movement had had anti-nuclear activism at it's core - and we need to bring them back together. On our latest episode of The BREAK–DOWN, we're joined by Joel Wainwright, Professor at Ohio State youtu.be/VO8mBZC5SQ0
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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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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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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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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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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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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.
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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/
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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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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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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
🌫️ ’The Inconvenient Case of China’ by JAMES JACKSON and MATHIAS LARSEN for our Issue #4: CHINA is available on our website! 🔗 SUBSCRIBE to read the essay www.break-down.org/subscribe-now/
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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…
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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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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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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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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
On September 23rd, we'll be launching ISSUE #4: CHINA in collaboration with Phenomenal World and the Polycrisis. Deputy Editor John Merrick will host a live podcast with Iza Ding, Li Shuo, and Tim Sahay. Join us at the Verso Books' office from 7:00pm luma.com/jm7p0ygl
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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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The BREAK—DOWN @the-breakdown.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
🌫️ ’An Accidental Climate Revolution’ by IZA DING and DEBORAH SELIGSOHN for our Issue #5: CHINA is available on our website! 🔗 Become a subscriber to read the essay through our link in bio and SUBSCRIBE online to get access to our full archive! www.break-down.org/subscribe-now/
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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…
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