Millennium: Journal of International Studies
Fossil Fuels and Authoritarian Desire
As the planet warms, new authoritarian movements in the West are embracing a toxic combination of climate denial, racism and misogyny.
Rather than consider these resentments separately, this article interrogates their relationship through the concept of petro-masculinity, which appreciates the historic role of fossil fuel systems in buttressing white patriarchal rule.
Petro-masculinity is helpful to understanding how the anxieties aroused by the Anthropocene can augment desires for authoritarianism.
The concept of petro-masculinity suggests that fossil fuels mean more than profit; fossil fuels also contribute to making identities, which poses risks for post-carbon energy politics.
Moreover, through a psycho-political reading of authoritarianism I show how fossil fuel use can function as a violent compensatory practice in reaction to gender and climate trouble.
Professor Daggett is the author of.
Ecomodernism and electric trucks
Autonomy, July 12, 2022.
