Rating: 6
Tropic of Chaos: Climate Change and the New Geography of Violence
Christian Parenti | 2011
Tropic of Chaos is about the increasingly consequential intersection of climate change and violence. As Parenti writes, “Between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Tropic of Cancer lies what I call the Tropic of Chaos, a belt of economically and politically battered post-colonial states girding the planet’s mid-latitudes.” These are the areas in which climate change and extreme weather events compound existing political and cultural crises, serving as the vanguard of what could become widespread climate-driven conflict. Parenti persuasively reports from multiple regions within this latitudinal belt by meeting with people affected by these political confrontations and resource wars. What makes this book particularly effective is that it’s not speculative as so many climate change books are. Although Parenti communicates that the violence he’s discussing is almost sure to become more widespread and severe as humans continue to degrade Earth’s natural systems, he elects to share stories that are already happening at this intersection.
With all that said, I found Tropic of Chaos to be too ambitious for its own good. In 250 pages Parenti attempts to boil down centuries of complicated conflict across three continents and elaborate on climate change’s influence in each. It’s a dense, footnote-heavy, and figure-driven work configured within a loose narrative structure. As fascinating and important as I found the content to be I struggled to push through each chapter. I think reducing the scope of this book’s focus would have benefitted the structure greatly, but that’s not to take away from the overall significance of Parenti’s work.
“At first glance, this crisis of violence seems to have little to do with climate change—drug dealers do not murder cops because the Intertropical Convergence Zone is off kilter. But, on close examination, the meltdown of northern Mexico provides another illustration of the catastrophic convergence: policies that create poverty and violence are now colliding with the new realities of climate change, and together these three forces are creating socially destructive forms of adaptation.”