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Sustainability and Climate Change

Sustainability and Climate ChangeVol. 15, No. 3 Book ReviewsFree AccessThe Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in CrisisBook Review by Simran AgarwalBook Review by Simran AgarwalAddress correspondence to: Simran Agarwal, UQ-IITD Academy of Research, IIT Delhi, University of Queensland, South Delhi, India E-mail Address: qiz188617@uqidar.iitd.ac.inSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:23 Jun 2022https://doi.org/10.1089/scc.2022.0018AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB Permissions & CitationsPermissionsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsAdd to favorites Back To Publication ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail Amitav Ghosh, The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis. 2021. Penguin Random House India, 336 pagesIn his novel, The Nutmeg's Curse, Amitav Ghosh (2021) inextricably blends history, politics, and mysticism against the backdrop of human culture and identities to challenge the current discourse regarding climate change. Countering the claim that the origin of the current climate catastrophe dates to the Industrial Revolution, Ghosh traces the process to the 15th century, which marked the advent of European conquest and subsequent colonization of Asia and America. The Banda Island of Indonesia, which harbored the coveted spice nutmeg, was one amongst the many regions to suffer the fate of the resource curse in which thousands of indigenous people were exterminated in a quest for Dutch hegemony over spices.The process of extermination in Ghosh's understanding was much more brutal than a war; it was a kind of omnicide wherein even women and children were subjected to a bio-political conflict through forms of violence that included massive biological and ecological disruption. Drawing a similar analogy, the European conquest of America is explained as the process of terraforming whereby environmental devastation was brought about in a mediated fashion in which the “target was not human bodies but the web of life which sustained them” (p.76).Throughout the book, Ghosh contrasts the indigenous understanding of Earth as Gaia, which signifies a vital, living form of nature, with the colonizer's notion of Earth as inert, representing a metaphysic in which matter exists to be exploited solely for profit. This mechanistic rendition of Earth is what lies at the heart of the current planetary crisis in Ghosh's narrative. The exclusion of voices of farmers and fishers, traditional communities in the climate change discourse, and the labeling of their understanding as “traditional ecological knowledge” undermines indigenous peoples' relationship with Earth. When indigenous people's understanding of the vitality of the Earth is termed as knowledge, it commodifies that relationship, valuing only the profit-making component of that understanding.Ghosh believes that the traditional wisdom of nurturing a harmonious relationship with Earth is passed on from one generation to the next through songs, stories, and traditional folklore. The subduing of indigenous voices and their stories, their mass extermination in the past, and the accompanying ecological devastation have acted as the building blocks of the current climate crisis.Deftly interweaving the past with the present, Ghosh offers a sharp critique of Western society in perpetuating and exacerbating global conflicts. With colonialism paving the way for capitalism, the neoliberal regime reinforces old structures of power by preserving similar forms of extraction and appropriation. He argues that the vested interest of the United States in oil stems not only from the fact that it can be acquired exclusively in a way that renewables cannot, but it also forms the backbone of the petrodollar system, which quintessentially establishes the global American hegemony. His argument forces the reader to engage with pressing questions regarding whether or not people will adjust to their new geopolitical position if the petrodollar system is to end with ushering in renewables. Will we ever see a concerted action on the level needed to bring about this geopolitical shift?Ghosh reminds us of the vested interests of those who benefit from the current system and the psychological adjustments people would have to make as a consequence of the decline in their global hegemony. Ghosh also highlights that the US military, the world's largest consumer of energy, rarely gets featured in the climate change debate. The research on the military impact on global climate change is almost negligible, as if to say, “those who control the definition, control the debate.” The succinct weaving of such facts into the narrative makes Ghosh's arguments more compelling and convincing.He does not shy away from hard-hitting criticism of capitalism, citing it not as a departure from feudalism but a continuum of the system of oppression and suppression of indigenous people. His narration often oscillates between the past and present, situating the Black Lives Matter protests in the climate change discourse by connecting them through the common thread of slavery. These protests assert that the planetary crisis is rooted in the past, precipitated and perpetuated across the globe during the process of colonization guided by the economic system of capitalism. Through such ideas and interlinkages, Ghosh's 257-page normative essay challenges the conception of climate change, tracing the arc from the dawn of European colonial conquests to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.The book, however, does fall short on critiquing similar trajectories of development adopted by developing nations, wherein resources were appropriated from forest-dwellers to reinforce and reproduce the capitalistic mode of exploitation. It also fails to highlight possible distinctions between developed and developing countries in the manner of capitalistic appropriation.An often-invoked idea throughout the book is mysticism, which might also be a critique of the work as it somewhat leans toward the unscientific and borders on superstition. However, Ghosh's conviction and narration keep readers engrossed, if not entirely convinced. The writing comes a full circle when Ghosh himself experiences supernatural forces in his visit to the Banda Islands, very similar to what the Dutch officials experienced when they first arrived there. As for the Dutch colonizers, the falling of the lamp symbolized some “sinister intent” (p. 15) of the indigenous inhabitants. For Ghosh, the screeching of ambulances during the Covid crisis foretold dark realities. His concurrence with mystic elements strengthens his belief that nature is not mute, but alive, vibrant, and a force to be reckoned with, also affirming readers' belief through the author's lived experiences.In this timely and compelling work, Ghosh succeeds in challenging some dominant dialectic in the climate change debate. His work urges expansion of the focus from the current scientific, economic, and technological lens to confront challenges such as colonialism, capitalism, genocide, and war. As the world confronts one challenge to the next, from pandemics to wars, the looming climate threat often is relegated as a distant problem. Ghosh's work serves as a timely reminder to confront the climate question even while battling a pandemic with no end in sight.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Volume 15Issue 3Jun 2022 InformationCopyright 2022, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishersTo cite this article:Book Review by Simran Agarwal.The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis.Sustainability and Climate Change.Jun 2022.177-178.http://doi.org/10.1089/scc.2022.0018Published in Volume: 15 Issue 3: June 23, 2022PDF download

The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis