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What does the green energy transition reveal about the future of capitalism?

In the second episode of After Order — a podcast series from the Alameda Institute in collaboration with Macrodose — we turn from the ideological questions of our opening conversation to something more material: the role of extraction in contemporary capitalism.

Following episode one, in which James Meadway spoke with Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff about Muskism and its relation to neoliberalism, this episode shifts focus to the accelerating green energy transition — and the new forms of extraction it is enabling.

James Meadway is joined by Thea Riofrancos, author of Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism, to examine how the global push to decarbonise is driving demand for critical minerals such as lithium — reshaping landscapes, transforming communities, and reconfiguring geopolitical relations in the process.

Which raises a broader question: can the transition to renewable energy avoid reproducing the extractive dynamics of the fossil-fuel era? Or are we witnessing the consolidation of a new form of “green capitalism”, carrying forward many of the same logics under a different guise?

In a world after order, where crises appear less as interruptions and more as enduring conditions, these questions take on increasing urgency.

You can listen on Spotify or watch on YouTube.