David Vaina shares his new book, On-Ramps to a New Civil Society, an autonomist reimagining of labor, value, mutual aid, and revolution.

Climate change has long degraded human communities and the natural world but is increasingly articulated on a more profound scale. In On-Ramps to a New Civil Society: Mutual Aid at the Edges of the Anthropocene, David Vaina explores this historical moment of institutional decline, where a political void has emerged in addressing our life-giving needs through the human and non-human worlds. Mutual aid continues to develop as a long-term social practice operating to heal and regenerate these two worlds. As it matures and seeks to acquire dual power, mutual aid is advancing a three-part strategy realized by new labor, political, and ontological forms that are collectively contributing to a new, radical civil society.

David Vaina has helped fund, develop and operate Florida nonprofits over the last 15 years. Outside the formal civil society, David has organized many workshops that help working-class people realize food sovereignty and a decentralized, sustainable food system. For several years, he taught history in the Florida prison system. Currently, he serves as the chair of his local Sierra Club and his political work is most focused on reducing energy burdens and building energy democracy in Alachua County, Florida. David has a PhD in political theory and writes regularly on climate change and politics for The Invading Sea and others.