Don't Be A Tool! is a reading and discussion group bringing the worlds of engineering and radical politics together. It is for anyone who wants to explore how engineering and technology is linked to capitalism and oppressive power structures, while also thinking about how things could be done differently.

This month's theme is energy, a topic that may or may not be close to people's hearts but is definitely close to people's wallets at the moment.

For part of the session we'll be looking at the history of energy in the context of the rise of capitalism. There are two books I'll mainly be looking at, but they're both quite long so I'm going to be cherry picking some of the arguments of each book to discuss with the group. The books are:

• Energy and Civilisation - Vaclav Smil

• Fossil Capital - Andreas Malm

We'll also be discussing where we could possibly go from here, is the best we can hope for "green capitalism", or are there alternative ways of using renewable energy as part of a different way of organising the economy? An interesting (and much shorter) book I found on the subject is:

• Safe Planet: Renewable Energy Plus Workers' Power - John Cowsill

As always, the books mentioned here aren't essential reading, all you need to bring is yourself, any knowledge, thoughts and questions you've picked up on the topic, and a readiness for open and critical discussion. This isn't about being a technical expert or a political one... yet alone both, it's about learning to bridge that gap, whatever our backgrounds.

Accessibility: there's a step into the building and we're in a room upstairs, but let me know if you have any access needs and we'll try and accomodate them (there may be a possibility to move downstairs).

Please email me at dontbeatool@proton.me if there's anything you want to discuss.

The event is free, but please bring along a donation for the venue if you can.