14. The Political Economy of the Environment

Author(s):  
Peter Dauvergne

This chapter focuses on the political economy of the environment and environmental change. The growth of the world economy is transforming the earth's environment. However, there are sharp disagreements over the nature of this transformation; for example, whether the globalization of capitalism is a force of progress and environmental solutions, or whether it is a cause of our current global environmental crisis. These questions are examined by considering the debates around some of the most contentious issues at the core of economic globalization and the environment: economic growth, production, and consumption; trade; and transnational investment. After providing an overview of the general arguments about how the global political economy affects the global environment, the chapter traces the history of global environmentalism — in particular, the emergence of international environmental institutions with the norm of sustainable development. It concludes by assessing the effectiveness of North–South environmental financing and international environmental regimes.

2020 ◽  
pp. 384-412
Author(s):  
Peter Dauvergne

This chapter assesses the global political economy of the environment. The growth of the world economy is transforming the Earth's environment. Nothing is particularly controversial about this statement. Yet, sharp disagreements arise over the nature of this transformation. Is the globalization of capitalism a force of progress and environmental solutions? Or is it a cause of the current global environmental crisis? The chapter addresses these questions by examining the debates around some of the most contentious issues at the core of economic globalization and the environment: economic growth, production, and consumption; trade; and transnational investment. It begins with a glance at the general arguments about how the global political economy affects the global environment. The chapter then traces the history of global environmentalism — in particular, the emergence of international environmental institutions with the norm of sustainable development. It also evaluates the effectiveness of North–South environmental financing and international environmental regimes.


2019 ◽  
pp. 135-145
Author(s):  
Viktor A. Popov

Deep comprehension of the advanced economic theory, the talent of lecturer enforced by the outstanding working ability forwarded Vladimir Geleznoff scarcely at the end of his thirties to prepare the publication of “The essays of the political economy” (1898). The subsequent publishing success (8 editions in Russia, the 1918­-year edition in Germany) sufficiently demonstrates that Geleznoff well succeded in meeting the intellectual inquiry of the cross­road epoch of the Russian history and by that taking the worthful place in the history of economic thought in Russia. Being an acknowledged historian of science V. Geleznoff was the first and up to now one of the few to demonstrate the worldwide community of economists the theoretically saturated view of Russian economic thought in its most fruitful period (end of XIX — first quarter of XX century).


Organization ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 135050842110612
Author(s):  
Daniel S Lacerda

The spatial imaginations of organisations can be particularly insightful for examining power relations. However, only recently they have gone beyond the limits of the workplace, demonstrating the role of the territory for organised action, particularly in mobilising solidarity for resistance. In this article, I investigate power relations revealed by the political economy of the territory to explain contradictory actions undertaken by organisations. Specifically, I adopt the theoretical framework of the noted Brazilian geographer Milton Santos, who recognises spatial multiplicity and fragmentation while maintaining an appreciation of the structural conditions of the political economy. This perspective is particularly useful for the analysis of civil society organisations (CSOs) in a Brazilian favela (slum), given the context of high inequality perpetuated by the selective flows of urban development. First, I show that the history of favelas and their role in the territorial division of labour explain the profiles of existing organisations. Then, I examine how the political engagement of CSOs with distinct solidarities results in a dialectical tension that leads to both resistance based on local shared interests and the active reproduction of central spaces even if the ends are not shared. The article contributes to the literature of space and organisations by explaining how territorial dynamics mediate power relations within and across organisations, not only as resistance but also as the active reproduction of economic and political regimes.


Author(s):  
Peter Dauvergne

This chapter pans out from the islands of the Pacific to analyze the forces of unsustainable production and consumption underlying the global sustainability crisis. It demonstrates how, everywhere, inequality is increasing, as is conspicuous, wasteful consumption as companies pursue more sales and more profits. The chapter highlights how advertisers manufacture desires and needs, how big-box retailers and brand manufacturers claiming to be responsible and sustainable are selling inexpensive, nondurable products, and how governments finance infrastructure (e.g., subsidizing roads and bridges) to stimulate even higher levels of consumption. States pursue more consumption in the name of economic growth; multinational corporations for more profits for owners and shareholders; and the world’s billionaires to amass even more wealth. One result, as this chapter documents, is extreme and rising inequality, with 1 percent of the world’s population now controlling approximately half of the world’s wealth. Other results include rising ecological footprints, overexploitation of natural resources, and an escalating global environmental crisis – the themes of the book’s next chapter.


Author(s):  
Lucia Zedner

This Afterword reflects on the scope, ambitions and achievements of this substantial volume of collected essays. It reflects on the interdisciplinary, cross-jurisdictional and temporal range of the contributing chapters. It seeks to situate them in the longer history of studies of the political economy of crime and punishment, and applauds their collective revitalisation of the field. It explores the ways in which the impressive, international group of contributors explore the complex interactions between inequality, crime and punishment. In particular, it addresses the conceptual and methodological choices made in determining how to measure comparative poverty and prosperity and how to gauge relative punitiveness. The Afterword concludes by exploring promising further areas of enquiry suggested by this remarkable collection.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 494-499
Author(s):  
Destin Jenkins

This essay revisits Making the Second Ghetto to consider what Arnold Hirsch argued about the relationship between race, money, and the ghetto. It explores how Hirsch’s analysis of this relationship was at once consistent with those penned by other urban historians and distinct from those interested in the political economy of the ghetto. Although moneymaking was hardly the main focus, Hirsch’s engagement with “Vampire” rental agencies and panic peddlers laid the groundwork for an analysis that treats the post–World War II metropolis as a crucial node in the history of racial capitalism. Finally, this essay offers a way to connect local forms of violence to the kinds of constraints imposed by financiers far removed from the city itself.


2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 24-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Backhouse

AbstractThis paper argues that Milonakis and Fine, in their bookFrom Political Economy to Economics, offer an account of history that systematically omits discussion of how economics has been shaped by the political and social context in which it developed. This contrasts with work by intellectual historians who have argued that such factors were crucial to understanding the history of economic ideas. It is ironic given that Milonakis and Fine are criticising economists for excluding the political and the social from economics.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Pezzutto ◽  
Lynn Comella

Abstract This article introduces the field of trans pornography studies and makes a case for why studying it matters. We locate trans pornography within the broader field of porn studies, while also pointing to its importance to transgender studies. We map the history of trans pornography and examine the wider social, political, and economic forces contributing to the transformation of trans porn into a genre of mainstream straight porn. We discuss the economic organization of the trans porn industry and current industry trends, including geographical shifts in production and the rise of alternative production platforms. We address areas of future research and the need for more scholarship on the political economy of the trans porn industry, audiences and consumers, transmasculine representation in pornography, and research that focuses on trans porn production outside the United States.


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