Dr.BrianEgan,DepartmentofGeography,SimonFraserUniversity - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Dr.
Brian
Egan,
Department
of
Geography,
Simon
Fraser
University


poli;cal
ecology
  emerged
in
1980s
out
of
cri;que
of
standard
explana;ons
for
 environmental
degrada;on
in
global
South,
such
as
popula;on
pressure,
 ‘backwardness’
of
poor
land
users,
or
‘market
failure’.

  early
poli;cal
ecologists
argued
that
root
causes
of
environmental
 degrada;on
were
to
be
found
through
examina;on
of
broader
social,
 economic,
and
poli;cal
contexts;
influenced
by
Marxist
analysis.




  “poli;cal
ecology
combines
the
concerns
of
ecology
and
a
broadly
defined
 poli;cal
economy.
Together
this
encompasses
the
constantly
shiPing
 dialec;c
between
society
and
land‐based
resources,
and
also
within
classes
 and
groups
within
society
itself.”
 (Blaikie
&
Brookfield
1987)
  great
expansion
of
poli;cal
ecology
over
last
two
decades,
drawing
on
 broad
range
of
social
theories
(race
and
gender,
post‐structuralism
and
 post‐colonialism,
social
movement
theory,
etc.).





economic
systems
  tradi;onal
systems
–
focus
on
subsistence,
decentralized,
land
and
 resource
use
governed
by
customs
and
tradi;ons,
limited
role
for
market.

  market
(capitalist)
systems
–
central
role
of
markets
(invisible
hand)
in
 mee;ng
human
needs
and
wants,
price
of
goods
and
services
set
by
 market
supply‐demand.
  command
systems
–
government
plays
central
role
in
produc;on
and
 distribu;on
processes,
and
mee;ng
human
needs
and
wants.

  mixed
systems
–
some
blend
of
tradi;onal,
market,
and
command
systems,
 most
commonly
involves
some
level
of
state
interven;on
in
market
 systems.
 


liberalism
and
capitalism
  the
world
we
live
in
today
is
strongly
shaped
by
the
interac;on
of
two
 powerful
forces:
liberalism
and
capitalism.

  the
objec;ve
of
today’s
class
is
to
be[er
understand
these
forces.

  what
are
they?

  how
did
they
come
about?

  how
do
they
work
together?






liberalism
  an
enormously
influen;al
western
poli;cal
theory
or
ideology
 characterized
by:
  individualism
–
the
individual
is
the
central
focus;
freedom
of
the
 individual
is
highest
goal;
individuals
should
be
free
to
pursue
their
own
 self‐interest;
individual
rights
trump
group
rights.
  egalitarianism
and
universalism
–
all
individuals
are
equal
(before
the
 law)
and
should
be
treated
the
same,
regardless
of
background.

  meliorism
–
an
op;mis;c
and
progressive
worldview.
  the
government
(as
the
source
of
law)
plays
an
important
role
in
 media;ng
rela;ons
between
individuals.



economic
liberalism
  In
economic
terms,
liberalism
is
characterized
by:
  central
role
of
the
market
in
mee;ng
individual
and
societal
objec;ves.
  antagonis;c
or
ambivalent
stance
towards
government’s
interven;on
in
 the
economy;
importance
of
‘free’
or
‘self‐regula;ng’
market;
reduce
 taxes.

  belief
in
an
open
economy
(free
trade,
minimal
regula;on).
  importance
of
private
property.



varie;es
of
liberalism
  although
the
central
tenets
of
liberalism
remain
unchanged,
 some
scholars
point
to
different
varie;es
of
liberalism
that
 dominated
during
different
periods:
  classical
liberalism
–
primacy
of
individual
freedom,
maximal
role
for
 market,
minimal
role
for
government.
  social
liberalism
–
larger
role
for
government
interven;on
in
economy
 to
meet
certain
social
and
economic
objec;ves
(social
welfare).

  neo‐liberalism
–
recent
return
to
a
(narrow)
form
of
classical
liberalism,
 dominant
force
over
past
40
years.




capitalism
 
“An
historically
specific
form
of
economic
and
social
 organiza;on
[…
within
which]
the
direct
producer
is
separated
 from
ownership
of
the
means
of
produc;on
and
the
product
 of
the
labour
process;
and
where
[…]
this
separa;on
is
 effected
through
the
transforma;on
of
labour
power
into
a
 commodity
to
be
bought
and
sold
on
a
labour
market
which
is
 regulated
by
price
signals.”

 Derek
Gregory,
 The
Dic(onary
of
Human
Geography ,
p.
56.


the
great
transforma;on
  “All
economic
systems
known
to
us
up
to
the
end
of
feudalism
in
Western
 Europe
[roughly
the
14th
century]
were
organized
either
on
the
principle
of
 reciprocity
or
redistribu;on,
or
householding,
or
some
combina;on
of
the
 three.”
(Karl
Polanyi,
 The
Great
Transforma(on ,
p.
57)
  historically,
economic
system
submerged
(embedded)
in
society
and
social
 rela;ons;
in
tradi;onal
economies
economic
systems,
markets
existed
but
 were
not
central
and
were
controlled
and
regulated
by
social
authority.
  crea;on
of
a
market
economy
and
of
self‐regulated
markets
is
a
specific
 historical
process,
which
came
about
in
the
19 th 
century;
this
was
not
a
 “natural”
process
but
had
to
be
ac;vely
produced
by
certain
socio‐ economic
interests
and
the
state.




market
economy
  “…
an
economic
system
controlled,
regulated,
and
directed
by
market
 prices;
order
in
the
produc;on
and
distribu;on
of
goods
is
entrusted
to
 this
self‐regula;ng
mechanism.”
(Polanyi,
p.
71)
  was
en;rely
unprecedented
in
human
history;
no
economy
had
existed
 that,
even
in
principle,
was
controlled
by
markets;
markets
had
long
existed
 (e.g.,
in
tradi;onal
systems)
but
had
been
no
more
than
incidental.

  individual
gain
is
central
to
market
economy,
and
deemed
socially
 acceptable
and
desirable;
individual
gain
and
wealth
accumula;on
key
to
 success
of
the
market
economy
and
society
(‘trickle
down’
theory). 


land
and
labour
  establishment
of
the
market
economic
system
required
that
the
economy
 be
“disembedded”
from
society
and
from
long‐standing
forms
of
social
and
 poli;cal
control.
  also
required
that
labour
and
land
be
removed
from
social
and
poli;cal
 control
–
disembedded
from
society
–
and
located
in
the
economic
realm
 under
the
control
of
the
market
(e.g.,
labour
market,
real
estate
market);
 labor
and
land
were
to
be
treated
as
commodi;es.

  Polanyi:
land
and
labour
are
‘fic;;ous
commodi;es’;
land
is
simply
nature
 and
labour
simply
an
aspect
of
human
life;
commodifica;on
of
these
would
 have
disastrous
results,
causing
social
upheaval
and
disloca;on,
and
 ecological
degrada;on
(e.g.,
late
19 th 
and
early
20 th 
centuries).
 


the
double
movement
  the
movement
towards
a
fully
expressed
market
society
threatened
the
 very
basis
for
human
social
and
economic
life,
undermining
families,
 communi;es,
and
the
lands
and
resources
on
which
human
depend,
 crea;ng
economic
and
poli;cal
turmoil.
  Polanyi
argued
that
this
movement
could
only
advance
so
far
before
it
was
 met
by
a
counter‐movement,
of
people
seeking
to
protect
the
social
and
 ecological
founda;ons
of
their
lives
and
livelihoods
from
the
ravages
of
the
 market.
  primary
tool
of
this
protec;onist
countermovement
was
state
interven;on
in
 the
market,
regula;on
to
limit
the
most
damaging
effects
of
the
market.
  even
many
proponents
of
open
markets
recognized
the
need
for
state
 interven;on
to
advance
economic
interests
(including
capital
accumula;on).