scholarly journals Ecological neo-Narodnism and the peasant economy: history and contemporary relevance

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Paulo Vianna Franco

Based on the ecological utopianism of Narodnik thinkers, this article assesses the programmatic concept of ecological neo-narodnism, as put forth by Martinez-Alier (1987), addressing (1) to what extent it conforms to the intellectual legacy of the Narodniki? (2) what are its main theoretical foundations and policy recommendations for a peasant economy in the 21st century? and (3) how it contributes to contemporary social and environmental challenges. It explores in detail the ecological economic theories which can be applied to the peasant economy according to the ideology of ecological neo-narodnism, the latter analyzed from the perspectives of the fields of political economy and political ecology. Peasant movements are addressed as the manifestation of such a worldview. Finally, the contributions of ecological neo-narodnism to overcome current social and environmental challenges are discussed and associated with economic degrowth.

2021 ◽  
pp. 003464462110135
Author(s):  
Linwood Tauheed

The challenge set before Black economists in 1967 by Harold Cruse in his seminal work The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual: A Historical Analysis of the Failure of Black Leadership, to create new economic theories, methodologies, and institutional forms, from a Black community point of view, is still with us, and growing more urgent by the day. Mainstream economics has failed to shine much light on fundamental problems of inequality, poverty, and financial and productive stability, particularly as these problems intersect with racial disparity. After 100 years of African American economists, perhaps it is time to strike out on our own behalf and search for the solutions to our community's problems by creating and employing our own lamps.


2003 ◽  
pp. 111-118
Author(s):  
A. Oleinik

Reply to the article: Buzgalin A. Heuristic Potential of Political Economy of Socialism in the 21st Century (Voprosy Ekonomiki, 2003, No 3).


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (6) ◽  
pp. 229-252

The article deals with characteristic features of economic anthropology"s rhetoric of reciprocity and analyzes the factors that affected its formation. The authors consider two principal interpretations of reciprocity in economic anthropology that were formed under the influence of its two main founders - Malinowski and Mauss. The characteristic features of their two types of rhetoric are discussed together with the purposes for which they were used. Two different intentions were pivotal for the work of these researchers and their followers: first, to establish economic anthropology as a positivistic science; and second, to use the analysis of archaic societies as evidence for their critique of a capitalistic economy.To achieve the first task they actively used rhetoric borrowed from the natural sciences, and especially from biology as well as from economic theories that were another social science also striving for a more rigorous positivism. For the second task they turned to the rhetoric of political economy and used arguments based on a dialectical opposition between commodity exchange and gift exchange. The most prominent example of such dialectical rhetoric is in the works of Chris Gregory and Karl Polanyi in which gift exchange was interpreted as a metaphor for a utopian alternative to capitalistic commodity exchange. Because the rhetoric of economic anthropology from its inception to the present has been profoundly influenced by the language of general economic theory, the article examines the genesis of the rhetoric of economics as a science. This leads to an analysis of how the language of economics was affected by the rhetoric of the natural sciences, then of psychology and finally of law.


2021 ◽  
pp. 251484862110348
Author(s):  
Mara van den Bold

In recent years, Senegal has proactively pursued the expansion of renewable energy generation, particularly from solar and wind. In addition to starting exploration of offshore liquefied natural gas, the expansion in renewable energy is posited as a way to help the country move toward low(er) carbon development, reduce dependence on volatile oil markets, and improve reliable (and especially rural) access to electricity. To achieve these objectives, the electricity sector has continuously undergone structural reforms to improve its financial viability and to achieve objectives around universal access to electricity, particularly by increasing private sector participation in electricity generation. Through the lens of “electricity capital,” this paper examines the implications of reforms in the electricity sector for processes of accumulation, in a context of efforts to improve environmentally sustainable development. It asks how capital in the electricity sector is constituted and operates in the Senegalese context, who has power in shaping how it operates, and how this has influenced the potential for achieving a fair and equitable transition to a low(er) carbon energy system. This paper draws on recent work in political ecology on energy transitions and emerging literature on the political economy of electricity, as well as on analysis of policy and technical documents and semi-structured interviews carried out with those involved in the energy sector between 2018 and 2020. Findings suggest that even though the Senegalese government has set clear objectives for the electricity sector that are based on principles of equity, environmental sustainability, and justice, the current power relations and financing arrangements taken on by the state and other actors active in the sector has, paradoxically, led to an approach that risks undermining these very principles.


SAGE Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 215824401880267
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Sommers ◽  
Rachel Hegland ◽  
Patrick Delices

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dylan B. Van der Schyff

I demonstrate here how Aristotle's teleological conception of nature has been largely misunderstood in the scientific age and I consider what his view might offer us with regard to the environmental challenges we face in the 21st century. I suggest that in terms of coming to an ethical understanding of the creatures and things that constitute the ecosystem, Aristotle offers a welcome alternative to the rather instrumental conception of the natural world and low estimation of subjective experience our contemporary techno-scientific culture espouses. Among other things, I consider how his conception of orexis and eudaimonia (happiness or, as I prefer here, "the flourishing life") might be extended to include the eco-system itself, thus allowing us to better understand the moral meaning of nature. I conclude with a look at the way in which modern phenomenology re-addresses the fundamental Greek concern with ontology, meaning and human authenticity. I consider the ways in which phenomenology reasserts the value of direct human experience that was so important to Aristotle; and I consider how this view, and that of Deep ecology, may help us to experience nature - and all of Being for that matter - in a more authentic, meaningful and altogether ethical light.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document