The ghosts of progress: contradictory materialities of the capitalist Golden Age

This theoretical contribution will examine the process of displacement of the constitutive contradictions of advanced capitalist societies from interior to exterior during the postwar era known as the ‘capitalist Golden Age’ (1945 to 1980). I ask the following question: what if this displacement is both an inherent and necessary process? In that case, the apparent stability or expansion gained in the core during this era was not only at the expense of externalized instability and destruction ‘elsewhere’; rather, this displacement was a precondition for growth in the centre. This has normative, political and methodological implications for current projects of socio-ecological transformation based on a proverbial Green New Deal. By examining theories of unequal ecological exchange and biophysically expanded versions of the labour process as developed by ecological anthropologists such as Hornborg or ecological economists such as Georgescu-Roegen, I will explore the possibility of understanding the material trajectory of advanced capitalism as a zero-sum game. This leads to a view of capitalist development in the 20th century where the accumulation process is no longer seen as progressive. To substantiate this argument, I will re-examine the energy flow patterns that sustained the growth of American capitalism during the Fordist period of accumulation, or so-called Golden Age of American capitalism. This revision of the American experience of growth from 1945 to 1980 can be considered a contribution to the wider study of the development of the dependence of capitalism on fossil fuels, or ‘fossil capital’.

Green Criminology and Environmental Crime: Criminology That Matters in the Age of Global Ecological Collapse

An overview of green criminology (GC) is provided. That substantial literature is not easily summarized, and here, some core issues are reviewed: defining green crimes, the scope of GC, measuring green crimes, and empirical studies of green crimes. Special attention is paid to political economic approaches to GC, which was the foundation for GC. Connections are made to environmental sociology, theories of metabolic rift and unequal ecological exchange, and scientific evidence on planetary boundaries and ecological footprints. Examples of widespread human and nonhuman being green victimization are reviewed. In an era of anthropogenic-driven global ecological collapse, academic disciplines must pay increased attention to ecological disorganization, ecosystem destruction, and excessive production/consumption, which is the proper subject matter of GC.

From desert to breadbasket…to desert again? A metabolic rift in the High Plains Aquifer

The High Plains region of the U.S. is one of the most important agricultural regions in the world. Much agricultural production in this semi-arid region, however, depends on the consumption of nonrenewable groundwater from the High Plains Aquifer. Although the problem has drawn significant attention from policymakers and citizens for over forty years, depletion of the Aquifer has worsened. Why does depletion persist despite widespread and ongoing concern? We explore this conundrum by placing the region into an historical, political-economic context. We focus specifically on the case of Western Kansas, and argue that the contemporary problem is rooted in the ways in which this region was articulated into broader circuits of capital and exchange. Private capital and the state incorporated the region as a source of primary raw materials, mainly agricultural products. Water-dependent agricultural resource extraction opened up a metabolic rift in the hydrological cycle that has only been exacerbated over time through unequal ecological exchange with more politically and economically central places. These structural dynamics associated with political-economic incorporation have impeded efforts to develop more sustainable uses of groundwater consumption in the region.Key words: groundwater management, metabolic rift, High Plains, Kansas

Economy/Environment Interaction and Global Trade of Materials: An Empirical Examination for 95 Countries between 1980 and 2009

Political economy theory posits decreasing economic intensity—i.e. the use of fewer materials per unit of economic growth—does not lead to a decrease in material extraction. Modernization theory suggests decreasing economic intensity may lead to a decline in the use of materials. Unequal ecological exchange theory suggests that the dominate position of developed countries in the global trade of materials allows them to protect their own environments by extracting materials elsewhere. By examining data from 95 countries between 1980 and 2009, this paper provides an empirical evaluation to theoretical statements discussed above. Findings show that economic intensity has declined markedly for decades while the total material extraction continues to increase worldwide. More developed countries enjoy an import surplus, while most materials extracted from developing countries are exported abroad. Positive associations (mediated by global trade of materials) exist between material extraction from developing countries and material consumption in developed countries.