LT   EN   RU  
2024 г. март 29 д., пятница Straipsniai.lt - Информационный портал
Назад
Английский язык
Археология
Архитектура
Астрономия
Биология
География
Геология
Законы
Искусство
История
Культура речи
Латинский язык
Литовский язык
Математика
Медицина
Механика
Наука про информацию
Политология
Психология
Управление
Физика
Физкультура
Филология
Философия
Химия
Экология
Экономика
Обсуждение
Контактные данные

Вход на сайт

Регистрироваться   Вход

Пренумерата новостеи

Подписать   Отказаться от подписки

Партнеры

www.slaptai.lt www.gamezone.lt
www.penki.lt www.hakeriai.lt
   
   

Реклама

Статистика

Визитов с 2002 09 12 - 70584211
Страниц в Straipsniai.lt: 40735
  
  Наука > Экология
Lankomumo reitingas Версия для печати Spausdinti
The Commoditization of Nature

by Dr. Braden Allenby, AT&T EH&S Vice President
(Reprinted with permission from the Green Business Letter)

One of the most famous lines of The Communist Manifesto is Marx and Engle's reflection on the pace of change and secularization generated by bourgeoisie capitalism: "All that is solid melts into air, and all that is holy is profaned." This is a prescient observation, especially as regards modern environmentalism, for it targets an important dynamic, the importance of which is frequently unappreciated: the commoditization of nature.

"Commoditization" is a strange word. Frequently found in Marxist discourse, it means the process by which market capitalism changes things that were previously not regarded as economic goods into something with a price, and, concomitantly, part of the economy. Thus, for example, a consultant may find that she is valuing her time based on her hourly charge, regardless of where it is spent: an hour watching TV or playing with her children costs $200 in forgone consulting income. Her time has been commoditized. In another example, critics of biotechnology and the patenting of genes argue that the process "commoditizes the genome," turning a fundamental natural system, the genetic material of a species, into a commercial good with a price attached to it.

Consider in this light the last part of the quote from the Manifesto: "and all that is holy is profaned." What this suggests is that elements of our life previously considered sacred are turned into economic goods by the action of the market economy. This dynamic - the pricing, and therefore commoditization, of the sacred that, by definition, is beyond price - is of particular interest in the environmental arena: genomes are commoditized; the right to pollute is commoditized; "nature" is purchased at specialty stores in malls, or experienced in parks run by large corporations. There are at least some environmentalists for whom, following the Enlightenment Romantics, nature has become the secular substitute for traditional religion. There are many more for whom nature in at least some of its manifestations, is sacred, beyond price. Yet without commoditization - call it internalizing the externalities - how are natural systems to be valued and preserved in a public discourse that frequently is defined by economics?

Perhaps nowhere are these conflicts more apparent than in the global climate change arena. "Emissions credits" are one mechanism by which efficient reduction of carbon dioxide emissions are to be encouraged; they, in turn, are based on programs involving planting trees, preserving forests or grasslands, or the like. Such mechanisms, which rely on economic self-interest, are crucial for efficient emissions reductions. On the other hand, it can be said with little exaggeration that the Kyoto process is historic in that it is the first time we humans have literally commoditized critical elements of a fundamental natural cycle - the carbon cycle - in a wholesale manner. What was once clearly exogenous to human culture is now being made endogenous: the carbon cycle, like the sulfur cycle, like the genomes of various species, is well on its way to becoming just another part of human economic activity. Marx and Engels would understand this well.

This commoditization process bothers many people on ideological and religious grounds. It is the dark side of the concept that the environment - "nature" - benefits when externalities are internalized. But one should be clear on what fundamentally drives this process: it is not some nefarious scheme by markets to dominate natural systems. Rather, it reflects the reality that the world is increasingly a human artifact, a monoculture reflecting the activities of one species - ours. In short, commoditization is not the means by which an otherwise unachievable control of natural systems is obtained, but a reflection of the fact that such influence over the dynamics of natural systems has already occurred. It follows, not proceeds, the event itself. Commoditization of natural systems arises from the Industrial Revolution with its concomitant explosive growth in the scale of human economic activity and population levels, and the evolution of technological and cultural systems that accompanied it. It is a symptom, not a cause, of a new relationship between humans and their planet.

Because it reflects this reality, it is hard to see how commoditization of nature can be reversed without reversing the underlying structure - that is, without dramatic decreases in levels of human economic activity or populations. This is obviously somewhat problematic. Alternatively, we can work towards a governance system and ethical structure based on transparency, dialog and multicultural collaboration, reflecting the realities of a human Earth - the direction of earth systems engineering and management (ESEM). Thus does the Marxist critique continue to call forth creative responses from the capitalistic, market-based system.

            

Lankomumo reitingas

Oбсудить на форуме - Oбсудить на форуме

Версия для печати - Версия для печати

Назад
Случайные теги:    Набоков В. В. (94)    Кулинария (39)    Фехтирования (6)    Саентология (10)    Звуковые системы (8)    Животные (31)    Хоби (27)    Сертификаты SSL (10)    Фильмы (10)    Генетика (10)    Помощ и превенция (2)    Скейборды (2)    Комплектующие (18)    Кошки (11)    НЛП (18)    Еврейи (10)    Накопители (2)    Биология (34)    Стиль (5)    Поэты (3)    Татуировки (5)    Путешествия (2)    Психология (27)    Собаки (6)    Книги (2)    Воспитания (3)    Право человека (8)    Компьютеры (290)    Астрология (13)    Латинский язык (7)    Кино (45)    Люди (94)    Операционные системы (8)    Наркопсихотерапия (2)    Английский язык (2)    Интернет (15)    Технологий (4)    Пиво (29)    Образование (101)    Лов рыбы (11)    Настольные игры (17)    Автомобили (6)    Общение (322)    Кормление грудью (5)    Память (2)    Садоводство (12)    Прогр. обеспечение (15)    Мотоциклы (2)    Процессоры (7)    Религия (32)
1. Природная среда
2. Эволюция биосферы. Часть1.
3. Эволюция биосферы. Часть 2.
4. Эволюция биосферы. Часть 3.
5. Эволюция или катастрофа!
6. Изменения магнитного поля Земли
7. Вспышки сверхновых звёзд
8. Метеоритные взрывы
9. Ураганы и наводнения
10. Землятресения и вулканические извержения
1. Гидросфера
2. Экологические катастрофы, вызванные человеком
3. Литосфера
4. Состав и функционирование биосферы
5. Метеоритные взрывы
6. Общие свойства биосферы
7. Землятресения и вулканические извержения
8. Вспышки сверхновых звёзд
9. Эволюция биосферы. Часть1.
10. Эволюция или катастрофа!
Map