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7/27/2019 06 Social Metabolism Ecological Distribution Conflicts Languages 1
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Socialmetabolism,
ecological
distribution
conflicts,languages of
valuation Joan Martnez-AlierUniversitat Autnoma de Barcelona
The increased use of fossil fuels andminerals, and the human appropriation of theavailable biomass, cause increasing conflictson the access to environmental resourcesand services and on the distribution of theburdens of pollution. Such conflicts are notnew.
Therefore, movements of environmentaljustice or environmentalism of the poor,often appeal to non-monetary values such aslivelihood, territorial rights or sacredness ofthe land.
A few conflicts on the Human Appropriationof Net Primary Production (HANPP) in forestsand coastal areas are briefly analyzed in this
light.
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Environmentalism of the poor
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
Thirty-five years after the start of the Chipko
movement in 1973 (described by R. Guha inThe Unqu iet Wood s),
twenty years after the death of Chico Mendes
in December 1988 in Brazil as the victim of atragedy of enclosures,
thirteen years after the death of Ken Saro-
Wiwa and his companions for defending the
Niger Delta and its populations against the
Shell company and the Nigerian government,
the debate on the environmentalism of the
poor is growing.
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The theory of the Environmentalism of the Poor
All this does not imply that poorpeople are always on the side of
conservation, which would be patently
untrue.
What it means is that in many conflicts
of resource extraction or pollution, the
local poor people (indigenous or not)
are often on the side of conservationnot so much because they are self-
conscious environmentalists but
because of theirlivelihood needs and
theircultural values.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Riley Dunlap vs R. Inglehart
Results from four large cross-national surveys
conducted in many nations with differing levels ofaverage income. Results showed that citizens of
poorer nations were equally if not more concerned
about the environment than citizens in wealthier
countries.
Coinciding with the thesis on the environmentalism
of the poor, Dunlap and York argue that Ingleharts
explanation of the growth of enviromentalism
because of a change towards post-materialist
values failed to recognize that environmental
problems are often a threat to material welfare.
For example, deforestation may threaten the livelihoods of people who
depend on forests for firewood, food sources, and medicinal products.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Currents of Environmentalism
A position paper for the World ConservationCongress in Barcelona of October 2008, notices
that the global environment and conservation
movement (epitomised by the membership of
IUCN) excludes many organizations dedicated toenvironmental justice, including the US
environmental justice movement, and many
others across the world
(for example OilWatch, Mines and Communities, the
International Rivers Network, the Mangrove Action Project
(MAP), and the World Forest Movement (wrm.org.uy) that uses
the slogan Tree Plantations are not Forests).
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Fights at the commodity frontiers
These movements combine livelihood, social,
economic and environmental issues, with
emphasis on issues of extraction and pollution.
They set their moral economy in opposition to
the logic of extraction of oil, minerals, wood oragrofuels at the commodity frontiers, defending
biodiversity and their own livelihood.
In many instances they draw on a sense of local
identity (indigenous rights and values such as thesacredness of the land) but they also connect
easily with the politics of the left. However, the
traditional left in southern countries still tends to
see environmentalism as a luxury of the rich.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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The GDP of the poorproposed by Gundimedia and Sukhdev
In National Income Accounts one could introduce
valuations of ecosystem and biodiversity losses either insatellite accounts (physical and monetary) or in adjusted
GDP accounts(Green Accounts). Neither method gives an
adequate representation.
The valuation of losses might be low compared to theeconomic gains from projects that destroy biodiversity.
However, which groups of people suffered most by such
losses?
Project Green Accounting for India: the authors found
that the most significant beneficiaries of forest biodiversity
and ecosystem services are the poor, and the predominant
impact of a loss or denial of these inputs is on the well-
being ofthe poor. The poverty of the beneficiaries makes
these losses more acute as a proportion of their livelihood
incomes than is the case for the people of India at large.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Methods for the study of Social Metabolism
MEFA materials and energy flows accounting
is a set of methods for describing andanalysing socio-economic metabolism.
It examines economies as systems that
reproduce themselves not only socially andculturally, but also physically through acontinuous exchange of energy and matter withtheir natural environments and with othersocio-economic systems. Eurostat now
publishes material flow accounts and the OECDwill publish them soon.
One reference: Marina Fischer-Kowalski and Helmut Haberl,eds., Socio-Ecological Transitions and Global Change, 2007
(preface by J. Martinez-Alier).
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Ecologically Unequal Trade
Physical imports and physical exportsmeasure all imported or exported commoditiesin tonnes.
Physical trade balance (PTB)equals physical imports minus physical exports.
Such accounts are relevant for historical andcurrent debates on ecologically unequal
exchange and the ecological debt.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Energy accounting
Energy flow accounting (EFA)
is an integral part of the analysis of social metabolism.Primary and final energy delivered are usually classifiedin the statistics according to source.
The idea of linking economic history to the use of energygoes back to Wilhelm Ostwald, and later to Leslie White
and other authors but it was only in the 1980s whenseveral histories of the use of energy in the economywere published.
The most interesting EFA indicator is that of
Energy Return on Energy Input (EROI).EROI is an indicator of energy efficiency, a useful statisticfor assessing the increasing costs of obtaining energy. Itis relevant when developing oil sands or heavy oil inAlberta or the Orinoco Delta, Venezuela, or for agro-fuels(with very low EROI).
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Virtual water
Water use should be added to the metabolic profiles in a
separate account.
There are historical and present conflicts on dams suchas in India the Narmada Bachao Andolan, also newconflicts in the North-East, and complaints against theinterlinking of the rivers. Also, conflicts on the use and
pollution of aquifers.
In Brazil there is an organized movement ofating idos po rbarragens. In 2005 a successful civic resistancemovement led by bishop Luiz Carpio stoppedmomentarily water transfer from the Sao Francisco river.
There are also conflicts on the dumping of waste intowater, and new debates on the energy and environmentalimpacts of new desalination projects.
There is a new discussion on virtual water (i.e. thewater cost of different products).
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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The HANPP
The HANPP is calculated in three steps. First,the potential net primary production (in thenatural ecosystems of a given region orcountry), NPP, is calculated. Then, the actualNPP (normally, less than potential NPP, because
of agricultural simplification and soil sealing) iscalculated.
The part of actual NPP used by humans andassociate beings (cattle, etc.) relative to
potential NPP is the HANPP, meant to be anindex of loss of biodiversity (because thehigher the HANPP, less biomass available forwild species).
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Marx and Malthus
Marx wrote about social metabolism but he was not
worried about crises of subsistence.
He attacked Malthus not only because Malthus believedin decreasing returns in agriculture but also becauseMalthus said that improving the situation of the poor wascounterproductive since they would have more children.
The importance ofpopulat ion growthin the increasedsocial metabolism is obvious. Paul Ehrlichs equation
I = PAT
could be applied historically, if there was an adequateindicator forT (technology).
A trend towards a decrease in the world population mightappear soon.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Varieties of Malthusianism
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
MALTHUSIANISM
NEO-MALTHUSIANISM OF 1900
ANTI-MALTHUSIANISM
NEO-MALTHUSIANISM AFTER 1970
Population undergoes exponential growth unless checked by war and
pestilence, or by chastity and late marriages. Food grows less thanproportionately to the labour input, because of decreasing returns. Hence,
subsistence crises.
Human populations could regulate their own growth through contraception.
Womens freedom was required for this, and desirable for its own sake.
Poverty was explained by social inequality. Conscious procreation was
needed to prevent low wages, and pressure on natural resources. This was a
successful bottom-up movement in Europe and America against States
(which wanted more soldiers) and Churches
A doctrine and practice sponsored by international organizations and somegovernments. Population growth is seen as a main cause of poverty and
environmental degradation. Therefore States must introduce contraceptive
methods, even without womens prior consent.
The view that assumes that human population growth is no major threat to
the natural environment, and that it is even conducive to economic growthas Esther Boserup and other economists argued.
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Sources for the Neo-Malthusianism of 1900
The French neo-Malthusians Gabriel Giroud andSebastien Faure published books and pamphlets on
population and resources. Cf. J. Cohen, How manypeople can the Earth sup port? , Norton, New York, 1995.
NOTICE that at the time the discussion did not take intoaccount the biomass needed for wildlife, i.e. how largethe HANPP should be.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
L. Gordon, Womans body, womans right. A social history of
birth control in America, Grossman, New York, 1976.
F.Ronsin, La grve des ventres. Propagande no-malthusienneet baisse de la natalit en France, 19-20 sicles, Aubier-Montagne, Paris, 1980.
E. Masjuan, La ecologa humana y el anarquismo ibrico: el
urbanismo orgnico o ecolgico, el neo-malthusianismo y elnaturismo social, Icaria, Barcelona, 2000.
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Ecological Distribution Conflicts
The statistics on energy use are relevant to explain someconflicts among humans. For instance, the need to gain access
to forests by poor people is explained by their need for fuel.There are historical and current conflicts on coal extraction(miners health, land subsidence, production of sulphur dioxide)and oil extraction (gas flaring, biodiversity loss).
At the global level, more fossil fuel extraction means more
carbon dioxide production, and a conflict on the distribution ofresponsibilities and damages from climate change. Increaseduse of energy leads also to conflicts on transport, such asthose created by oil spills.
Even wind energy provokes new conflicts in Europe because ofthe (post-materialist?) valuation of landscapes.
Other sources of energy give rise to more robust conflicts, aswith nuclear energy (uncertain risks of accident, disposal ofnuclear waste, military proliferation)
while agro-fuels are criticized because of their low EROI,
because they increase HANPP to the detriment of other species,and because of their virtual water content.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Material Flows and Conflicts
Similarlinks exist between increased MaterialFlows, classified into Biomass, Minerals forBuilding, Minerals for Metals, Fossil Fuels,and social conflicts.
There is no current inventory ofecological distribution conflicts in theworld, much less is there a historicalinventory.
However, clearhistorical trends appear(including trends in exports and imports) onthe material flows, possibly signallingconflicts. Questions on the absolute and
relative dematerialization of the economyma be answered em iricall .
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Three case studies of conflicts on the HANPP
The Chipko movement:a struggle on the HANPP using
different languages of valuation
The Tana Delta:who gets the HANPP? The threat
of sugar cane plantations in 2008
The loss of NPP by the
destruction of mangroves byshrimp farming:
cost-benefit analysis or the
language of environmental justice
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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The Unquiet Woods
The forests became state property in India under
colonial rule. The main technical advisers were Germanexperts.
Their policy was to maximize the commercial HANPP bygrowing uniform stands of trees as long as it waseconomic to do so, comparing the rate of growth of the
trees (multiplied by expected price, net of cutting costs)to the rate of interest.
Faustmann in 1849 introduced another factor, the rentone could get from the land for some years (as pastures,for instance) once the trees were cut, while waiting for
the next crop of trees. This additional factor would bea reason for a shorter rotation.
This was the training that German foresters had whenthey arrived in India with its rich tropical and diverseforests. However, the logic of multiple use could not be
totally ignored.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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The Unquiet Woods
Forests in India were used by the local populations fornon-timber products, they held much biodiversity, and
they also provided flood control and otherenvironm ental services (to use todays jargon).
The institutions of Joint Forest Management since thelate 1980s (partly the result of the Chipko movement), theolder institution of the Van Panchayat in Kumaunespecially after the revolt of 1920-21, have a longintellectual history.
Guha blamed German forestry science forsingle-mindedly imposing the language of forest economics andthe logic of chir plantations. In a more recent book hequotes from Dietrich Brandis himself, the Inspector
General of Forests between 1864 and 1883, that villageforests should be preserved and provide free of chargefirewood for home consumption or for sale by poorpeople with headloads, wood for the agriculturalimplements and carts, wood, bamboo and grass forthatching, flooring and fencing, leaves and branches formanure, and grazing except in areas closed for forest
regeneration
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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The subsidy from Nature (Kumaun 2006),
the GDP of the poor
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Conclusion
There is a common ground between Social
History, Economic History and Environmental
History, between Ecological Economics and
Political Ecology, between Sustainability Science
and Environmental Sociology.
It lies in the three-tier relation between the
increasing Social Metabolism of human
economies pushed by population and economic
growth, the resulting Ecological DistributionConflicts among human groups, and then the
different Languages of Valuation deployed
historically and at present by such groups when
they reaffirm their rights to use the
environmental services and products in dispute.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Conclusion
The metabolism of industrial societies requires increasing
amounts ofenergy and materials, and also increasedappropriation of the production of biomass. Hence, new
extractions arise at the commodity frontiers. These are often
bulk commodities but they can also be preciosities (gold,
diamonds, mahogany or shrimp).
One may study the Material Flows to test historical trendstowards dematerialization, or to follow the ups and downs of the
building industry. One may study the use of energy from the
different fossil fuels to see the trend in the world aggregate
production of carbon dioxide.
One may study the HANPP in a given territory and see whether it
really indicates historical trends towards loss of biodiversity.
However, another approach consists of studying the MEFA and
HANPP indicators, and theirlinks to historical or contemporary
environmental conflicts among groups of humans.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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The Niyamgiri hill, Orissa, threatened by
bauxite mining by Vedanta(photo Leah Temper, Jan. 06)
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Languages of Valuation
Such conflicts are expressed as conflicts over valuation,
either inside a single standard of value or across pluralvalue. It might be that an agreement is sought among
diverse interests by appealing to the common language of
economic valuation, trying to ascertain through extended
CBA whether the benefits from a project are large enough
to compensate for the losses, and keep a net gain on top.The requirement for such an exercise is commensurability
of values.
Social, cultural, economic, environmental aspects are all
measured in money. This is technically difficult to achievebut not impossible. More importantly, the money-
reductionism of CBA harms the social legitimacy of other
values.
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions
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Power
To conclude, we may write, shrimp exports [or copper or
bauxite mining] is a valuable item of world trade, and also,valuable ecosystems and valuable local cultures are
destroyed by shrimp farming [or copper or bauxite
mining]. The reduction of all goods and services to actual
or fictitious commodities can be recognized as one
perspective among several, legitimate as a reflection of realpower structures.
Who has then the power to simplify complexity, imposing
a particular standard and procedure of valuation? In
environmental conflicts, political power appears at twolevels: first, as the ability to impose a decision; second, as
the power to impose one particular decision-procedure and
a standard of valuation. How this power is exercised in
different societies in different moments of history is indeed
a worthwhile topic of study for social historians, and of
course for political ecologists
Environmentalism
of the poor
Currents ofenvironmentalism
Methods to study
social
metabolism
Marx and Malthus
Ecological
distribution
conflicts
Conflicts and the
HANPP
Conclusions