World-Systems Theory and the Environment

The Unequal Ecological ExchangeThesis

Due to their economic, military, and political power, wealthy nations have the capacity to:– Make environmental “withdrawals” from poor

nations (in terms of natural resource extraction), and,

– Make environmental “inputs” in poor nations in terms of pollution or waste.

World-systems theory pays great attention to the historical development of capitalism…

Why are some countries wealthy (core) or others relatively poor (semi-periphery) or very poor (periphery)?

• The establishment of an international division of labor.

• The creation and maintenance of unequal terms of exchange.

• Processes of underdevelopment.

Three Periods of Colonialism• Global Expansion 1492-1776: Spanish,

Portuguese, Dutch, French, and the English.• 1776-1870: British Dominance.• 1870-1914: The “New Imperialism.”

European colonies in 1674

World colonies, 1900

World colonies, 1800

Colonialism and the Slave Trade– Peaked in 18th C– Colonial

expansion and triangular trade – exchange between Europe, Africa, and the Americas – built from slave trade routes.

Colonial Commercial Relationships• Shaped colonial economies.

– Orientation away from a subsistence to a cash economy.– Extractive / external-market focus.

• Established a new international division of labor.– Colonies produce and export raw materials (minerals, timber,

monoculture commodity agriculture).– Colonizers export manufactured goods.– Set up export dependence.

• Established unequal terms of exchange.• Underdeveloped colonies.

– Extracted tremendous wealth in terms of natural resources.– Created vast amounts of upheaval and social disruption.

The Unequal Ecological ExchangeThesis

Due to their economic, military, and political power, wealthy nations have the capacity to:– Make environmental “withdrawals” from poor

nations (in terms of natural resource extraction), and,

– Make environmental “inputs” in poor nations in terms of pollution or waste.

Potosi, as described by Galeano in The Open Veins of Latin America

The Recent History of Colonialism.

Africa:• Ethiopia: 1944• Ghana: 1957• Seventeen African nations achieve independence

in 1960.• South Africa: 1994Asia:• Indonesia: 1949• Vietnam: 1954, 1973

World-systems theorists argue that relationships of unequal ecological exchange continue to characterize relationships between nations today.Two examples and a counter-example:

• Oil in Nigeria.• Electronic waste in China.• Possible counter-example:

China and rare earth minerals. (Or is it simply an indication of a changing world.)

World-systems theorists argue that unequal ecological exchange continues to characterize core-periphery relations.

• The international division of labor established during periods of colonialism still largely exists.

• Economic “development,” is often geared toward export production.– i.e. development in the form of railways or roads

between mines and ports rather than meeting community needs.

• Economic development in the periphery is often its continued “underdevelopment.”

Modernization Theory: A Competing Perspective

• Natural resource extraction is a viable means of economic development, providing:– Influx of capital.– Local high-paying jobs.– Provision of services to communities.– Tax revenues for countries to invest in further development.

• Proposes the “environmental Kuznets curve” thesis:– As a poor nation’s economy grows in terms of GDP, its rates

of environmental degradation will also increase.– As a nation develops, and its GDP reaches a certain size,

rates of environmental degradation will decrease.

Criticisms of World-Systems Theory?

• Core/periphery relations between nations might overlook similar kinds of relations within nations?

• Overlooks real success stories in development?

• Other criticisms…?