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The incursions of extractivism: moving from dispersed places to global capitalism

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: The commonplace notion of extractivism relates to the production of value through physically extractive processes (mining, oil extraction, certain kinds of agriculture, etc.) where value generation is necessarily temporary and generally followed by barrenness and an inability to sustainably reproduce livelihoods in the affected habitat. In this article we aim to rethink extractivism in more general, politico-economic terms, i.e. as a particular way of structuring the processes of production and reproduction. This allows us to ask if extractivism is limited to the sectors mentioned above or a pattern that could, actually or potentially, emerge in other sectors of the economy. This paper also aims to contribute to the debate on the rise, and current problems, of emerging economies and how they relate to global capitalism. It develops the hypothesis that at least some of the BRICS countries have operated as laboratories in which extractivism has been developed into a wider politico-economic system that is now also being applied outside the BRICS countries.

Source: The Journal of Peasant Studies

DOI: 10.1080/03066150.2018.1559834

Authors: Jingzhong Ye, Jan Douwe van der Ploeg, Sergio Schneider, Teodor Shanin

Institutions: China Agricultural University, Wageningen University & Research, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, University of Manchester

Language: English

Topic: Extractivism and Socioeconomic Issues

Subfield: Sociology and Political Science

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Decent work and economic growth, Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: green

Funders: Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Consejo Nacional para Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas, National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences