Lecture 6 - A World of Resources Flashcards
How do Ancient economies differ from Economies Now?
-Ancient economies constituted e.g. deforestation for firewood, worked with and on nature and only made a living to survive and thrive
-Now, everyday activities are tied up with the economy, and economies are far less sustainable despite a heavy reliance on the Earth
Describe the meaning of Capitalism in a Resource sense
-Goods and services are produced for profit in a free market
-Capitalism is a mode of production
-It’s success depends on; money, markets, exchange, profit, accumulation of wealth, free markets and limited state regulation
What are some different Goals of Capitalism?
-Production for use (use value)
-Production for exchange (use value for use value)
-Production for profit (monetary ROI)
What is the Main Goal of Capitalism and give an example
-The only question when extracting a resource is “is this profitable?”
-E.g. Alberta Tar Sands were known about since the 19th century, not only became profitable in the 1960s and production stopped when prices fell in the 1980s
Explain the Importance of Economic Growth
-It is hard-wired into capitalism
-Measured using GDP
-Its used as a measure of the strength of a given economy
-Increase in GDP = increase in individual, business and government spending as well as net exports
Describe Rostow’s Development Model and suggest one critique
-Used as a general roadmap for a country’s economic development
-5 stages (traditional society, preconditions for take-off, take-off, drive to maturity and age of high consumption)
-It suggests that some countries are ‘behind’ others and doesn’t take into account historical biases
How has the Economy transformed in recent years and what are the Problems caused by this?
-Economic growth and spiralling resource abuse has caused:
-Resource depletion
-Environment despoilation
-Climate change
What is the Anthropocene and it’s Limits?
-Meaning = The age of humans
-Term suggested by Paul Crutzen in 2000 (nobel prize winner for atmospheric geochemistry)
-Humans have significantly altered Earth’s geology, evidenced by widespread radioactivity and pollution in sediment cores
-The limits are that it suggests all humans are to blame, however it is mostly the West/ Global North
What is the Capitalocene?
-Proposed by Jason Moore (2017) to suggest that failure of the natural world is not due to all humans but rather the capitalist system
-“Carboniferous Capitalism” which dates back to the industrial revolution (age of steam power and factories)
