Download or read book Capitalist Agriculture and the Global Bee Crisis written by Rebecca Ellis and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-09-14 with total page 163 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Capitalist agriculture relies heavily on the pollination work of bees, but this system harms bees in innumerable ways. Indeed, human agriculture is one of the main culprits for the declining populations of wild bees and the declining health of honeybees. This book presents a political ecology of pollination that critically examines how managed honey bees and wild bees are harmed by capitalist agriculture. The book focuses on the three most urgent problems: the standardization and simplification of landscapes through monocultures; the use of pesticides including neonicotinoids, other insecticides, herbicides, and fungicides; and the embeddedness of commercial, migratory beekeeping in the capitalist agriculture system which, among other things, has the potential to spread pests and pathogens across continents. At the heart of this crisis is the power and influence that a small group of agrochemical corporations have over national and international agricultural policy. The book argues for an interspecies alliance of small-scale farmers, bee advocates, beekeepers, environmentalists, and bees themselves, along with a vision for an agricultural system that nurtures multispecies flourishing. This book will be of significant interest to readers of political ecology, animal geography, environmental anthropology, food system studies, and critical animal studies.

Download or read book Capitalism and Agrarian Change written by Muchtar Habibi and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-11-17 with total page 222 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Small-scale agricultural producers in the peripheral world are often condescendingly assumed to be a single social class (‘the peasantry’) to be pitted against the state or corporation. This book challenges this rather idealistic view by demonstrating that under current capitalist social relations (competition, efficiency and productivity, and profit maximisation), these agricultural producers have been differentiated into different agrarian classes by exploitation. By comparing two different contexts of local agrarian change in Indonesia—rice cultivation in Java and oil palm in Sumatra—this book exposes the different class locations of the agrarian classes among petty agricultural producers and the class relations between them. These are often inextricably linked to gender, clanship and generational issues. The power of class dynamics crucially shapes how agricultural production in both rice and oil palm is organised. The share received by different agrarian classes from the production site then prominently shapes the different nature of class reproduction for each agrarian class. This analysis demonstrates that the different agrarian classes possess different capacities and responses in their relation to the state or corporations. Any real emancipation attempt in the Indonesian countryside (and beyond) must start from a proper understanding of these class dynamics. This book marks a significant contribution to the literature on agrarian change, the political economy of development, rural development and Marxist political economy.

Download or read book Globalization and the Decline of American Power written by Cyrus Bina and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-11-23 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores America’s decline as a global power, arguing that the implosion of Pax Americana was initiated by the process of globalization, preceding the collapse of the Soviet Union by nearly a decade. The era of Pax Americana, and with it American hegemony, is conclusively passed, and will not return in current global conditions. There is a stark contrast between the present epoch and the postwar era of American hegemony (1945–1979) in which the United States, at least outside of the Soviet sphere of influence, largely managed the international economy and reigned over international politics and relations. Drawing on both theoretical and empirical evidence, this book shows that the era of globalization unleashed forces—social, political, and economic—which broke down the status quo of American hegemony. Author Cyrus Bina also establishes that since the Iranian Revolution (1979), US involvement throughout the Middle East, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and now notably in Ukraine has been motivated by the freefall of American hegemony and an attempt to get it back by direct or indirect military force. Bina utilizes these contexts for wider analysis and critique of a number of theories commonly used to analyze economy, polity, geopolitical, and dynamics of crisis and social change in capitalism. This book will be of great interest to students, academics, and policymakers on subjects of Economics, International Relations, Global Studies, International Political Economy, Political Geography, Sociology, and postwar History.

Download or read book Bernard Schmitt s Quantum Macroeconomic Analysis written by Alvaro Cencini and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-11-25 with total page 483 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The aim of Bernard Schmitt’s analysis of the monetary economy of production was twofold: to introduce and to explain the logical character of the macroeconomic laws governing our economies and to explain the origin of the pathologies that follow if these laws are not complied with. Schmitt’s main original contributions concern the theories of value, profit, and capital, as well as his explanation of inflation, unemployment and international payments, unified as quantum macroeconomic analysis. This book expounds on the key principles of quantum macroeconomic analysis as he conceived and developed them. Schmitt’s starting point was the analysis of bank money and the way it is associated with produced output. His macroeconomics was not founded on microeconomics nor derived from the aggregation of microeconomic variables. Schmitt’s theory does not rely on mathematics and modelling either; instead, it is based on logical laws derived from the nature of money and monetary payments. Part I of this book deals with the quantum macroeconomic analysis of capitalism and its pathologies developed by Schmitt and provides the elements necessary to understand its ‘structural’ mechanism. Parts II and III deal with the principles of two reforms that enable the passage from capitalism to post-capitalism and from the present non-system of international payments to an orderly system. This book provides essential reading for all those interested in heterodox approaches to macroeconomics, monetary economics, banking, international economics, and the history of economic thought.

Download or read book China Trust and Digital Supply Chains written by Warwick Powell and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-09-01 with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: China, Trust and Digital Supply Chains presents a critical reflection on blockchain technologies in the context of their adoption in China and the world that China is engaged in and shaping. Approaching the issues of blockchain technology adoption and development on China’s own terms is critical if policy makers and others are to make effective sense of one of the key dynamics shaping the next few decades of the global landscape. The work challenges the ‘trust’ trope that dominates much discussion of blockchain technology’s application. It argues, contrary to the predominant trust trope, that blockchain is not about trust at all. It shows that China’s re-imagining of the 21st century global order is premised on driving intensified cross-border economic interactions without the presupposition of trust, and blockchain technology makes that possible. It also explores the paradox of technological decentralisation being taken up with vigour by a centralist polity, the role of blockchain technology as a critical condition of existence for the successful globalisation of China’s digital currency initiative, and the need to devise governance institutions that are multilateral in nature, to reflect the multi-polar nature of decentralised information systems with domestic and cross-border permutations. This book is of significant interest to readers of political economy, public policy, blockchain technology and Chinese studies.

Download or read book Macroeconomic Modelling Economic Policy and Methodology written by Mikael Randrup Byrialsen and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-10-27 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Demonstrating that there are (superior) alternatives to the modern macroeconomic mainstream and its DSGE (dynamic stochastic general equilibrium) models, this book presents the cutting edge in macroeconomic modelling, economic policy, and methodology from the perspective of heterodox economic thinking. The first part of the book explores methodological issues, advocating for a stronger ethical consideration in macroeconomics and for the adoption of a strategy of pluralism to ensure that macroeconomic theory is capable of adapting to real-world issues. The second part highlights recent trends in empirical Stock-Flow Consistent models by collecting a group of the most well-developed empirical models of five different economies: the Danish, the Dutch, the French, the Italian, and the Argentinian models. In all five cases, the models are used to discuss various policy aspects of the individual economies. Finally, the book explores issues of macroeconomic policy which are largely neglected by mainstream economists including financial (in)stability and macro imbalances. The book emphasizes the need for investigating sectoral balances, which are crucial elements for investigating imbalances from the heterodox perspective. This book will be of significant interest to students and scholars of macroeconomics, economic modelling, economic methodology and heterodox economics more broadly.

Download or read book Blockchain and the Commons written by Vangelis Papadimitropoulos and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-11-24 with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Recent years have seen a surge of interest in ‘the commons’ based on a simple yet radical idea: great improvements in production and management could be achieved by reducing barriers to knowledge exchange and power-sharing. Ranging from meadows, forests and parks to language, open-source software (FLOSS and Blockchain) and 3D printers, the commons are distributed or common property resources/infrastructures that are self-managed by their user communities. While acknowledging the significant contributions that can be made through commons-based peer production, this book provides a critical examination of the commons with the aim of contributing to their long-term sustainability. In particular, the book examines the relation of Blockchain to the commons by illustrating the case study of the Commons Stack. Drawing on a range of interdisciplinary ideas and methodologies, the book argues that there are a number of economic and social barriers that are obstructing the wider reproduction of the commons. Problems with access to capital and training, the lack of entrepreneurial and managerial skills and the absence of institutional support from governments, larger co-ops and NGOs are some of the external difficulties facing the commons today. Meanwhile, localism, gated communities, vested interests, atavism, traditionalism, ideology, conflict, neo-conservatism and techno-elitism represent some of the internal contradictions inherent in the commons. Through overcoming these contradictions, the ultimate goal is to transform capitalism into the postcapitalism of the commons: the creation of a social economy self-organised around the commons. This book provides vital reading for anyone interested in the commons, from economics, techno-politics and across the social sciences.

Download or read book Fruitless Fall written by Rowan Jacobsen and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2010-07-15 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Many people will remember that Rachel Carson predicted a silent spring, but she also warned of a fruitless fall, a time with no pollination and no fruit. The fruitless fall nearly became a reality when, in 2007, beekeepers watched thirty billion bees mysteriously die. And they continue to disappear. The remaining pollinators, essential to the cultivation of a third of American crops, are now trucked across the country and flown around the world, pushing them ever closer to collapse. Fruitless Fall does more than just highlight this growing agricultural catastrophe. It emphasizes the miracle of flowering plants and their pollination partners, and urges readers not to take the abundance of our Earth for granted. A new afterword by the author tracks the most recent developments in this ongoing crisis.

Download or read book Class Dynamics of Agrarian Change written by Henry Bernstein and published by Kumarian Press. This book was released on 2010 with total page 161 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Henry Bernstein argues that class dynamics should be the starting point of any analysis of agrarian change. Providing an accessible introduction to agrarian political economy, he shows clearly how the argument for "bringing class back in" provides an alternative to inherited conceptions of the agrarian question. He also ably illustrates what is at stake in different ways of thinking about class dynamics and the effects of agrarian change in today's globalized world. CONTENTS: Introduction: The Political Economy of Agrarian Change. Production and Productivity. Origins of Early Development of Capitalism. Colonialism and Capitalism. Farming and Agriculture, Local and Global. Neoliberal Globalization and World Agriculture. Capitalist Agriculture and Non-Capitalist Farmers? Class Formation in the Countryside. Complexities of Class.

Download or read book Global Political Ecology written by Richard Peet and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2010-12-17 with total page 655 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The world is caught in the mesh of a series of environmental crises. So far attempts at resolving the deep basis of these have been superficial and disorganized. Global Political Ecology links the political economy of global capitalism with the political ecology of a series of environmental disasters and failed attempts at environmental policies. This critical volume draws together contributions from twenty-five leading intellectuals in the field. It begins with an introductory chapter that introduces the readers to political ecology and summarizes the books main findings. The following seven sections cover topics on the political ecology of war and the disaster state; fuelling capitalism: energy scarcity and abundance; global governance of health, bodies, and genomics; the contradictions of global food; capital’s marginal product: effluents, waste, and garbage; water as a commodity, a human right, and power; the functions and dysfunctions of the global green economy; political ecology of the global climate, and carbon emissions. This book contains accounts of the main currents of thought in each area that bring the topics completely up-to-date. The individual chapters contain a theoretical introduction linking in with the main themes of political ecology, as well as empirical information and case material. Global Political Ecology serves as a valuable reference for students interested in political ecology, environmental justice, and geography.

Download or read book Food and the City written by Jennifer Cockrall-King and published by Prometheus Books. This book was released on 2012-02-14 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A global movement to take back our food is growing. The future of farming is in our hands—and in our cities. This book examines alternative food systems in cities around the globe that are shortening their food chains, growing food within their city limits, and taking their "food security" into their own hands. The author, an award-winning food journalist, sought out leaders in the urban-agriculture movement and visited cities successfully dealing with "food deserts." What she found was not just a niche concern of activists but a global movement that cuts across the private and public spheres, economic classes, and cultures. She describes a global movement happening from London and Paris to Vancouver and New York to establish alternatives to the monolithic globally integrated supermarket model. A cadre of forward-looking, innovative people has created growing spaces in cities: on rooftops, backyards, vacant lots, along roadways, and even in "vertical farms." Whether it’s a community public orchard supplying the needs of local residents or an urban farm that has reclaimed a derelict inner city lot to grow and sell premium market veggies to restaurant chefs, the urban food revolution is clearly underway and working. This book is an exciting, fascinating chronicle of a game-changing movement, a rebellion against the industrial food behemoth, and a reclaiming of communities to grow, distribute, and eat locally.

Download or read book The Beekeeper s Lament written by Hannah Nordhaus and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2011-05-24 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “You’llnever think of bees, their keepers, or the fruits (and nuts) of their laborsthe same way again.” —Trevor Corson, author of The Secret Life of Lobsters Award-winning journalist Hannah Nordhaus tells the remarkable story of John Miller, one of America’s foremost migratory beekeepers, and the myriad and mysterious epidemics threatening American honeybee populations. In luminous, razor-sharp prose, Nordhaus explores the vital role that honeybees play in American agribusiness, the maintenance of our food chain, and the very future of the nation. With an intimate focus and incisive reporting, in a book perfect for fans of Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, Michael Pollan’s The Botany of Desire,and John McPhee’s Oranges, Nordhaus’s stunning exposé illuminates one the most critical issues facing the world today,offering insight, information, and, ultimately, hope.

Download or read book The Insect Crisis The Fall of the Tiny Empires That Run the World written by Oliver Milman and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A devastating examination of how collapsing insect populations worldwide threaten everything from wild birds to the food on our plate. From ants scurrying under leaf litter to bees able to fly higher than Mount Kilimanjaro, insects are everywhere. Three out of every four of our planet’s known animal species are insects. In The Insect Crisis, acclaimed journalist Oliver Milman dives into the torrent of recent evidence that suggests this kaleidoscopic group of creatures is suffering the greatest existential crisis in its remarkable 400-million-year history. What is causing the collapse of the insect world? Why does this alarming decline pose such a threat to us? And what can be done to stem the loss of the miniature empires that hold aloft life as we know it? With urgency and great clarity, Milman explores this hidden emergency, arguing that its consequences could even rival climate change. He joins the scientists tracking the decline of insect populations across the globe, including the soaring mountains of Mexico that host an epic, yet dwindling, migration of monarch butterflies; the verdant countryside of England that has been emptied of insect life; the gargantuan fields of U.S. agriculture that have proved a killing ground for bees; and an offbeat experiment in Denmark that shows there aren’t that many bugs splattering into your car windshield these days. These losses not only further tear at the tapestry of life on our degraded planet; they imperil everything we hold dear, from the food on our supermarket shelves to the medicines in our cabinets to the riot of nature that thrills and enlivens us. Even insects we may dread, including the hated cockroach, or the stinging wasp, play crucial ecological roles, and their decline would profoundly shape our own story. By connecting butterfly and bee, moth and beetle from across the globe, the full scope of loss renders a portrait of a crisis that threatens to upend the workings of our collective history. Part warning, part celebration of the incredible variety of insects, The Insect Crisis is a wake-up call for us all.

Download or read book The Economics of Global Turbulence written by Robert Brenner and published by Verso. This book was released on 2006-08-17 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A commanding survey of the world economy from 1950 to the present, from the author of the acclaimed The Boom and the Bubble.

Download or read book Development and Social Change written by Philip McMichael and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2016-01-25 with total page 449 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this new Sixth Edition of Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective, author Philip McMichael describes a world undergoing profound social, political, and economic transformations, from the post-World War II era through the present. He tells a story of development in four parts—colonialism, developmentalism, globalization, and sustainability—that shows how the global development “project” has taken different forms from one historical period to the next. Throughout the text, the underlying conceptual framework is that development is a political construct, created by dominant actors (states, multilateral institutions, corporations and economic coalitions) and based on unequal power arrangements. While rooted in ideas about progress and prosperity, development also produces crises that threaten the health and well-being of millions of people, and sparks organized resistance to its goals and policies. Frequent case studies make the intricacies of globalization concrete, meaningful, and clear. Development and Social Change: A Global Perspective challenges us to see ourselves as global citizens even as we are global consumers.

Download or read book The Transition from Feudalism to Capitalism written by Paul Marlor Sweezy and published by . This book was released on 1963 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book A History of World Agriculture written by Marcel Mazoyer and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2006-06-01 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Only once we understand the long history of human efforts to draw sustenance from the land can we grasp the nature of the crisis that faces humankind today, as hundreds of millions of people are faced with famine or flight from the land. From Neolithic times through the earliest civilizations of the ancient Near East, in savannahs, river valleys and the terraces created by the Incas in the Andean mountains, an increasing range of agricultural techniques have developed in response to very different conditions. These developments are recounted in this book, with detailed attention to the ways in which plants, animals, soil, climate, and society have interacted. Mazoyer and Roudart’s A History of World Agriculture is a path-breaking and panoramic work, beginning with the emergence of agriculture after thousands of years in which human societies had depended on hunting and gathering, showing how agricultural techniques developed in the different regions of the world, and how this extraordinary wealth of knowledge, tradition and natural variety is endangered today by global capitialism, as it forces the unequal agrarian heritages of the world to conform to the norms of profit. During the twentieth century, mechanization, motorization and specialization have brought to a halt the pattern of cultural and environmental responses that characterized the global history of agriculture until then. Today a small number of corporations have the capacity to impose the farming methods on the planet that they find most profitable. Mazoyer and Roudart propose an alternative global strategy that can safegaurd the economies of the poor countries, reinvigorate the global economy, and create a livable future for mankind.