tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92093616882274178672024-03-13T16:13:10.687-06:00Ecological Marxism and environmental geographyA blog by Brian M. NapoletanoBrian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-71785052187323575142023-09-15T21:11:00.004-06:002023-09-15T21:11:53.052-06:00Marxist sociology blog post on the communitarian revolutionary subjectThe American Sociological Association published a short article by David Barkin and me that synthesizes our recent article in <i>Monthly Review</i> on David's concept of the communitarian revolutionary subject. In our age of profound social-ecological crises, the communitarian revolutionary subject is already proceeding to develop radically new social-ecological metabolic configurations. From my perspective, the key challenge here remains moving from individual projects to the sort of mass movement needed to bring about systemic transformation. Otherwise, I fear the radical alternatives being pursued by the revolutionary communitarian subject may be isolated or crushed by the combined forces of capital and the state. The post can be found on the <a href="https://marxistsociology.org/2023/05/the-communitarian-revolutionary-subject-in-the-struggle-for-alternative-social-ecological-metabolic-configurations/" target="_blank">Marxist sociology blog</a>. The original article that David and I wrote for <i>Monthly Review</i> is also <a href="https://monthlyreview.org/2023/03/01/the-communitarian-revolutionary-subject-and-the-possibilities-of-system-change/" target="_blank">publicly avccessible</a> on the MR website.Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-56516898929612342092022-03-30T18:33:00.002-06:002023-09-15T21:18:12.805-06:00Henri Lefebvre's conception of nature-society in the revolutionary project of autogestion<p>When related to his conception of nature and society, Henri Lefebvre's concept of <i>autogestion</i> indicates the possibilities for a radical response to the social-ecological crises of capital in the twenty first century. Reuniting his radical critique of the capitalist production of space with his theorization of autogestion as a radical praxis aimed at total transformation offers a corrective to common, speculative appropriations of the former, while offering valuable insight into Lefebvre's observations regarding the centrality of the reappropriation of space to any genuinely radical project. Moreover, relating these concepts to his conception of nature-society and his engagement with what is now known as Marx's theory of metabolic rift indicates how a radical reappropriation of space, time, and the body also entails a transformation of humanity's relationship and metabolic interchange with the rest of nature.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Napoletano, B.M., P.S. Urquijo, B. Clark, and J.B. Foster. 2022. Henri Lefebvre's conception of nature-society in the revolutionary project of autogestion. <i>Dialogues in Human Geography</i> OnlineFirst.<br />DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206221088385" target="_blank">10.1177/20438206221088385</a></p><p><b>Abstract</b></p><p>Henri Lefebvre's intricate material-dialectical approach to the nature-society problematic, taken together with his advocacy of a praxis oriented to total transformation from the ground up through autogestion, offers a unified, critical, and dialectical approach to political ecology. Unfortunately, his work in these areas has too often been interpreted as divided and fragmentary, splitting his radical analysis of the production of space-time from his critical praxis related to autogestion. We offer a corrective to this by elaborating briefly on his use of Marx's material-dialectical approach, outlining how Lefebvre brings this method to bear on the nature-society problematic, and how his theorization of autogestion points to a radical praxis aimed at overcoming the social-ecological contradictions of capital. His engagement with Marx's theory of metabolic rift, and his advocacy of a radical project of autogestion as part of the critique of everyday life, serve to place the underlying issue of alienation in spatial terms, offering geography a transformative perspective that avoids positing closed systems and attempting to exhaust the various meanings assigned to nature. In this, Lefebvre demonstrates how the nature-society problematic overflows issues of ontological framing and language, calling for a unity of radical theory and practice to overcome the separations.<br /></p>Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-3991565405306509602021-12-24T18:57:00.002-06:002023-09-15T21:18:28.385-06:00Territorialising Space in Latin America<p>A book on territory and territoriality in Latin America, based on a pair of sessions at the 2018 Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers that I organized together with Mike McCall, has just been published by Springer. Here are the highlights:</p>
<ul>
<li>Investigates, from a grounded and contemporary perspective, how the notion of territory is being used in Latin America</li>
<li>Covers significant theoretical and methodological approaches regarding territory and territoriality</li>
<li>Highlights current trends of geographical research on Latin America from a wide diversity of researchers</li>
</ul>
<span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Michael K. McCall, Andrew Boni Noguez, Brian Napoletano, and Tyanif Rico-Rodríguez (eds.). 2021. <i>Territorialising Space in Latin America: Processes and Perceptions</i>. Cham: Springer, 262.<br /> ISBN: <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-82222-4" target="_blank">978-3-030-82221-7</a></p><p><b>Introduction</b></p><p>The vision of this book is to bring together examples of grounded geographic research carried out in Latin America regarding territorial processes. These encompass a range of histories, processes, strategies and mechanisms, with case studies from ten countries and many regions: struggles to reclaim indigenous lands, conflicts over land/resource/environmental services, competing land claims, urban territorial identities, state power strategies, commercial involvements and others. The case studies included in the book represent a wide diversity of theoretical and methodological framings currently deployed in Latin America to help interpret the patterns and processes through the conceptual lenses of territory, territoriality and territorialization. Interrogating the meanings of territory introduces multiple spatial, socio-cultural and political concepts including space, place and landscape, power, control and governance, and identity and gender.<br /></p>
Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-36764777901380797132021-11-16T15:28:00.004-06:002023-09-15T21:18:40.361-06:00Antinomies of space and nature or an open totality? Neil Smith and Henri Lefebvre on nature and society<p>Prior to recent, systematic engagement with the whole of his corpus, geographical appropriation of the thought of Henri Lefebvre has tended to be been fragmentary and eclectic. This is aptly illustrated in Neil Smith's paradoxical claim that his production of nature thesis was inspired by Lefebvre's work on the production of space even as Smith rejected or misunderstood most of what Lefebvre actually said while reworking the production of space into an epiphenomenon of the production of nature. This paper is one of several that ramified out of our call to re-evaluate Lefebvre's conception of the nature-society dialectic in geography, and compare it and contrast it to other understandings and theorizations of the problematic. In this paper, we focus primarily on interrogating Smith's influential portrayal of Lefebvre's thought on the dialectics of nature and society, reconsider Lefebvre's discussion of the domination of nature---a category on which much of Smith's thesis pivots---, and how Lefebvre's grasp of what is now referred to as Marx's theory of metabolic rift offers an alternative route to a spatial-ecological critique of capital than various attempts to "ecologize" David Harvey's theory of spatial fix.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Napoletano, B.M., J.B. Foster, and B. Clark. 2021. Antinomies of space and nature or an open totality? Neil Smith and Henri Lefebvre on nature and society. <i>Human Geography</i> OnlineFirst.<br />DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/19427786211051384" target="_blank">10.1177/19427786211051384</a></p><p><b>Abstract</b></p><p>The work of Henri Lefebvre has played a pivotal role in human geography in recent decades. At the same time, it has frequently been subject to partial and fragmented appropriations that isolate his insights on the production of space from his broader corpus, leading to confusion and misunderstanding regarding his handling of the dialectical relationships between space, time, society, and nature. In particular, Neil Smith's claim that Lefebvre's conceptualization of nature was both deficient and inconsistent with his dynamic conceptualization of space has tended to dominate geographical engagements with Lefebvre in this area. Following Smith, researchers generally reconstruct the production of space as an epiphenomenon of the production of nature. We critically assess and respond to Smith's criticisms of Lefebvre. Specifically, we contrast Lefebvre's material–dialectical approach to Smith's production-of-nature thesis. While Smith's thesis is helpful in understanding how capital attempts to subsume all of nature under commodity production, Lefebvre's dialectical conceptualization of nature–society as an oppositional unity points both to the impossibility of capital subsuming all of nature and the dangers that its attempts to do so pose to human civilization (even survival). Lefebvre's observations, regarding the growing rupture between natural processes and spatial dynamics, which he incorporates into his own elaboration of Karl Marx's theory of metabolic rift, make his work indispensable to the development of an ecospatial critique within geography and the social sciences more generally.<br /></p>Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-20042868789484368462020-12-10T09:25:00.003-06:002023-09-15T21:18:56.745-06:00Sustainability and Metabolic Revolution in the Works of Henri Lefebvre<p>A paper that we wrote, based on a study of the translated portion of Henri Lefebvre's corpus, on the potential insights that his conception of the oppositional unity of nature-society offers into questions of sustainability, was just published in <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2673-4060/1/3/21" target="_blank"><i>World</i></a>. The paper looks primarily at Lefebvre's relation to contemporary issues of sustainability in terms of three central themes: the urban revolution, <i>autogestion</i>, and the critique of everyday life and the notion of total revolution. The hope is to stimulate further thought and discussion, as well as consideration of how other aspects of Lefebvre's work could be brought to bear on a radical project of sustainability in the context of a comprehensive social transformation.</p><span><a name='more'></a></span><p>Napoletano, B.M., B. Clark, J.B. Foster, and P.S. Urquijo. 2020. Sustainability and metabolic revolution in the works of Henri Lefebvre. <i>World</i> 1(3): 300-316.<br />DOI: <a href="http://10.3390/world1030021">10.3390/world1030021</a></p><p><b>Abstract</b></p><p>Humanity's present social-ecological metabolic configuration is not sustainable, and the need for a radical transformation of society to address its metabolic rifts with the rest of nature is increasingly apparent. The work of French Marxist Henri Lefebvre, one of the few thinkers to recognize the significance of Karl Marx's theory of metabolic rift prior to its rediscovery at the end of the twentieth century, offers valuable insight into contemporary issues of sustainability. His concepts of the urban revolution, autogestion, the critique of everyday life, and total (or metabolic) revolution all relate directly to the key concerns of sustainability. Lefebvre's work embodies a vision of radical social-ecological transformation aimed at sustainable human development, in which the human metabolic interchange with the rest of nature is to be placed under substantively rational and cooperative control by all its members, enriching everyday life. Other critical aspects of Lefebvre's work, such as his famous concept of the production of space, his temporal rhythmanalysis, and his notion of the right to the city, all point to the existence of an open-ended research program directed at the core issues of sustainability in the twenty-first century.<br /></p>Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-9629335517032896892020-11-05T22:00:00.063-06:002023-09-15T21:19:15.738-06:00Five Centuries of Pillage and Resistance: Latin America and Africa<p>In advance of the 50th anniversary of the publication of two defining books of the 20th century, <i>Review of African Political Economy</i> is publishing an account of both Eduardo Galeano's <i>Open Veins of Latin America</i> and Walter Rodney's <i>How Europe Underdeveloped Africa</i>. Today, the first of these two, which I wrote together with Héctor Ignacio Martínez Alvarez and Pedro S. Urquijo, was published on the <a href="https://roape.net/2020/11/05/five-centuries-of-pillage-and-resistance-latin-america-and-africa/" target="_blank"><i>ROAPE</i> blog</a>.</p><p><span></span></p><a name='more'></a><p></p><p>Our account briefly discusses Galeano's audacious account of Latin America's colonial origins and its subordinate position in the global capital system, considers the context in which Galeano developed and articulated his thesis, and argues for the work's continued relevance to understanding and contesting Latin America's contemporary situation.</p><p>Next week, Leo Zeilig will publish a complementary account of Walter Rodney's equally audacious and influential <i>How Europe Underdeveloped Africa</i>. Latin America and Africa share a legacy of colonial and imperial domination, and their struggles for a different future are intrinsically joined.<br /></p>Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-57866589999783256362020-06-10T10:30:00.001-05:002023-09-15T21:19:28.632-06:00Spatial analysis and GIS in the study of COVID-19. A reviewIván Franch-Pardo spearheaded a comprehensive review of articles dealing with the spatial analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic published between January and May of 2020, and the results of the literature review, which I co-authored, have been published in <i>Science of the Total Environment</i>. The paper groups the 63 articles reviewed into categories of spatiotemporal analysis, health and social geography, environmental variables, data mining, and web-based mapping, and discusses the contributions of each. The article is published as Open-Access, and is freely available at the following link: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140033" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140033</a>.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a> IvanFranch-Pardo, Brian M.Napoletano, Fernando Rosete-Verges and Lawal Billa. 2020. Spatial analysis and GIS in the study of COVID-19. A review. <i>Science of the Total Environment</i> 739: 140033.<br />
DOI: <a aria-label="Persistent link using digital object identifier" class="doi" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140033" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" title="Persistent link using digital object identifier">10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140033</a> <br />
<br />
<b>Abstract</b><br />
This study entailed a review of 63 scientific articles on geospatial and spatial-statistical analysis of the geographical dimension of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The diversity of themes identified in this paper can be grouped into the following categories of disease mapping: spatiotemporal analysis, health and social geography, environmental variables, data mining, and web-based mapping. Understanding the spatiotemporal dynamics of COVID-19 is essential for its mitigation, as it helps to clarify the extent and impact of the pandemic and can aid decision making, planning and community action. Health geography highlights the interaction of public health officials, affected actors and first responders to improve estimations of disease propagation and likelihoods of new outbreaks. Attempts at interdisciplinary correlation examine health policy interventions for the siting of health/sanitary services and controls, mapping/tracking of human movement, formulation of appropriate scientific and political responses and projection of spatial diffusion and temporal trends. This review concludes that, to fight COVID-19, it is important to face the challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective, with proactive planning, international solidarity and a global perspective. This review provides useful information and insight that can support future bibliographic queries, and also serves as a resource for understanding the evolution of tools used in the management of this major global pandemic of the 21 Century. It is hoped that its findings will inspire new reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic by readers. Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-44678471221875399132020-01-20T00:00:00.001-06:002023-09-15T21:19:38.688-06:00The cultural production of MexicoI recently reviewed Jennifer Jolly's (2018) <a href="https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/jolly-creating-patzcuaro-creating-mexico" target="_blank"><i>Creating Pátzcuaro, Creating Mexico: Art, Tourism, and Nation Building under Lázaro Cárdenas</i></a> for <i>Monthly Review</i>. Overall, I found the book very interesting, and learned much about the study and interpretation of art, as well as how Pátzcuaro was turned into a historical monument to a particular notion of Mexican culture, and the important role of internal tourism in reproducing this national identity. Some of the minor details were a inconsistent with my own study of Mexican history, and the neglect of politico-economic factors sometimes resulted in incomplete explanations, but overall it is a compelling and worthwhile book.<br />
<br />
The full review is available at <i>Monthly Review</i>: <a href="https://monthlyreview.org/2020/01/01/interrogating-the-cultural-production-of-mexico/">https://monthlyreview.org/2020/01/01/interrogating-the-cultural-production-of-mexico/</a>Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-14159868056866049472019-12-26T01:05:00.001-06:002023-09-15T21:19:46.487-06:00An ecological-Marxist response to the Half-Earth ProjectA paper I wrote together with Brett Clark critiquing a widely circulated "ecocentric" argument claiming that concerns for the fate of nature should override any concerns with social justice in conservation was just published Ahead-of-print in <i>Conservation and Society</i>. Building on the theory of metabolic rift, the paper offers an explicitly Marxist perspective on the proposal to set aside at least half the Earth's surface for biodiversity conservation. Here are the details:<br />
DOI: <a href="http://www.conservationandsociety.org/preprintarticle.asp?id=274004;type=0" target="_blank">10.4103/cs.cs_19_99</a><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Brian M. Napoletano and Brett Clark<br />
<br />
Abstract<br />
The deepening biodiversity crisis in the Anthropocene has led to polarised debates within the conservation movement regarding its objectives and guiding principles. Within this intellectual milieu, the Half-Earth project’s call to enclose at least half the planet within protected areas has been defended as an ecocentric approach that overrides the concerns of anthropocentric ‘critical social scientists’. One group of advocates has even attacked such scientists as ‘neo-Marxists’ dedicated to the ‘mastery’ of nature. To steer the debate in a more constructive direction, we offer an ecosocialist response to the ecocentric advocacy of the Half-Earth project, specifically from the perspective of Marx’s theory of metabolic rift. While we are sympathetic to the project’s motivation and admire its audacity, we note important deficiencies in the ways the moral imperative has been asserted against social justice, and in the problematic comprehension of the underlying drivers of biodiversity loss, which threaten to undermine its objectives. Nonetheless, opposition to capitalist instrumentalism serves as an important point of possible convergence between conservation and anti-capitalist struggle. Further engagement with the ecological-Marxist critique of capitalism could strengthen efforts to address the biodiversity crisis while resolving important shortcomings in the Half-Earth project.Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-23732599501059276202019-11-12T00:25:00.000-06:002019-12-12T00:27:01.603-06:00Henri Lefebvre’s Marxian ecological critique: recovering a foundational contribution to environmental sociology<p>The online version of the first in a series of articles we are writing describing Henri Lefebvre's use of Marx's theory of metabolic rift and its potential in developing a geographical perspective on the same was just published in <i>Environmental Sociology</i>. As the title suggests, the focus of this article is on Lefebvre's potential contribution to environmental sociology. Here are the details:<br />
DOI: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/23251042.2019.1670892" target="_blank">10.1080/23251042.2019.1670892</a></p>
<a name='more'></a>
<p>John Bellamy Foster, Brian M. Napoletano, Brett Clark & Pedro S. Urquijo</p>
<p>Abstract<br />
French Marxist sociologist, Henri Lefebvre, was one of the foremost social theorists of the twentieth century, celebrated for his critiques of everyday life, urban revolution, and the production of space. We argue here that his mature work also encompassed a theory of ecological crisis, drawing directly on Marx’s theory of metabolic rift. In this conception, the dialectics of nature and society were subject to alienated capitalist accumulation, giving rise to metabolic rifts, epochal crises, and new historical moments of revolutionary praxis aimed at the metamorphosis of everyday life. Lefebvre thus ranks as one of the foundational contributors to environmental sociology, whose rich theoretical analysis offers the possibility of a wider social and ecological synthesis.</p>
Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-35598979376791455082019-05-30T10:48:00.003-05:002023-09-15T21:19:54.365-06:00Making Space in Critical Environmental Geography for the Metabolic RiftThe Version of Record of our article in the <i>Annals of the American Association of Geographers</i> making the case for stronger engagement with Marx's theory of metabolic rift in geography was published online today. In the article, we critically assess two other Marxist framings in geography from which criticisms of the theory of metabolic rift have been made, then clarify several important conceptual aspects of the theory that have been misunderstood as a result of these criticisms. We then finish with a discussion of how the theory of metabolic rift relates to key themes in critical environmental geography, and how stronger engagement here could benefit the field. The article is available at Taylor & Francis Online: <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24694452.2019.1598841">https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24694452.2019.1598841</a><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>
<br />
<a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24694452.2019.1598841" target="_blank">Making Space in Critical Environmental Geography for the Metabolic Rift</a><br />
<br />
Brian M. Napoletano, John Bellamy Foster, Brett Clark, Pedro S. Urquijo, Michael K. McCall, and Jaime Paneque-Gálvez <br />
<br />
<i>Annals of the American Association of Geographers</i>, Version of Record<br />
<br />
<b>Abstract</b><br />
Marx’s concept of metabolic rift has emerged as a prominent theoretical
framework with which to explain the socioecological crises of
capitalism. Yet, despite its relevance to key concerns in critical
environmental geography, it has remained marginal within the field. Here
we address this by distinguishing between metabolic rift theory and two
predominant Marxist approaches in environmental geography: the
production-of-nature thesis and posthumanist world ecology. We follow
this comparative assessment with a detailed analysis of metabolic rift
theory and a brief overview of how the concept relates to key concerns
in critical environmental geography. We conclude by discussing how a
stronger engagement with the metabolic rift approach could benefit the
field.Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-7104177249800386602019-01-25T08:00:00.001-06:002023-09-15T21:20:03.049-06:00Geographic rift in the urban peripheryThe preprint of our article in the <i>Journal of Latin American Geography</i> describing work on the use of the concept of geographic rift---i.e., a metabolic rift referring to the spatio-geographical antagonisms associated with the disjuncture between material and value flows through the landscape---to examine the drivers and processes of land change in Morelia's urban periphery was just released. It can be accessed through Project Muse: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/lag.0.0106" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1353/lag.0.0106</a><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/lag.0.0106" target="_blank">Geographic rift in the urban periphery, and its concrete manifestations in Morelia, Mexico</a><br />
<br />
Brian M. Napoletano, Jaime Paneque-Gálvez, Yadira Méndez-Lemus, Antonio Vieyra <br />
<br />
<i>Journal of Latin American Geography</i> 2019 18:38-64<b><br /></b><br />
<br />
<b>Abstract</b><br />
Capitalist urbanization is recognized as an important aspect of
environmental change and conflict in Latin America. Karl Marx’s theory
of metabolic rift can offer powerful insights into the alienated
mediation of society and nature underlying the socio-ecological
contradictions and conflicts associated with urbanization, but has been
under-utilized in urban political ecology. Building on the concept of
geographic rift, we demonstrate how urbanization as both a social
metabolic process in itself and an important factor in other social
metabolic processes, implicates capital’s fundamental contradictions in
alienation from the land and its use-values and the subordination of
human needs to capital accumulation. After developing the basic
theoretical contours of these concepts, we provide an illustrative
example of their concrete manifestations in urbanization of the
periphery of Morelia, Mexico. We conclude with a discussion of how
metabolic rift theory strengthens the radical critique of sustainability
in urban political ecology and encourages struggles to defend the
material conditions of human development within the capital system,
while pointing to the need for structural change to bring about the
conditions necessary for a conscious, sustainable social metabolism.<br />
<br />
<b>Resumen</b><br />
La urbanización capitalista es reconocida como un aspecto importante del
cambio ambiental y conflicto en América Latina. La teoría de la ruptura
metabólica de Marx puede ofrecer una visión poderosa de la mediación
alienada de la sociedad y la naturaleza que subyace a las
contradicciones y conflictos socio-ecológicos asociados con la
urbanización, pero ha sido subutilizada en la ecología política urbana.
Partiendo del concepto de la ruptura geográfica, demostramos cómo la
urbanización como un proceso metabólico en sí misma y como factor
importante en otros procesos metabólicos sociales implica las
contradicciones fundamentales del capital en la alienación de la tierra y
sus valores de uso y la subordinación de las necesidades humanas a la
acumulación de capital. Después de desarrollar los contornos teóricos
básicos de estos conceptos, proporcionamos un ejemplo ilustrativo de sus
manifestaciones concretas en la urbanización de la periferia de
Morelia, México. Concluimos con una discusión sobre cómo la teoría de la
ruptura metabólica fortalece la crítica radical de la sostenibilidad en
la ecología política urbana y alienta las luchas para defender las
condiciones materiales del desarrollo humano dentro del sistema
capitalista, al mismo tiempo que señala la necesidad de un cambio
estructural para crear las condiciones necesarias para un metabolismo
social consciente y sostenible. Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-23295807593831329192018-11-12T11:23:00.000-06:002018-11-12T11:23:07.272-06:00Solidarity rises up to greet the caravan in Mexico<a href="http://socialistworker.org/author/afsaneh-moradian">Afsaneh Moradian</a>, <a href="http://socialistworker.org/node/40309">Bea Abbott</a>, <a href="http://socialistworker.org/author/hector-a-rivera">Héctor A. Rivera</a> and <a href="http://socialistworker.org/author/brian-napoletano">Brian Napoletano</a> report from Mexico and the U.S. on the progress of the migrant caravan through Mexico — and on the inspiring displays of solidarity at every stop that set an example for activists in the U.S. — for <a href="https://socialistworker.org/2018/11/12/solidarity-rises-up-to-greet-the-caravan-in-mexico">Socialist Worker</a>.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5FonJpkRwB0/W-m1l0YwR9I/AAAAAAAAX4U/ZVhp_Vv6Pucqi4YgyK8uW1BSrpDHsauvgCLcBGAs/s1600/Caravana2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5FonJpkRwB0/W-m1l0YwR9I/AAAAAAAAX4U/ZVhp_Vv6Pucqi4YgyK8uW1BSrpDHsauvgCLcBGAs/s320/Caravana2.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Members of the caravan in Mapastepec, Chiapas on October 25. Photo by José Manuel Mojica Vélez.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>The solidarity that the caravan has received in Mexico is an important source of hope. If popular support
and mobilization was able to compel Mexico’s
authoritarian government to avoid overt use of force against the
migrants — at least so far — then supporters of the migrants in the U.S.
can take confidence that that their initiatives can have an effect as
well.<br />
<br />
Read the <a href="https://socialistworker.org/2018/11/12/solidarity-rises-up-to-greet-the-caravan-in-mexico" target="_blank">full article online at <i>Socialist Worker</i></a>.<br />
Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-80871791350502215622018-11-06T18:45:00.000-06:002018-11-07T18:47:35.529-06:00The founding of Science for the People-MexicoI recently had the honor of helping to translate the declaration announcing the founding of Science for the People-Mexico, which was <a href="https://socialistworker.org/2018/11/06/an-international-struggle-for-science-and-justice" target="_blank">just published today</a> in <i>Socialist Worker</i>. Two key issues that the Mexico branch of SftP formed around are concerns regarding the way science has been bent to the service of ongoing capital accumulation and the attacks and inaction on climate science.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>The scientists coming together to form the promotional core of Cienca para el Pueblo-México have been involved in many of the nation's recent political upheavals, and share a vision of a science of the working and oppressed classes in the interest of overcoming this oppression and the system that institutionalizes it. This can be seen as part of the larger project of building a strong, independent pole to the left of President-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador's Morena party, and "capable of challenging the national oligarchy and its international
backers, and of initiating a process of radical transformation of the
country and the world."<br />
<br />
The full statement is available at Socialist Worker under the headline "<a href="https://socialistworker.org/2018/11/06/an-international-struggle-for-science-and-justice" target="_blank">An international struggle for science and justice</a>." <a href="https://www.prtmexico.org/single-post/2018/10/04/Ciencia-para-el-Pueblo-vigencia-y-necesidad-de-un-referente-anticapitalista-de-la-comunidad-cient%C3%ADfica" target="_blank">The original statement, in Spanish,</a> was published on 4 October on the website of the Revolutionary Workers' Party of Mexico. Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-72840835327614616912018-10-03T14:02:00.000-05:002018-10-03T14:02:03.545-05:00Half-Earth: A biodiversity ‘solution’ that solves nothingVariants of the half-Earth biodiversity conservation initiative, recently popularized by E.O. Wilson, have increasingly been gaining acceptance among conservationists. While the boldness of their proposal is commendable, placing half the Earth in protected areas only addresses the immediate causes of the biodiversity crisis, and even this conflicts with the land-use mandates of capital. <a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2018/10/02/half-earth-a-biodiversity-solution-that-solves-nothing/" target="_blank">As I argue in a recent article in Climate & Capitalism</a>, ecological Marxism does not reject protected areas, but more fundamentally points out the need for a co-revolutionary struggle against alienation.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Unfortunately, this revolutionary perspective is frequently excluded from the "eco-centric vs. anthropocentric" framing of conservationist ideology, or distorted beyond recognition, as in a recent series of articles by a group of preservationists defending the Nature Needs Half program. <a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2018/10/02/half-earth-a-biodiversity-solution-that-solves-nothing/" target="_blank">My article in Climate & Capitalism</a> offers some simple rebuttals to the more egregious charges against ecological Marxism. I am hoping to expand on these arguments in a full-length piece I plan to submit to the same conservation journal that published several of these allegations.<br />Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-36970616950493901372018-09-26T16:23:00.000-05:002018-09-29T16:24:01.918-05:00Mexico’s students today and the spirit of ’68Together with Héctor Agredano Rivera, I translated an analysis by Edgard Sánchez Ramírez of the Partido Revolucionario de Trabajadores on the student mobilizations that emerged in response to a recent incident on the UNAM campus in Mexico City <a href="http://socialistworker.org/2018/09/26/mexicos-students-today-and-the-spirit-of-68" target="_blank">that was just published by Socialist Worker</a>.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Earlier this month, 50 years after the state massacre of students
involved in a pro-democracy movement in 1968, students at Mexico’s
National Autonomous University (UNAM) in Mexico City went on strike to
protest a September 3 campus attack against protesters, in which two
students were seriously injured.<br />
The horrific attack was carried out in broad daylight by a violent
group of hooligans, known as “porros.” In response, a massive, strong
student movement has emerged, coinciding with the anniversary of the
emergence of the student movement of 1968.<br />
Historically, porros emerged as hooligans linked to American football
teams in Mexico’s universities and high schools. However, they are
associated with state violence. During 1968, porros were controlled by
the military. Later, they became agents of the state, serving the ruling
Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). In recent years, porros have
operated as thugs for hire, and some of their leaders have posts in
government and university administrations.<br />
The recent attacks took place in the main campus of UNAM, in front of
the administrative building and with collusion of security and
university authorities. These provocateurs sought to disperse a small
protest by high school students. (UNAM’s campuses have some 350,000
students, with 115,000 at the equivalent of high school level.)<br />
The reaction from students has been decisive. The violent attack has
unleashed a new student movement demanding action to uproot these
right-wing gangs from the universities, as well as the resignation of
university authorities complicit in the attacks.<br />
(This is Héctor's introduction. <a href="http://Earlier this month, 50 years after the state massacre of students involved in a pro-democracy movement in 1968, students at Mexico’s National Autonomous University (UNAM) in Mexico City went on strike to protest a September 3 campus attack against protesters, in which two students were seriously injured. The horrific attack was carried out in broad daylight by a violent group of hooligans, known as “porros.” In response, a massive, strong student movement has emerged, coinciding with the anniversary of the emergence of the student movement of 1968. Historically, porros emerged as hooligans linked to American football teams in Mexico’s universities and high schools. However, they are associated with state violence. During 1968, porros were controlled by the military. Later, they became agents of the state, serving the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). In recent years, porros have operated as thugs for hire, and some of their leaders have posts in government and university administrations. The recent attacks took place in the main campus of UNAM, in front of the administrative building and with collusion of security and university authorities. These provocateurs sought to disperse a small protest by high school students. (UNAM’s campuses have some 350,000 students, with 115,000 at the equivalent of high school level.) The reaction from students has been decisive. The violent attack has unleashed a new student movement demanding action to uproot these right-wing gangs from the universities, as well as the resignation of university authorities complicit in the attacks." target="_blank">The text of the statement is available online</a>.) Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-75936765431380038352018-06-22T15:51:00.000-05:002018-09-29T16:17:14.847-05:00The crisis of the Mexican regime and the 2018 electionsA statement of the Partido Revolucionario de Trabajadores (Revolutionary Workers' Party) on the Mexican elections of 1 July 2018 that I translated into English together with Héctor Agredano River and Fernando Estañol Tecuatl <a href="https://mronline.org/2018/06/22/the-crisis-of-the-regime-and-the-2018-elections/" target="_blank">was just published by MRonline</a>. The article outlines a revolutionary perspective on these historic elections and what they mean for the Mexican Left.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>The July 1 election represents a moment of political restructuring in
the midst of a profound crisis in Mexico’s current regime. In this
context, the question of whether or not to vote is secondary to the need
to organize the anti-capitalist left, either to seize the opening that a
victory by Andrés Manuel López Obrador could provide to build a united
workers’ movement to the left of his party, or to defend against the
very real possibility of another fraudulent “victory” by representatives
of the PRI-PAN alliance. The statement is available <a href="https://mronline.org/2018/06/22/the-crisis-of-the-regime-and-the-2018-elections/" target="_blank">online</a>.<br />Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-3522583890125760642018-04-30T15:26:00.000-05:002018-09-29T15:44:35.404-05:00Ecological Marxism vs. environmental neo-MalthusianismA short piece I wrote for <a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2018/04/30/ecological-marxism-vs-environmental-neo-malthusianism/" target="_blank">Climate & Capitalism on this age-old debate between Marxism and populationism</a>
was just published. It offers a brief overview of the Marxist critique
of Malthus's original argument and their contemporary Green
permutations. The main thesis is that this ideology misrepresents social
and ecological problems, and thereby promotes solutions that exacerbate
the underlying contradictions of which these problems are symptoms<br />
<a name='more'></a>Despite being consistently discredited, overpopulation ideology
resurfaces with the same predictable regularity as capitalist crises.
Such ideology continues to prevail in the environmental movement, legitimizing a shallow focus on individual symptoms of our ecological crisis rather than the profound contradiction that underlie them. Only Marxism offers a clear and viable resolution to these contradictions, and thereby a path beyond piecemeal technocratic measures that doesn't end in green authoritarianism. The full article is available <a href="https://climateandcapitalism.com/2018/04/30/ecological-marxism-vs-environmental-neo-malthusianism/" target="_blank">on the Climate & Capitalism website</a>.<br /><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-65607175584488129392018-04-13T16:00:00.003-05:002023-09-15T21:20:09.148-06:00Has (even Marxist) political ecology really transcended the metabolic rift?A brief article advocating for stronger engagement with the concept of metabolic rift in political ecology that I authored together with several colleagues was just published in <i>Geoforum</i>. In this article, we address several of the criticisms of metabolic-rift scholarship that have been made in political ecology by explicating some basic aspects of the concept's underlying materialist dialectic and contrasting this with some of the predominant post-modernist theorization in political ecology. The article details are provided below.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.04.008" target="_blank">Has (even Marxist) political ecology really transcended the metabolic rift?</a><br />
<br />
Brian M. Napoletano, Pedro S. Urquijo, Jaime Paneque-Gálvez, Brett Clark, Richard York, Iván Franch-Pardo, Yadira Méndez-Lemus, Antonio Vieyra<br />
<br />
<i>Geoforum</i> 2018 92:92-95<br />
DOI: <a class="S_C_ddDoi" href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.04.008" id="ddDoi" target="_blank">10.1016/j.geoforum.2018.04.008</a> <br />
<br />
<b>Abstract</b><br />
Marx’s concept of metabolic rift has emerged as an important category in
ecological Marxism, but has received relatively little attention in
political ecology. This appears to reflect a combination of confusion
regarding the conceptual basis of metabolic rift and theoretical
antagonisms between its materialist dialectic and dominant post-humanist
approaches in hybridist political ecology. In this essay, we argue that
stronger engagement with metabolic-rift scholarship in political
ecology could strengthen work in both areas. We briefly outline the
possibilities for such engagement by first clarifying some of the
conceptual confusion regarding the metabolic rift and its
material-dialectical approach to human alienation and the
socio-ecological contradictions and crises of capital accumulation and
human development within capitalism. We then briefly discuss some of the
key points of contention between this approach and dominant hybridist
paradigms in political ecology. We conclude that, despite these
conflicts, the concept of metabolic rift could provide essential
critical contributions to political ecology's explanatory and
emancipatory efforts.Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-77693528133078814282017-12-07T10:55:00.000-06:002017-12-07T10:55:50.438-06:00Grassroots Innovation Using Drones for Indigenous Mapping and MonitoringA paper I co-authored under Jaime Paneque-Gálvez regarding the use of drones in indigenous territorial defense was just published in <i>Land</i>. The article describes several projects undertaken in Latin America to help indigenous communities adopt drone technology in their efforts to protect their territories, and discusses several issues that arise in this context.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>Grassroots Innovation Using Drones for Indigenous Mapping and Monitoring<br />
<br />
Jaime Paneque-Gálvez, Nicolás Vargas-Ramírez, Brian M. Napoletano and Anthony Cummings<br />
<br />
<i>Land</i> 2017 6(4): 86<br />
DOI: <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/6/4/86" target="_blank">10.3390/land6040086</a><br />
<br />
<b>Abstract</b><br />
Indigenous territories are facing increasing pressures from numerous
legal and illegal activities that are pushing commodity frontiers within
their limits, frequently causing severe environmental degradation and
threatening indigenous territorial rights and livelihoods. In Central
and South America, after nearly three decades of participatory mapping
projects, interest is mounting among indigenous peoples in the use of
new technologies for community mapping and monitoring as a means of
defense against such threats. Since 2014, several innovative projects
have been developed and implemented in the region to demonstrate and
train indigenous communities in the use of small drones for territorial
mapping and monitoring. In this paper, we report on five projects
carried out in Peru, Guyana, and Panama. For each one we describe the
context, main objectives, positive outcomes, challenges faced, and
opportunities ahead. Preliminary results are promising and have gained
the interest of many indigenous societies who envision this technology
as a powerful tool to protect their territories and strengthen their
claims regarding specific environmental liabilities and justice issues.
Based on the results presented here and a review of previous similar
studies, we offer a critical discussion of some of the main
opportunities and challenges that we foresee regarding the use of small
drones for indigenous territorial mapping and monitoring. In addition,
we elaborate on why a careful, well thought-out, and progressive
adoption of drones by indigenous peoples may trigger grassroots
innovations in ways conducive to greater environmental justice and
sustainability.<br />
<br />Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-62400831420014381752017-11-17T18:29:00.000-06:002017-12-07T10:56:28.270-06:00The Role of Geographical Landscape Studies for Sustainable Territorial PlanningA <a href="http://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/11/2123" target="_blank">paper I co-authored with several colleagues under Iván Franch-Pardo </a>discussing the role of different methods of geographic landscape delineation in territorial planning was just published in the open-access journal <i>Sustainability</i>. The paper examines the approach to landscape mapping and evaluation in five different methodologies situated along a gradient from predominantly physical to predominantly social (but still rooted in an epistemological approach that emphasizes material factors), and assesses how they contribute to territorial planning for "sustainability."<br />
<a name='more'></a>The Role of Geographical Landscape Studies for Sustainable Territorial Planning<br />
<div class="title" itemprop="name">
<br />
Iván Franch-Pardo, Brian M. Napoletano, Gerardo Bocco, Sara Barrasa and Luis Cancer-Pomar</div>
<div class="title" itemprop="name">
<br /></div>
<div class="title" itemprop="name">
<i>Sustainability</i> 2017 9(11): 2123</div>
<div class="title" itemprop="name">
DOI: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su9112123" target="_blank">10.3390/su9112123</a></div>
<div class="title" itemprop="name">
<br /></div>
<div class="title" itemprop="name">
<b>Abstract</b></div>
<div class="title" itemprop="name">
One of the primary objectives of physical geography is to determine how
natural phenomena produce specific territorial patterns. Therefore,
physical geography offers substantial scientific input into territorial
planning for sustainability. A key area where physical geography can
contribute to land management is in the delimitation of landscape units.
Such units are fundamental to formal socio-economic zoning and
management in territorial planning. However, numerous
methodologies—based on widely varying criteria—exist to delineate and
map landscapes. We have selected five consolidated methodologies with
current applications for mapping the landscape to analyse the different
role of physical geography in each: (1) geomorphological landscape maps
based on landforms; (2) geosystemic landscape maps; (3) Landscape
Character Assessment; (4) landscape studies based on visual landscape
units; (5) landscape image-pair test. We maintain that none of these
methodologies are universally applicable, but that each contributes
important insights into landscape analysis for land management within
particular biogeophysical and social contexts. This work is intended to
demonstrate that physical geography is ubiquitous in contemporary
landscape studies intended to facilitate sustainable territorial
planning, but that the role it plays varies substantially with the
criteria prioritized.</div>
Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-83419769943418541222017-10-11T12:36:00.003-05:002023-09-15T21:20:15.420-06:00The prospects of terrace agriculture as an adaptation to climate change in Latin AmericaA paper I co-authored with Dr. Bocco regarding the potential role of terrace agriculture in helping peasant farmers cope with the effects of climate change was just published in <i>Geography Compass</i>. <br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gec3.12330/full/" target="_blank">The prospects of terrace agriculture as an adaptation to climate change in Latin America</a><br />
<br />
Gerardo Bocco and Brian M. Napoletano<br />
<br />
<i>Geography Compass</i> 11(10): e12330<br />
DOI: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12330" target="_blank"><span class="article-header__meta-info-data">10.1111/gec3.12330</span></a> <br />
<br />
<b>Abstract</b><br />
This paper analyzes slope management through terrace agriculture in <br />
Latin America's hilly to mountainous terrain to assess the practice's <br />
potential role in climate-change adaptation in the region. We review the<br />
historical geography of slope management in variable climates and <br />
highlight the role of social, rural innovation, and hybrid knowledge in <br />
the face of climate change's effects on agriculture. Although the <br />
literature on terrace agriculture in the region is extensive, further <br />
research is needed to better foresee the future of terrace agriculture, <br />
particularly in terms of its role in facing sustainability challenges <br />
posed by future climate change.Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-2539852176707310622017-05-08T11:35:00.002-05:002023-09-15T21:20:26.843-06:00Visibility analysis and landscape evaluation in Martin river cultural park (Aragon, Spain) integrating biophysical and visual units<br />
<br />
<br />
A paper a co-authored with Iván Franch-Pardo describing the use of biophysical and visual approaches to landscape mapping for land management in a park in Spain was published in the <i>Journal of Maps</i>.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><a aiotitle="Visibility analysis and landscape evaluation in Martin river cultural park (Aragon, Spain) integrating biophysical and visual units" href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17445647.2017.1319881#.WRCd3w2FtwA.blogger">Visibility analysis and landscape evaluation in Martin river cultural park (Aragon, Spain) integrating biophysical and visual units</a><br />
<br />
Iván Franch-Pardo, Luis Cancer-Pomar, and Brian M. Napoletano <br />
<br />
<i>Journal of Maps</i>: Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 415-424.<br />
DOI: <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17445647.2017.1319881" target="_blank">10.1080/17445647.2017.1319881</a><br />
<br />
<b>Abstract</b> <br />
<br />
The European Landscape Convention (ELC) has encouraged affiliated <br />
countries to develop several assessment methodologies to facilitate land<br />
management in an effort to develop compatible, integrative assessment <br />
techniques that can be applied in diverse geographic settings. Here we <br />
begin to address the question of how to develop comprehensive landscape <br />
assessments based on the criteria of the ELC by integrating landscape <br />
studies using biophysical and visual characteristics. We assessed <br />
visibility, quality, and fragility to determine aptitude for protection <br />
based on both biophysical and visual landscape units. We selected the <br />
Martin River Cultural Park (Aragon, Spain) as a study area because it is<br />
recognized as a site of cultural and geomorphological importance, it is<br />
situated in a signatory country to the ELC, but has not been subject to<br />
any landscape assessment. The resulting maps of aptitude for protection<br />
can be used to prioritize landscapes for protection based on their <br />
levels of quality and fragility.Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-45173267411569436582017-05-03T14:05:00.002-05:002023-09-15T21:20:33.363-06:00Informality and Geographic Rift in Latin America<i>Marginal Urbanisms: Informal and Formal Development in Cities of Latin America, </i>a book I wrote a chapter for on geographic rift a few years back, has just been published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. The chapter I wrote, with Jaime Panaque-Gálvez, Claudio Garibay Orozco, and Antonio Vieyra, is titled "Informality and Geographic Rift in Latin America."<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
In lieu of an abstract, here is the opening paragraph:<br />
Discussion of informality tends to follow two primary lines of discourse: modernization and neo-Malthusianism. In keeping with the traditional discourse of modernization, many development scholars have begun to describe informal settlements as part of the urbanization process rather than as manifestations of extreme poverty (Roy, 2005). Maloney (2004, p. 1159), for instance, claims that the informal sector is the “unregulated, developing country analogue of the voluntary entrepreneurial small firm sector found in advanced countries, rather than a residual comprised of<br />disadvantaged, [<i>sic</i>] workers rationed out of good jobs”. This is consistent with the broader assumption in modernization theory that the demographic transition to urban areas is part of the development <br />
<br />
The book is available via the link below:<br />
<a href="http://www.cambridgescholars.com/marginal-urbanisms">Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Marginal Urbanisms</a>Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9209361688227417867.post-46617314939309166592017-03-16T13:59:00.000-06:002017-03-16T13:59:49.493-06:00Fundamentos de ecología política: Acumulación por reprodución amplia y sus contradicciones
<style type="text/css">p { margin-bottom: 0.1in; line-height: 120%; }</style>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Notas para
discusión: Acumulación por reproducción amplia y sus
contradicciones</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Brian Michael
Napoletano</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
Fundamentos de
ecología política</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<b>Lecturas</b></div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
Rosa
Luxemburg. 1951. <i>The Accumulation of Capital</i>. Chapters 1 &
32.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<b>Discusión</b></div>
<i>Las contradicciones de la producción capitalista y el problema
de reproducción</i><br />
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
El sistema capitalista es el
único en que la producción puede parar a pesar de la
disponibilidad de los medios de producción y la mano de obra</div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
Una sobra de capital y mano de obra sin una forma para combinarlos
para generar ganancias</div>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
También, es el única en que se
puede tener una crisis de sobreproducción mientras no satisface
las necesidades de los personas</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
La ganancia es lo que determina
la producción, o, más especifico, la creación y realización de
plus-valor (véase abajo)</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
La producción es por
productores aislados sin un plan y coordinación</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
¿Cómo demonios es posible la
reproducción en estas condiciones?</div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
<i></i></div>
<a name='more'></a><i>L</i><i>a producción capitalista es
la producción de mercancías</i><br />
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
La producción capitalista es la
producción de mercancías, es decir, producción para cambio en el
mercado en lugar de producción para uso.</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Las mercancías tienen dos
formas de valor:</div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Valor de uso – la utilidad de
una mercancía para satisfacer una necesidad. Esta forma de valor
es subjetiva</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Valor de cambio – la cantidad
de una otra mercancía que se puede recibir en cambio por la
mercancía que se tiene. Esta forma de valor se determina por la
cantidad de fuerza de trabajo que es necesario para producir la
mercancía, que se mide en el el promedio de la sociedad del tiempo
de trabajo necesario para producir la mercancía. Esta forma de
valor tiene una expresión universal en el dinero, como la
mercancía universal de cambio</div>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
El capitalista no se importa el
valor de uso, aparte de que la mercancía necesita tener un valor de
uso a alguien para ser posible a venderla. Su preocupación es el
valor de cambio, y especialmente en la producción y realización de
plus-valor. Es por eso decimos que la producción capitalista no es
producción por uso, sino por cambio. Y se llama “capitalismo”
porque el objetivo de producción y cambio es acumular más capital,
entonces el capital es el baso de producción.</div>
</li>
</ul>
<i>L</i><i>a producción de plus-valor (surplus value)</i><br />
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
El trabajo es la fuente del
valor de cambio de la mercancía (labor theory of value), pero
también los obreros necesitan vender su fuerza de trabajo como una
mercancía. En la forma de una mercancía, la fuerza de trabajo es
única en que se puede generar nuevo valor</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Los trabajadores producen más
valor de lo que reciben en compensación. La determinación del
valor de cambio de la fuerza de trabajo es basado en el precio de
las necesidades de los obreros (también incluye factores
culturales, el nivel de organización en sindicatos de los
trabajadores, y el estado de la lucha entre los obreros y los
capitalistas)</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
La competencia entre
capitalistas impulsa la necesidad para crecer la taza de producción
para capturar una proporción más amplia del mercado, y es un
impulso para buscar formas para abajar el precio de su mercancía
para venderla más barato de sus competidores y crecer su ganancia
individual. Para crecer la escala de producción, es necesario para
el capitalista a crecer la extracción de plus-valor que se puede
apropiar de sus obreros. Se puede crecer el plus-valor en dos
maneras generales:</div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Plus-valor absoluto – El
crecimiento de la escala de producción (más productos → más
plus-valor), es decir, reproducción ampliada</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Plus-valor relativo –
Explotación más intensiva de la mano de obra</div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Prolongación de la jornada
del trabajo sin compensación (se presume es un salario fijo en
lugar de un salario horario). Esta opción tiene limites fijas</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Decrecimiento del tiempo
necesario para el obrero a producir el valor de su sueldo</div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Crecer la eficiencia de
trabajo con avances de tecnología y concentración y división
de trabajo</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Decrecer el valor de la
fuerza de trabajo (e.g., avances que ponen más baratas sus
necesidades)</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Explotación de nuevas
fuentes de obreros que se puede pagar menos en el sueldo
(mujeres, niños, inmigrantes sin documentos, etc.)</div>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<i>Condiciones de acumulación por reproducción ampliada</i><br />
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
La producción de los
trabajadores debe generar plus-valor (surplus value)</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
Debe ser posible convertir
(realizar) el plus-valor, i.e., convertirlo a su forma monetaria
(money form)</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal;">
La parte de plus-valor debe
asumir su forma productiva, y esa implica la disponibilidad de
medias de consumo para los trabajadores</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
Debe ser posible, otra vez, realizar el valor de cambio de las
mercancías nuevas generadas por la expansión basada en el
plus-valor</div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<i>Contradicciones
inherentes en la reproducción ampliada y la formación de crisis</i></div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
Siguiendo Harvey, las crisis origen en la tendencia por
sobreacumulación, y siguen cuando los capitalistas no pueden
encontrar una forma para invertir su plus-valor para generar
ganancias. Las crisis toman muchas formas (e.g., sobra de dinero,
sobra de mercancías en el mercado, sobra de capacidad de
producción, como fabricas paradas, sobra de capital invertido en
espacios urbanos y mercados de inmuebles, caídas en el mercado de
acciones o otras crisis finánciales, una crisis fiscal del estado),
pero se basan en las tres teorías generales de crisis por Marx:</div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
Presión en ganancias (“profit-squeeze”) – escasez de mano de
obra o el nivel de organización de trabajadores (esp. en
sindicatos) abaja la taza de ganancia a nivel de crisis para los
capitalistas</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
Falta de demanda eficaz – los capitalistas invertir la mayoría
de plus-valor en expansión de producción y los trabajadores
producen más valor que consumen, y está impulsa una crisis de
realización en que los capitalistas no se pueden realizar el
plus-valor; se quede con mercancías que no puede usar ni vender</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">La
ley de la caída </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">tendencial</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">
en la taza de ganancia – </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">la
mano de obra es la fuente de </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">plus-</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">valor,
pero es una parte menos de la </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">mercancía</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">
con el desarrollo de los medios de producción </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">y
el uso de avances en la tecnología, </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">y
está impulsa una tendencia para la taza de ganancia a caer (pero
hay otras tendencias que empujan en la otra dirección)</span></div>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
Otros escritores han enfocado en las crisis “externas” del
capital</div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
“Segunda contradicción del capital” (O'Connor) – la
explotación de los recursos naturales, y la sobra-explotación de
recursos y degradación ambiental en particular, se ponen más
dificil para encontrar los recursos y las condiciones necesarios
para producción, y este impulsa crisis de provisiones o
baja-producción cuando el capitalista no se puede encontrar las
materias primeras que necesita para producir sus mercancías</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
“La ruptura metabólica” (Foster) – el capitalismo,
especialmente con su necesidad por la expansión perpetual de
acumulación, no se puede ajustar y reconciliar su metabolismo
social con los procesos y necesidades de la biosfera</div>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<i>El papel del
militarismo en acumulación</i></div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
Conquistar los medios de producción y tierra</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Expandir
el mercado para las </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">mercancías</span></div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
Colectar las deudas</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
Una herramienta clave en la competencia entre naciones capitalistas</div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">El
estado y su ejercito como un consumador de las mercancías
</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">especiales (no medios de
subsistencia sino armas de guerra)</span></div>
<ul>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">L</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">os
trabajadores pagan la cuenta</span></div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">L</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">os
campesinos, en este discusión, producen valor desde afuera del
sistema capitalista </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">(no
son trabajadores proletarios)</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
entonces los impuestos que pagan forman un regalo gratis al estado
capitalista</span></div>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
Es más eficiente y implica industria más grande que el consumo
individual de los campesinos</div>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
<div style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0.1in;">
El capitalismo se necesita la articulación con otros modos de
producción para perpetuar, pero también tiene una tendencia para
agotar los otros modos de producción con que se articula</div>
</li>
</ul>
Brian M. Napoletanohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14299950163394245921noreply@blogger.com0