Ecological economics – reading list

[SERBIAN BELOW]

This blog, among other things, dealt with the mutual influence of ecology and economy. Here are different topics that have been covered:

1. “‘No Magic Bullets’: The Lawn-Smith Debate, or Why Degrowth Cannot be Understood without a Value-Theory of Imperialism” (in English, 2018) – This is a critique of one of the founders of ecological economics and former World Bank adviser, Herman Daly. The author takes Daly’s model and shows that it leads to the displacement of production, which cannot be explained because Daly rejects the possibility of surplus value. This paper is actually a contribution to the debate between several Marxists and Herman Daly, from which the author noticed that both sides neglect the problem of the displacement of production or globalization, and hence the displacement of pollution – which is exactly what happened in Serbia. This is, as far as the author knows, the first criticism of the “degrowth” movement based on Marx’s theory of value.
2. “Imperialism and Climate Change: On the Connection between the Amazon Fires and Trade between the European Union and the Mercosur Countries” (in Serbian, September 15, 2019) – Here the author tries to demonstrate the connections between the German auto industry, which was supposed to sign one of the largest trade agreements in the history of capitalism with Brazil, necessary due to the long-term decline in its profitability, and Bolsonaro’s passive political stance towards the fires in the Amazon, which would release a huge amount of land for the cultivation of soybeans and beef needed for export under the same agreement.
3. “Linglong in Zrenjanin: Pollution According to Feng Shui” (in English, December 2, 2020) – Here the author gathered almost all the publicly available data on Linglong’s factory in Zrenjanin – the largest Chinese investment in Serbia. Within the text, the author presents a mechanism similar to the one noticed in the German automobile industry – the impact of profitability on the conclusion of contracts and the damage to peripheral countries. This happened with the difference that the Chinese tire manufacturer, unlike the German one, apparently “evades” environmental regulations in China and mostly plans to relocate production outside of China. Such a mechanism actually confirms the argument presented in the critique of Herman Daly in the first text – that pollution displacement does happen, but “mainstream” ecological economists cannot adequately cover it (often they are centered on pollution regulation through the market, hence the blockage).
4. “Eco-Imperialism: Global Displacement of Pollution” (in Serbian, January 26, 2021) – In this text, the author summarizes the study on Linglong and adds some parts to highlight the topic of pollution displacement for a relatively wider readership for the needs of the “Amplitude” magazine.
5. “The future of Serbia lies in environmental struggles” (in Serbian, September 10, 2021) – Here, I outlined a series of “ecological purges” that the ruling party in Serbia (SNS) is carrying out on Serbian institutions in order to enable its domestic (regarding Novi Sad and Belgrade on the Water) and international (regarding attracting foreign investments and allowing the relocation of pollution) policies.
6. “Why a new form of ecological imperialism is developing in the Balkans?” (in German or English, February 17, 2022) – Here, I spoke for Berliner Gazette’s “After Extractivism” series about Rio Tinto’s arrival in Serbia and the protests against it. I briefly mentioned some things that could characterize Rio Tinto’s actions as ecological imperialism – the exploitation of unrealistically small mining royalties, the use of unequal exchanges through international investment protection agreements between the UK and Serbia, inequality in the exchange of information, and the way in which lithium was obtained through political relationships with reactionary Serbian governments, to the detriment of local populations. Here, as in other texts, I do not speak theoretically about ecological imperialism (I touched on this in the first text, but I have been planning to write something about Henrik Grossman and John Smith’s theory of imperialism and accumulation in the context of the green transition for some time now because it seems to me to be a more adequate approach to the problem than what mainstream liberal economists provide). The English version is available on Mediapart, the link is above the word “English.”
7. “Social Autonomy of Vojvodina as a Barrier Against Ecological Imperialism” (in Serbian, February 23, 2022) – Here, I wrote a very short pamphlet for the “Political Review” website about how Vojvodina’s autonomy could counter the local version of ecological imperialism enabled by the ruling party through Linglong.
8. “Degrowth and imperialism” (in English, April 17, 2022) – Here, I uploaded my work on criticizing degrowth’s relationship with imperialism from 2018, which is actually the first and only scientific paper that criticizes degrowth from the perspective of Marx’s theory of value. This is actually the work from the first point of this reading list, with a new introduction added.
9. “Marx’s Notes on Climate Colonies: Excerpts on John Yeats” (in Serbian, May 21, 2022) – This is my translation of Marx’s notes on climate colonies based on reading a few colonists, with an introduction that problematizes this in the context of Marx’s research on the critique of political economy in the context of ecological imperialism, with a reference to the recent writing by Japanese author Kohel Saito on the topic.
10. “Ecology and empire” (in English, October 13, 2022) – A panel on the topic of ecological imperialism and a discussion with other participants, Max Haven and Julio Linares. Here, I mentioned the Jadarska Declaration and the struggles against lithium mining in Serbia.
11. “Ecological imperialism and nuclear fusion: a forgotten topic in global resource conflicts” (in English, December 15, 2022) – Here, I deal with ecological imperialism in the context of lithium, namely the lithium-6 isotope that could be used as fuel for nuclear fusion, which is not being discussed.

Aleksandar Matković

[SRPSKA VERZIJA]

Ovaj blog se između ostalog bavio međusobnim uticajem ekologije i ekonomije. Radi pregleda, ovde ispod su različite teme koje su obrađene:

1. “‘No Magic Bullets’: The Lawn-Smith Debate, or Why Degrowth Cannot be Understood without a Value-Theory of Imperialism” (na engleskom, 2018.) – ovde sam ponudio kritiku jednog od utemeljivača ekološke ekonomije i nekadašnjeg savetnika Svetske banke Hermana Dalija. Ukratko, uzeo sam njegov model i pokazao da u njemu dolazi do izmeštanja proizvodnje koji ne može da objasni zbog toga što odbacuje mogućnost postojanja viška vrednosti. Ceo rad je zapravo prilog debati između nekoliko marksista i Hermana Dalija od kojih sam primetio da obe strane zapostavljaju problem izmeštanja proizvodnje odnosno globalizacije pa samim tim i izmeštanje zagađenja – ono što se upravo desilo u Srbiji. Ovo je koliko znam prva kritika “odrasta” odnosno tzv. “degrowth” pokreta na temelju Marksove teorije vrednosti (uz malu napomenu: zbog ograničenja prostora na žalost uredništvo nije moglo da mi dozvoli da ubacim empirijske podatke).
2. “Imperijalizam i klimatske promene: o vezi požara u Amazoniji i trgovine između Evropske Unije i zemalja Merkosura” (na sprskom, 15. septembar 2019.) – Ovde sam pokušavao da dokažem veze između nemačke auto industrije koja je sa Brazilom trebalo da sklopi jedan od najvećih trgovinskih ugovora u istoriji kapitalizma, potrebnog usled dugoročnog pada njene profitabilnosti i Bolsonarovog pasivnog političkog držanja prema požarima u Amazoniji koji bi oslobodili ogromnu količinu zemljišta za uzgoj soje i govedine, potrebnih za izvoz u okviru istog ugovora. Originalno napisana na engleskom, ova studija se delila na nekoliko sajtova, ali najskorija verzija je zapravo ona bugarski prevod u okviru kog sam uneo određene izmene u originalni tekst (ovde) (ostalo je da uporedim i unesem ove izmene na englesku verziju istog teksta dostupnu na ovom blogu tako da obe verzije budu u skladu).
3. “Linglong u Zrenjaninu: zagađenje po feng šuiju” (na srpskom, 2. decembar 2020.) – Ovde sam okupio gotovo sve podatke koje su bili dostupni javno o Linglongovoj fabrici u Zrenjaninu – najvećoj kineskoj investiciji u Srbiji. U okviru teksta sam izneo mehanizma sličan onome koji sam primetio kod nemačke automobilske industrije – uticaj profitabilnosti na sklapanje ugovora i nanošenje štete perifernim zemljama. Ovo se desilo s tom razlikom da kineski proizvođač guma za razliku od nemačke naizgled “beži” od ekoloških regulacija u Kini i uglavnom planirano vrši izmeštanje proizvodnje van Kine. Ovakav mehanizam zapravo potvrđuje argument koji sam izneo u kritici Herman Dalija u prvom tekstu – to da se izmeštanje zagađenja zaista dešava, ali ga “mainstream” ekološki ekonomisti ne mogu adekvatno pokriti (neretko su centrirani na regulaciju zagađenja putem tržišta pa otuda blokada).
4. “Ekoimperijalizam: globalno izmeštanje zagađenja” (na srpskom, 26. januar 2021.) – Na ovom tekstu sam sažeo studiju o Linglongu i dodao neke delove kako bi sama tema izmeštanja zagađenja bila istaknuta u prvi plan zarad relativno šire čitalačke publike za potrebe magazina “Amplitude”.
5. “Budućnost Srbije leži u ekološkim borbama” (na srpskom, 10. septembar 2021.) – ovde sam ocrtao niz “ekoloških čistki” koje SNS sprovodi nad srpskim ustanovama kako bi omogućio svoju politiku, kako domaću (u pogledu Novog Sada i Beograda na vodi) tako i međunarodnu (u pogledu donošenja stranih investicija i lokalnog omogućavanja izmeštanja zagađenja).
6. “Zašto se na Balkanu razvija novi oblik ekološkog imperijalizma?” (na nemačkom odnosno engleskom, 17. februar 2022.) – ovde sam za Berliner Gazette odnosno za njihovu seriju “After Exctractivism”, govorio o dolasku i protestima protiv Rio Tinta u Srbiji. Tu sam ukratko pomenuo neke stvari koje bi Rio Tinto mogle okarakterisati kao ekološki imperijalizam – eksploatacija nerealno malih procenata rudne rente, upotreba nejednake razmene kroz međunarodne sporazume o zaštiti investicija između Velike Britanije i Srbije, nejednakost u razmeni informacija, ali i sam način kako se dolazilo do litijuma kroz političke odnose sa reakcionarnim srpskim vladama, a na štetu lokalnog stanovništva. Ovde kao ni u drugim tekstovima ne govorim teorijski o ekološkom imperijalizmu (o tome sam delom govorio u radu pod rednim brojem 1, ali već neko vreme planiram da zapišem nešto o Henrik Grosmanovoj-Džon Smitovoj teoriji imperijalizma i akumulacije u kontekstu zelene tranzicije jer mi se to čini da bi bio adekvatniji pristup problemu nešto ono što daju mainstream liberalni ekonomisti). Engleska verzija je dostupna na Mediapart, link je gore kod reči “engleskom”.
7. “Socijalna autonomija Vojvodine kao brana protiv ekološkog imperijalizma“ (na srpskom, 23. februar 2022.) – ovde sam za portal “Politički pregled” napisao vrlo kratki pamflet oko toga kako bi domaćoj verziji ekološkog imperijalizma koji omogućava lokalna vlast kroz Linglong, mogla vojvođanska autonomija da kontrira.
8. “Degrowth and imperialism” (na engleskom, 17. april 2022.) – Ovde sam aploadovao svoj rad o kritici odnosa degrowtha prema imperijalizmu iz 2018. godine, ujedno i prvi i jedini naučni rad koji se bavi kritikom degrowth-a iz perspektive Marksove teorije vrednosti. Ovo je zapravo rad iz prve tačke ovog reading lista, samo je dodat novi uvod.
9. “Marksove beleške o klimatskim kolonijama: ekscerpti o Džonu Jitsu” (na srpskom, 21. maj 2022.) – Ovo je moj prevod Marksovih beležaka o klimatskim kolonijama na osnovu čitanja par kolonista, sa uvodom koji problematizuje ovo u kontekstu Marksovog istraživanja kritike političke ekonomije u kontekstu ekološkog imperijalizma, sa osvrtom na japanskog autora Kohel Saita koji je pisao nedavno o tome.
10. “Ecology and empire” (na engleskom, 13. 10. 2022.) – panel na temu ekološkog imperijalizma i diskusija sa ostalim učesnicima Max Haven i Julio Linares. Ovde sam pomenuo Jadarsku deklaraciju i borbe protiv litijuma u Srbiji.
11. “Ecological imperialism and nuclear fusion: a forgotten topic in global resource conflicts” (na engleskom, 15. decembar 2022) – Ovde se bavim ekološkim imperijalizmom u kontekstu litijuma odnosno izotopla litijum-6 koji bi mogao da se koristi kao gorivo za nuklearnu fuziju, a o čemu se ne raspravlja.

Aleksandar Matković

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