Stefano B. Longo

The Tragedy of the Commodity The Overexploitation of the Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna Fishery

This article develops a critique of the tragedy of the commons theory that is frequently applied to explain fisheries decline. In its place the authors offer the tragedy of the commodity as an alternative framework that better explains resource overexploitation and environmental degradation. They use a political economic analysis to discuss the social and ecological transformations that have occurred in the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery, with an emphasis on the Sicilian traditional trap fishery. Examining this case, the authors argue that Marx’s explanation of capitalist private property, commodity production, and the general formula for capital provide powerful theoretical guides for clarifying the social relations of production that have driven the overexploitation of fisheries in the recent past. Relying on historical and qualitative data, the case study illustrates the ways in which the social imperative of capitalist commodity production toward accumulating surplus-value directs production, reorganizes social relations, and transforms nature into an instrumental input that can more easily serve the needs of capital. The resulting ecological problems demonstrate the tragedy of the commodity.

ECONOMY "VERSUS" ENVIRONMENT: The Influence of Economic Ideology and Political Identity on Perceived Threat of Eco-Catastrophe

Using data from a national survey of American adults, we examine the relationships between economic, political, sociodemographic, and religious characteristics with perception of the potential for eco-catastrophe. We employ the treadmill of production theory to frame our understanding of views about ecological concerns, arguing that the treadmill discourse associated with economic development is hegemonic and fundamentally shapes public views of eco-catastrophe. In line with this approach, economic ideology is the strongest predictor of attitudes about eco-catastrophe, and its influence is conditioned by political identity. There is also significant patterning in these perceptions based on gender, race, education, and religion, but the influence of social characteristics is primarily indirect—mediated by economic ideology and political identity. These results provide useful information for addressing environmental problems in public discourse and bridging policy divides.

Animals in the world: A materialist approach to sociological animal studies:

The connections between nonhuman animals and human societies have become an increasingly prominent topic of sociological research over the past decade. A focus on animals in sociological research raises a variety of conceptual and epistemological challenges, since sociological methods and theories were developed to analyze humans. We outline these challenges and elaborate a realist approach to animal studies, which focuses on the materiality of the animals in the world and does not confuse them with social constructions of animals. We examine the potential to combine methods focused on understanding human meaning, such as ethnography, with methods aimed at scientifically studying animal behavior from ethology, or a political ethology approach. We also assess how the materiality of animals can be incorporated into quantitative macro-comparative analyses as well as historical studies. We argue that increasingly incorporating animal studies into the domain of sociology can expand our understanding of the world and generate new questions for sociologists.

The globalization of ecologically intensive aquaculture (1984-2008)

Social structures influence the spread of aquaculture and the particular ecological demands of this industry, which mediate the prospects of fisheries conservation. We assessed the effects of trade in food and fisheries commodities, the level of economic development, aquaculture production, and human population on the expansion of ecologically intensive aquaculture within the global food system. In doing this, we created a conservative measure of ecologically intensive aquaculture. We then conducted cross-national panel regression analyses (1984–2008) of 90 nations to investigate the expansion of ecologically intensive aquaculture and its integration into the global food system. The results indicated positive significant relationships between ecologically intensive aquaculture practices and fisheries commodity exports, total trade in food commodities, GDP per capita, and population size. These findings suggest that the dynamics of the modern global food system, characterized by increasingly globalized production of natural resource intensive processes, have significantly shaped the development of modern aquaculture systems and their ecological consequences.

Capitalism and the Commodification of Salmon: From Wild Fish to a Genetically Modified Species

On February 25, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) closed the public comment period for the environmental assessment of the AquAdvantage Salmon. Their review of the first genetically modified animal for human consumption concluded with a “finding of no significant impact.” Numerous fishermen, consumer safety advocates, public health officials, ecologists, and risk assessment experts submitted comments that directly challenged this finding. Despite the opposition, it is very likely that the FDA’s approval of this genetically engineered salmon and precedent-setting regulatory process is imminent.… The aquaculture industry and corporate investors are championing this recent development in food biotechnology. They propose that this “invention” will yield ecological benefits, such as preserving wild salmon, while enhancing efficiency.… Unfortunately, the discussion of fisheries and oceans is constrained by ideological justifications that prevent a comprehensive assessment.… [The alternative approach presented here focuses on] how the logic of capital has shaped production and commodification processes. It also highlights how the most recent case of biotechnology in relation to salmon serves the needs of capital by increasing control of biological and ecological systems in order to better conform to economic dictates. The genetic modification of salmon is part of a biological speedup, whereby natural processes are transformed to achieve faster rates of return in the food marketplace.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.

Politics, the State, and Sea Level Rise: The Treadmill of Production and Structural Selectivity in North Carolina’s Coastal Resource Commission

ABSTRACT Treadmill of production theory offers a perspective for understanding the relationship between modern social institutions and environmental sustainability. We use this approach to analyze North Carolina’s Coastal Resource Commission (CRC), a state agency charged with overseeing economic development and environmental concerns on the coast. Data from CRC meetings provide insights into the policy-formation process and related policy outcomes associated with long-term ecological and social concerns, specifically related to sea-level rise. Findings indicate that the CRC continually developed policies and fashioned regulatory decisions that favored economic growth over environmental protection. Importantly, the CRC failed to prepare for the long-term effects of climate change, such as sea-level rise. Our analysis extends the treadmill of production perspective through a deeper engagement with Marxian state theorists. Our analysis suggests that the state’s various branches and levels contain internal “selectivities” that favor pro-growth policies while simultaneously filtering out stronger environmental protections.

The bottom line: capital’s production of social inequalities and environmental degradation

Sustainability is a contested concept that has been at the center of discussions of natural and social scientists for decades. Mainstream conceptualizations, predicated upon the “three-legged stool” and “triple bottom line model,” argue that questions of economic, social, and environmental sustainability are of equal importance. However, in actuality, the “economic” leg of the stool is given primacy in these analyses. These mainstream conceptions take for granted that economic means the capitalist system, failing to assess how its growth dynamics undermine sustainability. Capitalism, as a historically distinct political-economic system, depends on expropriation and exploitation, creating social inequalities and environmental degradation increasingly on a global scale. Critical sustainability confronts the logic of capital, directly challenging this very system in an effort to create substantive equality, meet human needs, and protect the conditions of life.

Fishy Business: Genetic Engineering and Salmon Aquaculture

The AquAdvantage salmon is the first genetically engineered animal to be considered for human consumption. We provide a sociohistorical analysis of how the decline of marine fisheries in general, and the growth of salmon farming in particular, created the political and economic foundation to support the development of a genetically engineered fish. We review the social and economic context of the genetically modified salmon, including a discussion of the precedent-setting regulatory status with the US Food and Drug Administration. As issues surrounding social equity and ecological efficiency associated with genetically modified foods are being debated in the public realm, we propose that it is necessary to move beyond the priorities of a market commodity and engage in a more robust review of sociological factors.

From Sea Slaves to Slime Lines: Commodification and Unequal Ecological Exchange in Global Marine Fisheries

Socioecological transformations of marine systems are intimately connected to the structure of the global capitalist economy, including its relationships of unequal exchange and the international division of labor. We highlight how unequal economic and ecological exchange are intertwined in fishing production in Southeast Asia, in particular Thailand, where capital receives more value in labor power and ecological wealth and services for less. In order to suppress production costs, slave labor is used to harvest fish, and child and migrant labor is employed in processing plants. These operations supply fish for the global market, with the largest shares flowing to Europe and the United States. As seafood production shifts with the ongoing growth of aquaculture, the depletion of target fish, and the expansion in the production of fishmeal and fish oil, the relationships that connect slave labor, slime lines, environmental degradation, and the depletion of marine systems become more embedded within a system predicated on the constant accumulation of capital that creates global social and ecological inequalities.

Land–Sea Ecological Rifts

Increasing rates of nitrogen and phosphorus application have caused severe damage to aquatic systems, as rivers, streams, lakes, bays, and ocean systems have been inundated with nutrient runoff. Only by addressing the metabolic rupture in the soil nutrient cycle and the contradictions of capital can we begin to mend these land–sea rifts.