Canadian Environmental Practices, 1994 - York · PDF fileCanadian Environmental Practices, 1994 83 71 42 21 0 20 40 60 80 100 ... slums and squatter settlements ... uncolonized parts

Canadian Environmental Practices, 1994

83

71

42

21

0

20

40

60

80

100 Recycles paper,glass

Regularlylowers hometempUses low-flowshower head

Does not driveto work

Percent

21st century Neo-liberalism 1. Increased competition among cities to

attract capital 2. Businesses for generating employment

and sources of undermine tax revenues 3. Widening inequalities between groups

and individuals, 4. Discrepancies in the level of essential

services provided to citizens

Commodified Natural Resources

• WATER • ELECTRICITY • LUMBER • MINERALS • Commodification of basic resources-is

exploitative…

21st century=privatization

1. Privatisation of water and

sanitation a reality 2. The right to adequate housing

lost 3. Health care-two tier 4. Education- only for the wealthy

Privatized Global Economy

•In fact, corporate globalisation, is one of the greatest threats to universal access to clean drinking water and sanitation

Environmental Theories 1. Sustainable Development &

Modernization (Structural functional) 2. Environmental Management (structural

functional) 3. Political economy-Dependency

(conflict) 4. Deep Ecology-Bio Centric (symbolic

interactionist) 5. Eco-feminism (Feminist Conflict)

Structural Functionalism

• Globalization is part of the adaptive historical process of modernization

• Global integration occurs through processes of adaptation within institutions.

• Symbiosis-Politics, economics, religion are separate institutions.

1a. Functionalism= Sustainable development

• Functionalists argue that the system is working….

• Environment will be cared for on a needs basis.

• Incremental changes only-Ie. Automobile green plan

1b. Sustainable development

• -Functionalists view globalization in terms of sustainable development,

• Conservationists- refer to“managed” natural resources by applying modern engineering and administrative techniques.

1c. Sustainable opportunities

• The system provides opportunities, if we don’t get on the bandwagon we will be lost.

• Functionalists and conservatives are in favour of free market economics.

• The free market will take care of itself. • Ie. dictate demand and pricing.

2. Environmental management

• Environmental management-calls for moderate government interventions

• Some limited protection to the environment without seriously curtailing economic activity

Environmental management

• Keep private enterprises running but apply some universal tax to make the system fairer for all.

• .

3. Marxist Dependency Theory International

• -First vs Third World

• Exploitation, global Apartheid

3b. Marxist Dependency Theory: Canada

• Canadian industrialization created an industrial capitalist class and a proletariat, class relationships are the main force in Canadian history.

• Canadian capitalism-now driven to global parameters

• Stanley Ryerson used this type of Marxist analysis:

4. Marxist Political Economy-

• Socialist-Alan Schnailberg’s From Surplus to Scarcity

• Production and Consumption Cycle

• The Problem is man’s productive activities & advertising.

From Surplus to Scarcity

• Schnailberg calls this..The Treadmill of Production consumerism=producerism.

• Corporate producers create demand for new products through the medium

• .

Global Exploitation

• Other writers have argued that Canada is part of the first world

• Canada exploits third world or poorer countries, especially in the Caribbean and in parts of South America

• FOR MARXISTS:

• THE GLOBAL VILLAGE is THE GLOBAL EXPLOITATIVE MARKET

• FREE ENTERPRISE IS AN ILLUSION’ • FREE FOR WHO?

Surplus Value (conflict theory)

• To maximise profits , services and water quality are put at risk

• Profits lead to understaffing; thus lay-offs

• Double negative impact as they hurt consumers as well as the workers involved.

Capitalism and Profit

1. Local crops are replaced by specialized industries

2. Standard of living may go up for some,

3. For most others there is increasing exploitation.

4. Instead of goods exchanged through barter,

5. Individuals must work for a company and pay for goods in cash.

6. This has been linked to patriarchy and alienated labour.

Average Annual Income, by Country, 2003

Less than US $430 US $430 - 1,110 US $1,110 - 2,350 US $2,350 - 7,490 US $7,490 or more No data

World Map (with area a function of percent of each country’s population living on less than US $2/day, 2003)

4. Deep Ecology -Leftist liberal

• SEE WEBER on values… • Deep Ecology Movement- founded by

Arne Naess Norweign (1970)

• Like Weber and SI- • Deep ecology theory is about human

values and beliefs

4. Deep Ecology -Leftist liberal

• Like Weber- their concern is about the increasing rationalization of the world through capitalistic activities

• Globalization imprisons us like an iron cage

Deep Ecocology- bio-centric approach

• Ecological thinkers Americans Bill Devall and George Sessions (1985)-apply a bio-centric approach-

• “We are all rooted in ecology” and we have a “moral obligation”

• Both to other human beings and to plants and animals

•

Colonial Legacy-The New Imperialism

• In the twentieth century, this colonial and elite legacy became associated with strong central state and a form of liberalism associated with the United States.

Imperialism entails that..

• Slowly=US liberalism, capitalism and globalization supercede environment issues.

• .

5..Ecofeminism-

• Radical Feminism and the Wiccan Movement

• An alternative eco-philosophy who believe that the oppression and exploitation of women and the environment are related.

Women and Nature

• Androcentricism is the culprit…Women are more innately attuned to nature than men

• Impacts on women (more oppressed category like racial and ethnic minorities)

• Women, work and family affected in three ways:

Ester Boserup (1970)

• An Eco-feminist…

• Wrote an important book entitled, Women’s Role in Economic Development,

• She argues that modernization has contributed to a decline in women’s status.

Patriarchy and alienated labour.

• Instead of goods exchanged through

barter, individuals must work for a company and pay for goods in cash.

• Exchanging capital has been linked to patriarchy and alienated labour.

Development Programs and

Capitalization

1. Women face discrimination: 2. Women not compensated at the

same rate as men 3. Husbands unwilling to accept

domestic responsibility 4. Women have not gained political

power

3 Issues Globalization and Women

• 1. Land is taken away from women

and local men who’ve worked together and is given over to a few men-owners of the means of production

Women’s Work (domestic) • 2. As local men’s activities become

concentrated on growing more crops for export -pushes women into the home (division of labour)

• 3. As men seek employment in larger markets, household tasks such as cleaning, gathering fuel, hauling water become solely performed by women in the household

Global Priorities (in $US billions) Good or Service Annual CostBasic education for everyone in the world 6 Cosmetics in the United States 8Water and sanitation for everyone in the world 9Ice cream in Europe 11Reproductive health for all women in the world 12Perfumes in Europe & the United States 12Basic health & nutrition for everyone in world 13Pet foods in Europe and the United States 17Business entertainment in Japan 35Cigarettes in Europe 50Alcoholic drinks in Europe 105Narcotic drugs in the world 400Military spending in the world 780

Modernization Theory

Global inequality results from inadequacies in poor societies:

1. Lack of capital 2. Lack of Western business techniques 3. Lack of stable governments

Western Ideas (natural)

Lack of Western mentality Western values= savings, investment, innovation, education, high achievement, self-control in having children

•

How Semi-Peripheral Countries Differ from Peripheral Countries

Type of colonialism infrastructural support?

Geopolitical position? helpful to USA

State policy statist, pro-growth?

Social structure land reform; homogeneous?

Privatisation and the poor

• Privatisation often results in

reduced access by the poor to basic social services.

• Meters on Shacks!!!@

Global Slums 3rd world • In many cities and towns in developing

countries, • Between 50% and 70% of the population

live in slums and squatter settlements • Without adequate housing or basic

services. • Many of the poor end up paying up to

twenty times more than the rich for water.[

Regressive taxation

• A regressive tax is a tax imposed in such a manner that the tax rate decreases as the amount subject to taxation increases.

• In simple terms, it imposes a greater burden (relative to resources) on the poor than on the rich.

Trade-related competition for basic necessities

• Trade-related competition for water resources

• Corruption in the privatisation process, where the system of checks and balances is weak.

• Capitalism is about egoism not self regulation..

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Region

Gross Domestic Product Per Person, World Regions, 1975-2005 (in 2005 US dollars)

-0.5% 2.6%

6.1% 0.7% 0.7% 1.4%

2.0% The average annual growth rate for each region is shown at the top of each set of columns. GDP per person is calculated in terms of 2005 purchasing power. Absolute decline in Sub-Saharan Africa; biggest percent increase by far in East Asia; by far highest income in OECD countries.

Canada as a Semi- Peripheral Country

Type of colonialism: White settler society in which settlers reinvested rather than sending wealth back to Europe. Geopolitical position: Useful ally of global powers (France, Britain, USA). State policy: Occasionally protective of Canadian industry (National Policy in the 1870s, Auto Pact in the 1960s, NEP (1980s) Social structure: French–English conflict has drawn attention away from development policy.

Dependency Theory

• Part of the Conflict approach • Dependency Theory used to examine the

`uneven’ development of capitalism • Dependency theory can be domestic or

international in its focus.

Dependency Theory I

For 250 years, the most powerful countries in the world have impoverished the least powerful countries as a matter of state policy.

Dependency Theory II Early industrialization allow for The first world to accumulate

90% of the worlds wealth. Later in industrialism has led to

increasing dependency of uncolonized parts of the world.

Dependency Theory II

Industrialized countries established powerful armed forces to subdue and then annex or colonize most of the rest of the world between the middle of the 18th and the middle of the 20th century. Main exception: Japan (considered less

valuable than China and India)

Dependency Theory IV

Neo-colonialism established by creating a system of dependency involving three main elements:

1. Substantial foreign investment 2. Support for authoritarian governments 3. Mounting debt

Third World

Countries of the “Third World” or “Global South” accounted for 73% of world industrial production in 1750. Only 7.5% in 1913; In 1913, the world’s 12 richest countries

accounted for 90% of world industrial production.

Core, Periphery and Semiperiphery (Immanuel Wallerstein)

Core: major sources of capital and technology (USA, Japan, Germany) Periphery: major sources of raw materials

and cheap labour (most former colonies) Semiperiphery: former colonies that are

making considerable headway in their attempts to become prosperous (South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore; Israel; more recently, China, India, Brazil)

How Semi-Peripheral Countries Differ from Peripheral Countries

Type of colonialism infrastructural support?

Geopolitical position? helpful to USA

State policy statist, pro-growth?

Social structure land reform; homogeneous?

Water Maude Barlow

• The Council of Canadians’ water

campaign is calling for a national water policy.

• According to Maude Barlow the State needs to protect Canada’s water from bulk exports and privatization,

Reason for Gov’t Protection

1. The free market doesn’t guarantee access to water;

2. Bulk exports could open the floodgates to trade challenges;

3. Canada’s water supply is limited;

4. Public water is safer, cleaner and more affordable; and

5. Water is essential for people and nature.

Huge profits/eco imbalance

• Corporations are in a rush to obtain access to water, which they can sell at huge profits.

• Mass extraction of water from its natural sources

• Ecological imbalances • Aquifer depletion • Groundwater contamination

Scarce Resources as Commodities

• By turning a social good and scarce resource into an economic commodity

• The world’s economic and policy planners claim that… “existing water resources can be managed and consumed”….?

The World Bank

• The World Bank and regional development banks often advocate for “unbundling” of services

• Separates the profitable and unprofitable areas for the delivery of water and sanitation services

Layoff in Public Works

• Privatisation often leads to job losses.

• Massive layoffs are common as companies try to minimise costs

•

Summary

• Globalization is a process linked to the issue of modernization (post modernism)

• Globalization is Imperialism and Americanization=universal products and commodity fetishism

• Neoliberal policies generate a system in favor of the rich and the corporation at the expense of the poor.

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1st Qtr 2nd Qtr 3rd Qtr 4th Qtr

EastWestNorth

Environmental Sociology

Issues and Perspectives

“In the long run, do you think the scientific advances we are making will help or harm mankind?” 1981-2000 (percent “harm”)

0

10

20

30

40

50

1981 1991 1995-1997

1999-2000

USA

CANADA

Rich countriesminus USACountries thatare not rich

This graph shows that (1) Americans are among the most optimistic people in the world concerning the effects of science on humanity; (2) Americans and the citizens of other rich countries such as Canada were more pessimistic about the effects of science on humanity at the end of the 20th century than they were in 1981; (3) the citizens of countries that are not rich were more optimistic about the effects of science on humanity at the end of the 20th century than they were in 1981.

Percent

Important Terms

Technology is traditionally defined as the application of scientific principles to the improvement of human life.

Global Warming and Polar Ice

Heat-trapping gases (C02, methane, etc.)

1. Heat-trapping gases produced mainly by human activity collect in the atmosphere (CO2, methane, etc.)

2. The sun heats the surface of the earth. 3. More heat enters the atmosphere than escapes because some of

it is absorbed and some of it is reflected back by the blanket of heat-trapping gases.

4. Heat melts ice, revealing tundra and creating water. 5. Tundra releases methane, a more effective heat-trapping gas

than CO2. 6. Water reflects less heat than ice because it’s darker than ice.

Ice Water Tundra

(1) Gases from burning fossil fuels, etc.

(3)

(4)

(5) (6) (2)

Annual Mean Global Surface Air Temperature and Carbon Dioxide Concentration, 1880-2007

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

22

24

1880 1943 2007 Year

Mean Temperature, C° 382 352 322 292 262 232 202 172 142

CO2, parts per million

x

x

x x

x

x Carbon dioxide concentration

Surface air temperature

x x

Worldwide Insured Losses Due to Natural and Human Catastrophes, 1970-2006 (in 2005 $US billions)

$US billions

8

24

60.6

0

20

40

60

1970-1986average

1987-2003average

2004-06average

Sea Ice in Retreat

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/10/01/science/20071002_ARCTIC_GRAPHIC.html?th&emc=th#

Important Terms

Genetic pollution refers to the health and ecological dangers that may result from artificially splicing genes together.

Recombinant DNA is a technique that involves The term normal accident recognizes that the very complexity of modern technologies ensures they will inevitably fail, though in unpredictable ways.

A risk society is a society in which technology distributes danger and advantage among all social groups

0

2

4

6

0 20 40 60 80

Aboriginals as percent of population

Northwest Territories

Yukon

Alberta Saskatchewan

Manitoba

Total particulate matter, short tons per capita

Environmental racism: the tendency to heap environmental dangers on the

disadvantaged.

Trucks in China

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2007/12/08/world/asia/choking_on_growth_7.html#story4

Top Ten CO2 Emitters, 2007 (percent of world emissions/percent of

world population=index of irresponsibility)

1. USA 21.4/4.6 = 4.7 2. China 18.8/20.4 = 0.9 3. Russia 5.8/2.2 = 2.6 4. Japan 4.6/2.0 = 2.3 5. India 4.2/17.0 = 0.2 6. Germany 3.0/1.3 = 2.3 7. Canada 2.0/0.5 = 4.0 8. UK 2.0/0.9 = 2.2 9. Italy 1.7/0.9 = 1.9 10. South Korea 1.7/0.8 = 2.1

Climate Change Performance, 2007

Top Ten Countries 1. Sweden 2. Germany 3. Iceland 4. Mexico 5. India 6. Hungary 7. UK 8. Brazil 9. Switzerland 10. Argentina

Bottom Ten Countries 47. Ukraine 48. Kazakhstan 49. Malaysia 50. Russia 51. South Korea 52. Luxembourg 53. Canada 54. Australia 55. United States 56. Saudi Arabia

Bali 2007 opponents of binding CO2 emission cuts of 25-40% for industrialized

countries by 2020 (by rank on climate change performance, n=56)

30. New Zealand 42. Japan 50. Russia 53. Canada 55. United States 56. Saudi Arabia

Price signals are imperfect. Political pressure is needed. The pace of change is too slow.

Why the market and high technology can’t solve the problems of environmental degradation on their own:

Renewable Resources, World, % Decrease, 1990-2010

-35

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0

fish catch

irrigable land

crop land rangeland, pasture

forests

Percent decrease

What needs to be done Reduced consumption of just about everything by

people in rich countries Increased investment in energy-saving technologies

and environmental cleanup Subsidization of environmentally friendly

industrialization in the developing countries Renewed commitment to voluntary efforts, new laws

and enforcement bodies to ensure compliance Higher taxes More careful assessment of risks associated with

biotechnology projects, and public consultation before such projects go forward

Sharing of profits from genetic engineering with donors of genetic material

Immediate action

Preconditions for action

Awareness of the gravity of the environmental problem Belief in the capacity of people and their

governments to solve the problem Willingness to make substantial economic

sacrifices to get the job done.