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Extractive Economies in Material and Political Terms: Broadening the Analytical Scope

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  • Anke Schaffartzik

    (Institute of Social Ecology (SEC), Alpen-Adria University, A-1070 Vienna, Austria)

  • Melanie Pichler

    (Institute of Social Ecology (SEC), Alpen-Adria University, A-1070 Vienna, Austria)

Abstract

In order to curb environmental impact, absolute resource use reductions are urgently needed. To reach this goal, multi-scalar synergies and trade-offs in global resource use must be effectively addressed. We propose that better understanding the role of extractive economies—economies that extract raw material for export—in global resource use patterns is a prerequisite to identifying such synergies and trade-offs. By combining a system-wide environmental accounting perspective with insights from political ecology and political economy research, we demonstrate that (1) the extractivist expansion may be the corollary of reduced immediate environmental impact in the industrialized countries; and (2) the material flow patterns on which this result is based do not suffice to identify the mechanisms underlying extractivist development and its role in global resource use. Our work on extractive economies illustrates that, in order to supply transformative knowledge for sustainability transformation, biophysical and socio-political conceptualizations of society-nature relations must be more strongly integrated within the interdisciplinary sustainability sciences in general and social ecology in particular.

Suggested Citation

  • Anke Schaffartzik & Melanie Pichler, 2017. "Extractive Economies in Material and Political Terms: Broadening the Analytical Scope," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-17, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:7:p:1047-:d:102600
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    2. Dorninger, Christian & Hornborg, Alf & Abson, David J. & von Wehrden, Henrik & Schaffartzik, Anke & Giljum, Stefan & Engler, John-Oliver & Feller, Robert L. & Hubacek, Klaus & Wieland, Hanspeter, 2021. "Global patterns of ecologically unequal exchange: Implications for sustainability in the 21st century," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    3. Jean-Baptiste Bahers & Paula Higuera & Anne Ventura & Nicolas Antheaume, 2020. "The “Metal-Energy-Construction Mineral” Nexus in the Island Metabolism: The Case of the Extractive Economy of New Caledonia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-18, March.
    4. Mentis, Alan & Moonsammy, Stephan, 2022. "A critical assessment of Guyana's sustainability pathway: Perspectives from a developing extractive economy," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    5. Anke Schaffartzik & Marina Fischer-Kowalski, 2018. "Latecomers to the Fossil Energy Transition, Frontrunners for Change? The Relevance of the Energy ‘Underdogs’ for Sustainability Transformations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-14, July.
    6. Schaffartzik, Anke & Duro, Juan Antonio & Krausmann, Fridolin, 2019. "Global appropriation of resources causes high international material inequality – Growth is not the solution," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 9-19.
    7. Wang, Pengfei & Li, Hongbo & Huang, Zhenbin, 2023. "The inter-provincial trade inequality in China: An assessment of the impact of changes in built-up land and carbon storage," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    8. Schaffartzik, Anke & Duro, Juan Antonio, 2022. "‘Dematerialization’ in times of economic crisis: A regional analysis of the Spanish economy in material and monetary terms," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. Anke Schaffartzik, 2018. "Works in Favor of Extraction: Labor in Land-Use Competition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-13, June.
    10. Pablo Alonso-Fernández & Rosa María Regueiro-Ferreira, 2021. "An Approximation to the Environmental Impact of Economic Growth Using the Material Flow Analysis: Differences between Production and Consumption Methods, Applied to China, United Kingdom and USA (1990," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-21, May.

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