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Ecological economics, Marxism, and technological progress: Some explorations of the conceptual foundations of theories of ecologically unequal exchange

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  • Hornborg, Alf

Abstract

Almost regardless of ideological persuasion, the seemingly self-evident concept of “technological progress” inherited from early industrialism is resorted to as an article of faith serving to dispel the specter of truncated growth. The increasingly acknowledged threats of peak oil and global warming are thus generally countered with visions of a future civilization based on solar power. I discuss this technological scenario as a utopia that raises serious doubts about mainstream understandings of what “technology” really is. Technological utopianism raises difficult but fundamental analytical questions about the relation between thermodynamics and theories of economic value. While Marxism and some ecological economics share the ambition of grounding notions of economic value in physical parameters, notions of economic value and physical processes should be kept analytically distinct.

Suggested Citation

  • Hornborg, Alf, 2014. "Ecological economics, Marxism, and technological progress: Some explorations of the conceptual foundations of theories of ecologically unequal exchange," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 11-18.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:105:y:2014:i:c:p:11-18
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2014.05.015
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Keen, Steve, 1993. "Use-Value, Exchange Value, and the Demise of Marx's Labor Theory of Value," Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 107-121, April.
    2. Hornborg, Alf, 1998. "Towards an ecological theory of unequal exchange: articulating world system theory and ecological economics," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 127-136, April.
    3. Hornborg, Alf, 2006. "Footprints in the cotton fields: The Industrial Revolution as time-space appropriation and environmental load displacement," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 74-81, August.
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