As our class is working their way through this novel, I find myself drawn to the numerous examples. I have always been fascinated about the Age of Colonialism - I believe it represents both the ingenuity of man, and the extent of man's darker tendencies. The abillity of the Spanish and Portuguese to master the waves and learn the currents, shrinking the time it took to go from one end of the earth from years to mere months is impressive. The trading posts and cultural ties that grew popularized Chinese tea in Europe, Arab Coffee in South America, and sugar throughout the world, forever changing humanities ideas of essential foods and drastically changing both our culinary tastes and material fashion. It truely was the prototype for a globalized society. On the other hand, the depravity of the European colonizors cannot be understated: we can truly see how men in power treat those on a lower social status when they are given no consequences for their actions. No amount of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse could be done that wasn't already done to Native and Black slaves in the Americas - there are no innovations in torture and cruelty under the sun.
This experiment in globalization reverberates to this day, we still get our necessities from slave labor, our smart phones, computers, and cars contain components from fragile rainforest ecosystems exploited by multinational companies working under the strong guiding hand of our western countries diplomatic power. We only have to look in our backyard of Latin America at the undemocratic coups encouraged by the US to keep our raw materials cheap. Consumer demand for cheap products generates complacency in our population, nobody wants to know where they get there products from and the sweat and blood that is required to bring the finished product to market. This book solidifies what many of us have already studied, and it does not hold back in its critiques. While I agree that coorporate greed drive these engines, I would like the book to hold a mirror to our society better. Yes, corporations are largely to blame for these phenomenons, but as consumers, we are complacent in this system - perhaps further along the authors will delve more into personal culpability and even outline small methods of resistance.
Unfortunately I think Patel and Moore have limited their task to illustrating that resistance is necessary, and to suggesting that it is possible. Mostly I think we'll have to look elsewhere for the methods.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think the underlying premise of the book is that just being aware of capitalism's world-ecology and learning about it has a role in breaking down its hegemonic power. The more people can see problems and crises in the system, the less complacent they will be, and more interested in finding new systems.
Personal complacency, complicity, culpability - that's a really important thing to note: all this study of world-ecology points toward our own involvement in violent systems. It's a thing I struggle with and I might try to do my midterm on it. On the one hand, we all have to produce our own means of existence, and there's no way to do that outside of the capitalist world-ecology. On the other hand, we have the most control over our own actions, and we've got to take all the personal responsibility we can.
I was reading an article from the Atlantic about how to protect democracy in the upcoming election, and found a good line: "Pessimism is irresponsible. Nihilism is immoral."
Interesting point, I agree that our current system is in dire need of change. I feel more people still need to become aware of the system we live in before true change can happen. Many people still see the world with their opinions and not their eyes.
ReplyDeleteDylan, keep in mind that the authors are always looking to reveal a logic that is at work in these examples, and this is how this book can be understood as different in its approach. The strategy they call 'cheap' is not something that requires greed, it is standard operating procedure, it is in fact an objective procedure.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, the authors do outline a proposal for acts of resistance--perhaps a few. Consider their keywords and suggestions at the end of the book. What would a reparative ecology look like? Also, the method of analysis here is not something to overlook. How can you apply the method they are utilizing to analyze the landscape and spatial processes around you? What communities or possibilities might emerge from doing so? Our historical moment, in which there is no outside the system, indeed requires new modes of analysis and new modes of organization. How might these two practices learn form each other, as they have in other time-periods.