Resources
Decoupling of the economy
Decoupling, also referred to as dematerialisation of the economy, refers to the disconnection or separation of economic and social well-being from the use of biophysical resources. According to the MEFA …
Natural and social capital
Capital is traditionally defined as manufactured means of production. In contrast, Costanza and Daly distinguish three broad types of capital: natural, human and manufactured, ‘which correspond roughly to the traditional …
NIMBY
In the NIMBY perspective, citizens are portrayed as overly emotional, uninformed and unscientific in their opposition, motivated by narrow, selfish interests, and obstructive of policies that would provide for the …
Value incommensurability
Values are often incommensurable. This simply means that they cannot be measured in the same units. The environment is often a site of conflict between competing values and interests represented …
Languages of valuation
Environmental conflicts might arise out of clashes of different interests or because of the existence of different values. Take mangroves for instance, on the coast of Ecuador. Some people want …
Fair trade
The philosophical principles underlying the concept of fair trade (FT) can be traced back to Aristotle (and his ideas of justice, equity and goodness) but the concept as it is …
Commodity frontiers
The search for materials to supply the countries at the centre of the global economy has already extended into the most remote corners of the world. To some extent, this …
Extractive periphery / world-system analysis
According to mainstream economic theory, the basis for international trade is the existence of inter-regional differences in endowments of natural resources (and therefore raw materials), technology and climatic conditions. Hence, …
Commodity chains
A commodity chain is defined as ‘a network of labour and production processes whose end result is a finished commodity’ (Hopkins and Wallerstein, 1986:159). Over time, different methodologies have emerged …
David VanWyk on South Africa 2
South Africa causes 98% of air pollution in Africa and 86% of waste in Africa – mainly due to the heavy impacts of mining. The Marikana Massacre in South Africa was followed …
The project ENVJUSTICE has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 695446)