Ecologically Unequal Exchange

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

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2. Introduction: Ecologically Unequal Exchange in Comparative and Historical Perspective

   • R. Scott Frey, Paul K. Gellert, Harry F. Dahms

   Pages 1-10

3. Theoretical Foundations of Ecologically Unequal Exchange

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11

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   2. Toward a Theory of Ecologically Unequal Exchange

      • Stephen G. Bunker

      Pages 13-47

   3. Ecologically Unequal Exchange and Raw Materialism: The Material Foundations of the Capitalist World-Economy

      • Paul S. Ciccantell

      Pages 49-73

   4. The Role of the Semi-Periphery in Ecologically Unequal Exchange: A Case Study of Land Investments in Cambodia

      • Mariko Frame

      Pages 75-106

   5. Bunker’s Ecologically Unequal Exchange, Foster’s Metabolic Rift, and Moore’s World-Ecology: Distinctions With or Without a Difference?

      • Paul K. Gellert

      Pages 107-140

4. Cases of Ecologically Unequal Exchange in Comparative and Historical Context

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 141-141

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   2. The Entropy Curse

      • Laura McKinney

      Pages 143-165

   3. Mining Exports Flows, Repression, and Forest Loss: A Cross-National Test of Ecologically Unequal Exchange

      • Jamie M. Sommer, John M. Shandra, Carolyn Coburn

      Pages 167-193

   4. From Sea Slaves to Slime Lines: Commodification and Unequal Ecological Exchange in Global Marine Fisheries

      • Brett Clark, Stefano B. Longo, Rebecca Clausen, Daniel Auerbach

      Pages 195-219

   5. History Matters: Contingency in the Creation of Ecologically Unequal Exchange

      • Shellen Xiao Wu

      Pages 221-241

5. Thoughts on What Is Being Done? What Is to Be Done? And Who Should Do It?

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 243-243

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   2. Global Climate Justice Activism: “The New Protagonists” and Their Projects for a Just Transition

      • Jackie Smith, Jacqueline Patterson

      Pages 245-272

   3. Splintering South: Ecologically Unequal Exchange Theory in a Fragmented Global Climate

      • David Ciplet, J. Timmons Roberts

      Pages 273-305

   4. Epilogue: The Wider View

      • Harry F. Dahms, R. Scott Frey

      Pages 307-316

6. Back Matter

   Pages 317-331

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At a time of societal urgency surrounding ecological crises from depleted fisheries to mineral extraction and potential pathways towards environmental and ecological justice, this book re-examines ecologically unequal exchange (EUE) from a historical and comparative perspective. The theory of ecologically unequal exchange posits that core or northern consumption and capital accumulation is based on peripheral or southern environmental degradation and extraction. In other words, structures of social and environmental inequality between the Global North and Global South are founded in the extraction of materials from, as well as displacement of waste to, the South. This volume represents a set of tightly interlinked papers with the aim to assess ecologically unequal exchange and to move it forward. Chapters are organised into three main sections: theoretical foundations and critical reflections on ecologically unequal exchange; empirical research on mining, deforestation, fisheries, andthe like; and strategies for responding to the adverse consequences associated with unequal ecological exchange. Scholars as well as advanced undergraduate and graduate students will benefit from the spirited re-evaluation and extension of ecologically unequal exchange theory, research, and praxis.

• Ecological inequality
• Ecology
• environmental sociology
• ecological exchange
• globalization
• social justice
• environmental justice
• natural resources
• Ecologically Unequal Exchange
• socioecology
• raw materialism
• ecological imperialism
• capitalism damages ecological sustainability
• international division of labor
• Global Climate Justice Activism
• Environmental Geography

“Ecologically Unequal Exchange stands for what is now widely recognized as a key area of investigation in environmental sociology. In this varied collection, R. Scott Frey, Paul K. Gellert, and Harry F. Dahms bring together a number of interesting essays on the topic, adding to this burgeoning literature, and in a way that will undoubtedly influence the further development of the field.” (John Bellamy Foster, Professor of Sociology, University of Oregon; author (with Paul Burkett) of Marx and the Earth)

“State-of-the-art theory and analysis of global inequality and power in the web of life. Ecologically Unequal Exchange offers a series of creative, insightful, and empirically-grounded accounts of how capitalism forges destructive and unequal developments, with gruesome impacts on humans and the rest of nature.” (Jason W. Moore, Professor of Sociology, Binghamton University; author of Capitalism in the Web of Life)

• University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

  R. Scott Frey, Paul K. Gellert, Harry F. Dahms

Harry F. Dahms is Professor of Sociology, co-director of the Center for the Study of Social Justice, and co-chair of the Committee on Social Theory at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville, USA. He is the editor of ‘Current Perspectives in Social Theory’ and director of the International Social Theory Consortium. 


R. Scott Frey is Professor of Sociology and co-director of the Center for the Study of Social Justice at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville, USA, and Senior Associate Researcher at the Laboratory for Comparative Social Research at the National Research University, Russian Federation. 


Paul K. Gellert is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville USA and Affiliated Fellow at the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies (KITLV), the Netherlands. 

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