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Accumulation by Conservation

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  • Bram B�scher
  • Robert Fletcher

Abstract

Following the financial crisis and its aftermath, it is clear that the inherent contradictions of capitalist accumulation have become even more intense and plunged the global economy into unprecedented turmoil and urgency. Governments, business leaders and other elite agents are frantically searching for a new, more stable mode of accumulation. Arguably the most promising is what we call 'Accumulation by Conservation' (AbC): a mode of accumulation that takes the negative environmental contradictions of contemporary capitalism as its departure for a newfound 'sustainable' model of accumulation for the future. Under slogans such as payments for environmental services, the Green Economy, and The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, public, private and non-governmental sectors seek ways to turn the non-material use of nature into capital that can simultaneously 'save' the environment and establish long-term modes of capital accumulation. In the paper, we conceptualise and interrogate the grand claim of AbC and argue that it should be seen as a denial of the negative environmental impacts of 'business as usual' capitalism. We evaluate AbC's attempt to compel nature to pay for itself and conclude by speculating whether this dynamic signals the impending end of the current global cycle of accumulation altogether.

Suggested Citation

  • Bram B�scher & Robert Fletcher, 2015. "Accumulation by Conservation," New Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(2), pages 273-298, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:cnpexx:v:20:y:2015:i:2:p:273-298
    DOI: 10.1080/13563467.2014.923824
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Patrick Bigger, 2018. "Hybridity, possibility: Degrees of marketization in tradeable permit systems," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(3), pages 512-530, May.
    2. Masego Madzwamuse & Elizabeth Rihoy & Maxi Louis, 2020. "Contested Conservation: Implications for Rights, Democratization, and Citizenship in Southern Africa," Development, Palgrave Macmillan;Society for International Deveopment, vol. 63(1), pages 67-73, March.
    3. Franco, Jennifer C. & Borras, Saturnino M., 2019. "Grey areas in green grabbing: subtle and indirect interconnections between climate change politics and land grabs and their implications for research," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 192-199.
    4. Kathryn Teigen De Master & Jess Daniels, 2019. "Desert wonderings: reimagining food access mapping," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 36(2), pages 241-256, June.
    5. Jaime Paneque-Gálvez & Nicolás Vargas-Ramírez & Brian M. Napoletano & Anthony Cummings, 2017. "Grassroots Innovation Using Drones for Indigenous Mapping and Monitoring," Land, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-25, December.
    6. Bastos Lima, Mairon G. & Kmoch, Laura, 2021. "Neglect paves the way for dispossession: The politics of “last frontiers” in Brazil and Myanmar," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    7. Jana Lososová & Jindřiška Kouřilová & Nikola Soukupová, 2021. "Controversial approach to wolf management in the Czech Republic," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 67(1), pages 1-10.
    8. Marketta Vuola & Mika Korkeakoski & Noora Vähäkari & Michael B. Dwyer & Nicholas J. Hogarth & Jari Kaivo-oja & Jyrki Luukkanen & Eliyan Chea & Try Thuon & Keophousone Phonhalath, 2020. "What is a Green Economy? Review of National-Level Green Economy Policies in Cambodia and Lao PDR," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(16), pages 1-20, August.
    9. Busscher, Nienke & Parra, Constanza & Vanclay, Frank, 2018. "Land grabbing within a protected area: The experience of local communities with conservation and forestry activities in Los Esteros del Iberá, Argentina," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 572-582.
    10. Ruchi Patel, 2021. "The conservation revolution: radical ideas for saving nature beyond the anthropocene," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(6), pages 9609-9612, June.

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