Capitalist expansion and the decline of common property ecosystems in China, Vietnam and India

This article identifies some of the multiple processes of capitalist development through which access to common property resources and their utility for communities are undermined. Three sites in upland Asia demonstrate how patterns of exclusion are mediated by the unique and selective trajectories...

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Main Authors: Sugden, Fraser, Punch, S.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Wiley 2014
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/58425
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author Sugden, Fraser
Punch, S.
author_browse Punch, S.
Sugden, Fraser
author_facet Sugden, Fraser
Punch, S.
author_sort Sugden, Fraser
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description This article identifies some of the multiple processes of capitalist development through which access to common property resources and their utility for communities are undermined. Three sites in upland Asia demonstrate how patterns of exclusion are mediated by the unique and selective trajectories through which capital expands, resulting in a decline of common property ecosystems. The process is mediated by economic stress, ecological degradation and political processes such as state-sanctioned enclosure. The first case study from Shaoguan, South China, indicates how rapid capitalist industrialization has depleted the aquatic resource base, undermining the livelihoods of fishing households yet to be absorbed into the urban working class. At the second site, in Phu Yen, Vietnam, capitalist development is limited. However, indirect articulations between capitalism on the lowlands and the peasant economy of the uplands is driving the commercialization of agriculture and fishing and undermining the utility of communal river and lake ecosystems. In the third site, Buxa in West Bengal, India, there is only selective capitalist development, but patterns of resource extraction established during the colonial period and contemporary neoliberal ‘conservation’ agendas have directly excluded communities from forest resources. Restrictions on access oblige them to contribute subsidized labour to local enterprises. The article thus shows how communities which are differentially integrated into the global economy are excluded from natural resources through complex means.
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spelling CGSpace584252025-06-17T08:24:10Z Capitalist expansion and the decline of common property ecosystems in China, Vietnam and India Sugden, Fraser Punch, S. ecosystems living standards households economic aspects income natural resources industrialization This article identifies some of the multiple processes of capitalist development through which access to common property resources and their utility for communities are undermined. Three sites in upland Asia demonstrate how patterns of exclusion are mediated by the unique and selective trajectories through which capital expands, resulting in a decline of common property ecosystems. The process is mediated by economic stress, ecological degradation and political processes such as state-sanctioned enclosure. The first case study from Shaoguan, South China, indicates how rapid capitalist industrialization has depleted the aquatic resource base, undermining the livelihoods of fishing households yet to be absorbed into the urban working class. At the second site, in Phu Yen, Vietnam, capitalist development is limited. However, indirect articulations between capitalism on the lowlands and the peasant economy of the uplands is driving the commercialization of agriculture and fishing and undermining the utility of communal river and lake ecosystems. In the third site, Buxa in West Bengal, India, there is only selective capitalist development, but patterns of resource extraction established during the colonial period and contemporary neoliberal ‘conservation’ agendas have directly excluded communities from forest resources. Restrictions on access oblige them to contribute subsidized labour to local enterprises. The article thus shows how communities which are differentially integrated into the global economy are excluded from natural resources through complex means. 2014-07 2015-03-17T14:39:57Z 2015-03-17T14:39:57Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/58425 en Limited Access Wiley Sugden, Fraser; Punch, S. 2014. Capitalist expansion and the decline of common property ecosystems in China, Vietnam and India. Development and Change, 45(4):656-684. doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12103
spellingShingle ecosystems
living standards
households
economic aspects
income
natural resources
industrialization
Sugden, Fraser
Punch, S.
Capitalist expansion and the decline of common property ecosystems in China, Vietnam and India
title Capitalist expansion and the decline of common property ecosystems in China, Vietnam and India
title_full Capitalist expansion and the decline of common property ecosystems in China, Vietnam and India
title_fullStr Capitalist expansion and the decline of common property ecosystems in China, Vietnam and India
title_full_unstemmed Capitalist expansion and the decline of common property ecosystems in China, Vietnam and India
title_short Capitalist expansion and the decline of common property ecosystems in China, Vietnam and India
title_sort capitalist expansion and the decline of common property ecosystems in china vietnam and india
topic ecosystems
living standards
households
economic aspects
income
natural resources
industrialization
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/58425
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