The political ecology of the global crisis and the limits of benevolent capitalism

While the current global crisis is changing the balance and intensity of the pressure on South America’s ecosystems, development strategies based on the intense appropriation of natural resources, an insertion in the global market based on primary resources and the externalization of environmental i...

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Bibliographic Details
Author: Gudynas, Eduardo
Format: article
Status:Published version
Publication Date:2010
Country:Ecuador
Institution:Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales
Repository:Revista ICONOS
Language:Spanish
OAI Identifier:oai:iconos.flacsoandes.edu.ec:article/391
Online Access:https://iconos.flacsoandes.edu.ec/index.php/iconos/article/view/391
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:environmental impacts
global crisis
capitalism
anthropocentrism
biocentrism
impactos ambientales
crisis global
capitalismo
antropocentrismo
biocentrismo
Description
Summary:While the current global crisis is changing the balance and intensity of the pressure on South America’s ecosystems, development strategies based on the intense appropriation of natural resources, an insertion in the global market based on primary resources and the externalization of environmental impacts persist. First, the effects of the crisis were denied or minimized (with an appeal to images such as the uncoupling or shielding of economies), and now that they have been recognized, a “repair” or “reform” of capitalism has been proposed while maintaining its essence. This expresses an ideological base characterized, among other aspects, by anthropocentrism and faith in material progress. The environmental dimension is assumed merely as an instrumental adjustment that results in generating the illusion of a benevolent capitalism, which is defended even by progressive South American governments.