Something that stands out to me is that all of the objects of concern this week and two of the three from last week have discussed the object from a political economy perspective. I did not expect this just from reading the perspectives in the previous section, and political economy seemed more interested in pointing out the flaws of capitalism rather than providing possible solutions to environmental issues. Looking into this week’s objects and their relation to political economy might provide insight into what makes it such an important perspective to consider.
With Uranium, the political economy perspective looked into environmental justice issues in relation to Navajo Uranium mines. The Navajo workers were both treated poorly with minimal wages and cancer, previously unheard of in the Navajo community, suddenly became a huge problem that affected many of the miners. This is an interesting perspective because I had never previously thought to consider where the Uranium comes from, it it rarely comes up in the discussion of nuclear power. It reminds us that there is a cost associated with everything, and that profit is still a goal to be aware of.
In the discussion of Tuna, the political economy perspective considered the transition from Tuna as a Fordist industry to a post-Fordist industry. Overfishing became a common practice with bigger fishing firms eventually leading to transnational corporations that continued to strain resources, being the only firms that could afford the certifications required to be competitive in the industry. This stresses the second contradiction of capitalism and again shows that making money is an incredibly important motive for ecological degradation.
Finally, in discussing Lawns, the book talked about the huge industry that lawns have become. The commodity chain showed all the different players involved in the production of a nice lawn, pull marketing showed how the industry convinces people that nice lawns are necessary, and the spatial fix shows the industry looking abroad to expand production. Again, this perspective shows that everything is tied to a cost, and people are trying to make money off of that.
So what does this tell us about environmental issues at large? That political economy is an important perspective to discuss in any major problem. It brings up parts of an issue that normally aren’t thought about or discussed, and through this it brings much needed realism to the problem as a whole. It also shows how politics and economic concerns are inescapable. People are often just trying to make money, as they should in our capitalist system, but this has many negative side effects. On top of this, political economy doesn’t provide any great solutions for now without changing our entire economy. However, its the system we use, so we must be aware of the problems created by this system and improve what we can.