The second contradiction of capitalism and Karl Polanyi'sthe great transformation∗

Towards a green modernization development discourse: the new green revolution in Africa

“…11 This included steps to mobilize land (e.g. via enclosure laws) alongside technological intensification of agriculture and in the process forming the 'surplus labor' force that Lewis (1954) referred to: "farming was business, and …those who were poor must clear out" (Polanyi 1944: 192;Stroshane 1997). Referring to Jeremy Bentham who stated that the condition most favorable to (capitalist) modernization exists "when there are no entails, no unalienable endowments, no common lands, no right redemptions, no tithes", Polanyi stated that 'disembedding' processes were purposeful and strategic.…”

“…12 Both Marx and Polanyi recognized 'primitive accumulation' as "the singular genesis for both the commodification of land and the commodification of labor" and thereby its foundational significance for the capitalist organization of society(Prudham 2013(Prudham : 1579.13 Yet,Shivji (2008: 27-28) notes, Marx "saw the march of European capital into these continents, however brutal it was, a means by which the backward forms of production and society would be brought into the age of modern capitalism, and therefore, progressive." 14 These would include not only the traditional working class resistance that is often linked with Marx(Stroshane 1997), but agrarian, environmental and labour movements more broadly(Prudham 2013) Polanyi (1944). emphasized that the countermovents' chances of resisting and reversing processes of commodification would depend on the classes and organizations' ability to win support outside their own membership and speak for society more generally.…”

Markets, Nature, and Society

“…The recognition that ecological change can spur social change has not been completely overlooked by Polanyian-inspired social scientists. Perhaps most notably, O’Connor (1988, 1998; see also Stroshane 1997) draws on Polanyi to theorize how liberal forms of economic organization create a dual crisis: a crisis of overproduction based on the overexploitation of labor and a crisis of underproduction based on the overexploitation of nature. According to O’Connor, this dual crisis should bring workers and environmentalists together to push back against liberal market policies in a double movement.…”

“…In addition, I build on the efforts by environmental sociologists to recognize nature in both classical and contemporary sociological theory (Catton 2002; Foster 1999; Foster and Holleman 2012; Jerolmack and Tavory 2014; Rosa and Richter 2008; York and Mancus 2009, 2013). While I am by no means the first social scientist to find nature in Polanyi (see Bernard 1997; O’Connor 1988; Prudham 2005, 2013; Stroshane 1997), I demonstrate how Polanyi can be used to bring nature into economic sociology while also developing a Polanyian approach to environmental sociology. I thus seek to further embed nature in sociological theory and contemporary social inquiry.…”

Transformism in Alberta : the environmental political economy of the bituminous sands

“…John as a commodity, which he defined as an "object produced for sale on the market" (2001,75], it can only be thereafter accessed through purchasing power; and yet, human society relies upon natural elements such as land, air and water for subsistence, nutrition and health. This commoditization of what is not really a 4 While there is some debate as to whether Polanyi can be considered a 'Marxist' thinker, the case is persuasively made by Rhoda Halperin [1988] as well as Tim Stroshane (1997]. In an essay on this matter Stroshane notes that "Polanyi appears to have adopted and elaborated many of Marx's insights into society and economy," having studied Marx and Lukacs' writings at length (1997, 96].…”