Neoliberalism and the Biophysical Environment: A Synthesis and Evaluation of the Research

Abstract

This article both synthesizes and critically evaluates a now large, multi-disciplinary body of published research that examines the neoliberalization of environmental regulation, management, and governance. Since the late 1970s, neoliberal ideas and ideals have gradually made their way into the domain of environmental policy as part of a wider change in the global political economy. While the volume of empirical research is now such that we can draw some conclusions about this policy shift, the fact that the research has evolved piecemeal across so many different disciplines has made identifying points of similarity and difference in the findings more difficult. After clarifying what neoliberalism is and explaining why the term 'neoliberalization' is preferable, the article analyzes the principal components and enumerates the social and environmental effects of this multifaceted process. By offering a comprehensive and probing survey of the salient literature, I hope not only to codify the existing research but also to guide future critical inquiries into neoliberal environmental policy.

Decoupling: A Key Fantasy of the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda

“…While the term neoliberalism has been employed in various ways (see esp. Flew, 2011), most precisely it is defined as the political economic regime promoting intertwined processes of privatization, deregulation, decentralization, marketization, and commodification that have become globally hegemonic since the 1980s (Castree, 2010). Disdaining mechanisms of collective resource aggregation and redistribution as inefficient and unwieldy, neoliberalism must thus promote economic growth as its 'one true and fundamental social policy' (Foucault, 2008, p. 144).…”

Contesting energy transitions: wind power and conflicts in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec

“…In this regard, there is increasing discussion of the ways in which neoliberal institutions have reshaped global capitalist dynamics, and thus, environmental issues and conflicts (Heynen and Robbins 2005). Neoliberalism gained force in the 1970s as a new paradigm describing a worldview, a policy discourse and a set of policy measures that liberate individual entrepreneurial activities from state control and regulation (Castree 2010). Strong private property rights, free trade and financial flows are at the core of capital accumulation under neoliberal arrangements (Harvey 2005;McCarthy 2015).…”

Nodes of resistance to green grabbing: a political ecology

“…The growing literature on the subject suggests that this is a problem of global scale that has mainly arisen during a historical period when free market, neo-liberal policies have dominated the world economy (Fairhead, Leach, and Scoones, 2012;Corson, 2011Corson, , 2012Corson and MacDonald, 2012;Wolford, 2010;Leach, Fairhead and Fraser, 2012;Cardenas, 2012;Benjaminsin and Bryceson, 2012;Gardner, 2012;Nalepa and Bauer, 2012;Neimark, 2012;Seagle, 2012;Ybarra, 2012;Snijders, 2012;MaCarthy, Vel and Afiff, 2012;Tienhaara, 2012;Baletti, 2012;Filer, 2012;Kelly, 2011;Nelson, 2010;Dressler et al, 2010;Goldman, 2011;Castree, 2008Castree, , 2010. A neoliberal view of the environment prescribes the commoditization of nearly all aspects of the natural environment -essentially rendering nature for sale -along with the new institutions and relationships that have accompanied this transition toward laissez-faire economics and politics (Buchler and Dressler, 2012;Leach, 2012).…”