Primitive accumulation, accumulation by dispossession, accumulation by ‘extra-economic’ means

Abstract

David Harvey's adaptation and redeployment of Marx's notion of ‘primitive accumulation’–under the heading of ‘accumulation by dispossession’–has reignited interest in the concept among geographers. This adaptation of the concept of primitive accumulation to different contexts than those Marx analyzed raises a variety of theoretical and practical issues. In this paper, I review recent uses and transformations of the notion of primitive accumulation that focus on its persistence within the Global North, addressing especially the political implications that attend different readings of primitive accumulation in the era of neoliberal globalization.

Do desenvolvimento sustentável à economia verde: a constante e acelerada investida do capital sobre a natureza

“…Harvey (2006), Glassmann (2006) e De Angelis (2007), entre outros, reconhecem que, apesar de os mecanismos concretos serem diferentes daqueles analisados por Marx (1981), a lógica da acumulação permanece a mesma dos tempos do início do capitalismo: o capital precisa, continuamente, estender seus poderes buscando novos territórios, setores e domínios que ainda não tenham sido incorporados à circulação. A economia verde é uma etapa radicalizada desse processo.…”

Accumulation by securitization: Commercial poaching, neoliberal conservation, and the creation of new wildlife frontiers

“…The conceptsÕ utility rests in their ability to capture a process whereby land and resources are enclosed and privatized and how this frequently leads to the dispossession of rural populations and concentrated accumulation of capital in the hands of a few. Emerging from debates concerning whether MarxÕs notion of primitive accumulation (1992 [1867]) is confined to the ÒoriginalÓ accumulation that kick-started capitalism by divorcing producers from the means of production (De Angelis, 2001;Glassman, 2006;Hall, 2013;Perelman, 2007), accumulation by dispossession, as articulated by Harvey (2003), posits that primitive accumulation has never gone away. Rather, it has taken new forms and operates in contexts outside of which Marx was analyzing.…”

Forestry development, water scarcity, and the Mapuche protest for environmental justice in Chile

“…Marx described this in his analysis of primitive accumulation (DUSSEL, 1985;GLASSMAN, 2006). Subsequently, the dispossession of communal lands acquired new expressions in the transformations of capitalism, now neoliberal, global and hegemonic.…”

“…The privatization of water in Chile in 1981(BAUER, 2015 is the radical expression of this new historical period of the neoliberalization of nature (HEYNEN et al, 2007;CASTREE, 2008). In synthesis, the privatization of natural commons is a central part of the neoliberal counter-revolutionary project (HARVEY, 2003;GLASSMAN, 2006).…”

“…In this sense, we understand political ecology as a political economy of the environment (CASTREE, 2008) that focuses its analysis on conflicts and socio-environmental changes (SWYNGEDOUW, 2004), currently structured by the neoliberal dynamics of accumulation by dispossession (HARVEY, 2003;GLASSMAN, 2006). These dynamics include the privatization of natural commons like land, native forests, and water (AGRAWAL, 2006;BAKKER, 2007;ROBBINS, 2012;WALL, 2014;LINEBAUGH, 2014;COMPOSTO et al, 2014).…”