Commodification Of Nature

COMMODITATION OF NATURE 1

COMMODITATION OF NATURE

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By commodifying nature products and goods become easier to make, are cheaper, and

replaceable. However, with these benefits, come significant consequences, both socially and

environmentally

The commodification of nature is an area which mainly is concerned with

research on the environmental studies which are usually concerned with the ways in which the

natural environment and the processes in it can be able to be made and then exchanged through

the market and the implications thereof. It can also be a process that is Inco-porting biophysical

entities and the information about them into economic systems in order to perform the purpose of

the exchange of the goods for the profit.

The desire to commodify nature to human demands is not new as it has always been a

part of western perceptions of the environment. The story of the commodification process even

started in the early days during the biblical times. However, only recently, with the advent of

machine technology such as the invention of steam engines in the 18th century has humanity

reached such a dramatic rise in the ability to harvest natural resources with unnatural efficiency.

The earliest settlers came to the Americas with the cultural belief in private property.

This was new to the natives at the time, and as a British observer noted that the Native

Americans did not necessarily have their own parcels of land, merely general residence.

This,

in turn, did not incentivize the Native Americans to "improve" the land by fencing it off and

farming the soil as the Europeans did.

Also, conceptions of property made it a fundamental

right for owners of land to use their property as they see fit.

Steinberg, 33

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In the John Locke the Second Treatise on Government. The paper outlines that work that

individual entity put into the land is the owned by that person only. Essentially Locke stated that

any product from nature that was to arise out of an individual’s own labor is his because he has

added value to it. “It being by him removed from the common state Nature placed it in, it hath

by this labor, something annexed to it, that excludes the common right of other men. For this

Labour being the unquestionable Property of the Labourer.” Essentially stating that if man

commodifies something in nature through his own effort, it belongs exclusively to him, since he

has added value to nature through his own labor.

Benefits of commodification can result in the tremendous standards of living. Like, it had

increased the production of dairy industry, making a very great impact and raising of the social

standards of the people. as the As technology and industrialization developed, an increasing

amount of people moved to cities to have a “better” life and find work in large factories and

industries.

With the agrarian revolution the farmland increased, this was due to the changes that

occurred in the landholding pattern that was mainly spurred on by the new methods of

cultivation that were being discovered, in the previous era of cultivation, the open field system

was usually prominent which didn’t even as much productive as compared to the new methods

that were being invented. The system was very problematic as the land had to be left so as to

allow it to retain and avoid depleting the soil since by the continual growth of the crops removes

the nutrients from the soil, so the land had to be left for a few years in order to continue to yield

food. One of the most reliable solutions to this was by the continual moving of the plants to

different land; this was not feasible in the arts of the Great Britain because the area mainly had

challenges of enough land for the cultivation. This led to the farmers starting to grow plants in

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the barren land by incorporating different types of crops such as clover or the tulips. The plants

had sufficient nutrients which were very rich in the soil they could provide some of the depleted

nutrients in the soil; the plants were important because they could sometimes by left into the

winter to growing this then led to the growth of the livestock feed and many animals.

The use of natural resources also extended to the energy which they provided. In the

early days of factories, wooden water wheels dominated the capture of natural energy. However,

this form of energy was only available at certain times of the year which proved inefficient if

factory owners wanted to keep running all year long. As a result, blast furnaces allowed

consistent production and economic gain throughout the year.

Commodification resulted into many problems such the production of the waste

materials from the industries which greatly impacted the lives of the individual in the

environment, this led to increases in the disease transmission and emergence of new disease that

significantly threatened human life. Moreover, the contamination of the environment with

multiple wastes led to the decline of the and nature lost its beauty. Furthermore, the living

standard had to increase which translated to an increased cost of living among the individuals in

the community, the cost of living rise because of the increased pricing of different commodities

as they were done value addition to in order to improve their qualities

Furthermore, it led people to become further detached from natural resources. An

example can be seen through our research in the technological advances in dairy farming, and

how it intensified man’s ability to commodify nature, through the advent of mechanized milking

and farming. This form of mechanization allowed humans to further control nature and natural

Steinberg, 59

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processes. While more is produced when industries are increasingly mechanized, the product

becomes disengaged from consumers. Through the mystification of the sources of commodities,

humanity becomes further distanced from things, and places. For example, the food most buy in

grocery stores is far detached from the context of the land it was grown on. The materials used to

markup assignments are also mystified from their natural sources, like the oil, rubber, and ink.

Moreover, people became separated from humanity and potential to justify abusive

use in the eyes of many. The commodification of nature can be seen as the result of an

increasingly dualist lens towards nature. This dualist lens disembodies humanity’s inherent

interconnectedness with nature. Much of this lens was the result of the conception of wilderness.

Per William Cronon, in the late 18th century, the most 'common usage of the word wilderness

referred to a place deserted, savage desolate or barren.'

Principally referring to wilderness as a

wasteland not intended to be inhabited but instead appreciated. John Muir fueled much of these

conceptions as he painted wilderness as a place of "contemplation and refuge from the stresses

of rapid social and economic change."

Through much of Muir's efforts, National Parks and their

ability to offer tourists a sense of wilderness became popularized.

Cronan argues that the conceptions of the wilderness do not serve to enhance

humanities connection to nature, but instead distances humankind from it. Due to the

domestication of nature serving as a spectacle for human enjoyment, increased acceptance of

human’s domination and control over nature persevered ever strongly.

One aspect of this domination of nature was through the control of weeds and

overgrowth to kill insects which transferred malaria as well as other diseases. However, in the

Cronon

Stoll, 8

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efforts to solve one problem, another was created. As Carson noted, "chemicals sprayed on

croplands or forests or gardens lie long in the soil, entering into living organisms, passing from

one to another in a chain of poisoning and death."

Showing that through humanity’s desire to

modify the beauty of nature in neighborhoods by using technology to eliminate potential threats,

we fail to realize that nature is an ecological system, a system which response in its own way

when humans interfere with it.

Herein lays the difference between conceptions of wilderness and ecology and the roles

they play in the commodification of nature. Wilderness enables a dualistic view of nature, a

belief that sees nature as existing to serve humankind's desires for both spiritual and material

outcomes. Commodification is part of humankind's tendency to put prices on the services and

materials nature provides. With technology’s aid, this tendency allows commodities to become

easier to make, cheaper replaceable, and most importantly, discardable.

Mechanization played a very big role in the commodification of nature; it led to the

growth and urbanization of the centers around the factory. This was as a result of the improved

and increased construction of the structures around the so as to make great value addition of the

products that were being made, furthermore. The process of "reclaiming" nature for economic

gain was only facilitated by technological advances that allowed for more production and social

"advances," with concepts such as Fordism, and the industrialization of workers in factories to

produce, and therefore use, more resources. These advances sought to streamline nature and its

resources.

Carson Silent Spring

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Mechanization also led to the process of the nature becoming a resource by itself as the

individuals were able to make good use of the land. This was mainly facilitated by growing of

the high valued crops that fetched well in the market, and they were able to produce and retain

the nutrients back to the soil hence not depleting the soil. In addition of the commodification of

nature can be seen in the development of the dairy industry. Beginning like many other

commodities, dairy was acquired and consumed on a local level. As technology and

industrialization developed, an increasing amount of people moved to cities to have a “better”

life and find work in large factories and industries. However, with the increasing population

shift in concentrated cities, such as New York in the early 20

century, came the intensification

of land in surrounding regions. This, in turn, drove a need for further technological advances to

satisfy the needs of the urban populations. Refrigerated railway cars provided a suitable solution

that was not formerly possible. It enabled consumers to get their dairy products from farms

further and further away from where they lived.

Not only did dairy production become alienated from the consumers as a result of

technological advances, but many producers became alienated from the very product they were

producing as well. As the demand to satisfy an increasingly large population weighed on the

producers, they were forced to adopt numerous methods that both increased the production of

dairy per cow (using rbGH for example) and mechanized milking as a whole (as seen in large

dairy CAFO’s). This form of mechanization allowed humans to further control nature and

natural processes through technology. While more is produced when industries are increasingly

mechanized, the product becomes disengaged from consumers. Through separating the natural

origins of commodities, humanity becomes further dissociated from things and places.

Hariot 158

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References

Cronon, William. “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature.” In

Uncommon Ground: Rethinking the Human Place in Nature, edited by William Cronon, 69-90.

New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1995.

Stoll, Steven. “Introduction: The Rise of U.S. Environmentalism.” In U.S. Environmentalism

since 1945: A Brief History with Documents, edited by Steven Stoll, 1-26. Boston: Bedford/St.

Martin's, 2007.

Carson, Rachel. “Silent Spring.” In U.S. Environmentalism since 1945: A Brief History with

Documents, edited by Steven Stoll, 76-82. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007.

Steinberg, Theodore. “A World of Commodities.” In Down to Earth: Nature's Role in American History.

2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Steinberg, Theodore. “Throwaway society.” In Down to Earth: Nature's Role in American

History. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

Bible

Thomas Hariot, from primary source workshop 1, reading list.

Local History Project- personal

John Locke, Second Treatise on Government. From primary source workshop 1, reading list.

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conclusion, the ability to commodify nature has greatly benefited many individuals by

significantly increasing the quality of life in numerous areas. However, it often comes at a cost

to both the environment and the other communities.

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