2009
Letters of Gold: Enabling Primitive Accumulation through Neoliberal Conservation
Publication
Publication
Human Geography , Volume 2 - Issue 3 p. 91- 93
Abstract: In Capital I, Marx wrote that the history of the separation of the producers from the means of production “is written in the annals of mankind in letters of blood and fire” (Marx, 1976: 875). This ‘so-called primitive accumulation’, or ‘accumulation by dispossession’ in David Harvey’s words, continues unabated. Yet, its framing has changed considerably. Increasingly, capitalists have tried to avoid writing primitive accumulation in ‘letters of blood and fire’. Instead, they focus on creating the ‘enabling environment’ for accumulation by positing neoliberal capitalism as the ‘only alternative’. This short essay focuses on nature conservation in Southern Africa to illustrate that this seemingly ‘civilized’ or ‘inevitable’ accumulation is none other than the induced self-marginalisation of local people under the ‘golden letters’ of win-win neoliberal conservation.
Additional Metadata | |
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hdl.handle.net/1765/32270 | |
Human Geography | |
Organisation | International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University (ISS) |
Büscher, B. (2009). Letters of Gold: Enabling Primitive Accumulation through Neoliberal Conservation. Human Geography, 2(3), 91–93. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/32270 |