31
2
Class relations under capitalism and the persisting powers reproduced by these
relations represent an important focus in Marxist theory (Isaac 1987). Human
agency is at the centre of Marx’ conception of power, but it is an agency that is
socially conditioned, which is reflected in this famous quote:
» Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not
make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already,
given and transmitted from the past (Marx 1852: 5).
Hence, a Marxist power theory understands human agency as constrained and to a
large extent produced by historically established structures in a society. While structure generates the potential and limits for the exertion of power, agency tends to
reproduce structure. To illustrate this point, Isaac (1987: 81) uses the example of a
capitalist such as David Rockefeller (1915–2017), who certainly was a powerful man.
» But a social theory of power must explain what kinds of social relations exist and
how power is distributed by these relations, such that it is possible for David
Rockefeller to have the power that he has. To do this is not to deny that it is he who
possesses this power, nor to deny those personal attributes determining the particular manner in which he exercises it. It is simply to insist that the power individuals
possess has social conditions of existence, and that it is these conditions that should
be the primary focus of theoretical analysis (Isaac 1987: 81).
Michael Watts (1983) provides an early example of such a power analysis in political ecology by focusing on how historically produced social structures condition
the agency of individual smallholders in his study of small-scale farming in northern Nigeria. He concludes that commodification caused starvation and economic
marginalization among peasants who became increasingly dependent on an unstable market. This market integration led them to become more vulnerable, and they
therefore had to take up loans and generally take more risks. Previously selfsufficient, peasants gradually became underpaid farm workers. This in turn led to
decreasing investments of labour on their own land, resulting in the degradation of
soils on land where food crops were grown. Hence, this was a largely structural
explanation of processes of deprivation and soil degradation.
Definition
In addition to Watts’ prominent contributions to political ecology, David Harvey’s
Marx-inspired work has been influential in the social sciences in general, including
in political ecology, during the last two or three decades. One example is Harvey’s
modification of Marx’s notion of ‘primitive accumulation’, which Marx saw as a
key feature of how capitalism works. This refers to a historical process of divorcing
the producer from the means of production through privatization of commons.
According to Harvey (2003: 149),
» primitive accumulation as Marx described it … entailed taking land, say,
enclosing it, and expelling a resident population to create a landless proletariat, and then releasing the land into the privatized mainstream of capital
accumulation.
2.1 · Marxist Political Economy
2
Class relations under capitalism and the persisting powers reproduced by these
relations represent an important focus in Marxist theory (Isaac 1987). Human
agency is at the centre of Marx’ conception of power, but it is an agency that is
socially conditioned, which is reflected in this famous quote:
» Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not
make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already,
given and transmitted from the past (Marx 1852: 5).
Hence, a Marxist power theory understands human agency as constrained and to a
large extent produced by historically established structures in a society. While structure generates the potential and limits for the exertion of power, agency tends to
reproduce structure. To illustrate this point, Isaac (1987: 81) uses the example of a
capitalist such as David Rockefeller (1915–2017), who certainly was a powerful man.
» But a social theory of power must explain what kinds of social relations exist and
how power is distributed by these relations, such that it is possible for David
Rockefeller to have the power that he has. To do this is not to deny that it is he who
possesses this power, nor to deny those personal attributes determining the particular manner in which he exercises it. It is simply to insist that the power individuals
possess has social conditions of existence, and that it is these conditions that should
be the primary focus of theoretical analysis (Isaac 1987: 81).
Michael Watts (1983) provides an early example of such a power analysis in political ecology by focusing on how historically produced social structures condition
the agency of individual smallholders in his study of small-scale farming in northern Nigeria. He concludes that commodification caused starvation and economic
marginalization among peasants who became increasingly dependent on an unstable market. This market integration led them to become more vulnerable, and they
therefore had to take up loans and generally take more risks. Previously selfsufficient, peasants gradually became underpaid farm workers. This in turn led to
decreasing investments of labour on their own land, resulting in the degradation of
soils on land where food crops were grown. Hence, this was a largely structural
explanation of processes of deprivation and soil degradation.
Definition
In addition to Watts’ prominent contributions to political ecology, David Harvey’s
Marx-inspired work has been influential in the social sciences in general, including
in political ecology, during the last two or three decades. One example is Harvey’s
modification of Marx’s notion of ‘primitive accumulation’, which Marx saw as a
key feature of how capitalism works. This refers to a historical process of divorcing
the producer from the means of production through privatization of commons.
According to Harvey (2003: 149),
» primitive accumulation as Marx described it … entailed taking land, say,
enclosing it, and expelling a resident population to create a landless proletariat, and then releasing the land into the privatized mainstream of capital
accumulation.
2.1 · Marxist Political Economy