Geography 290 Class Notes

Course Overview

  • Course Title: Geography 290

  • Date: November 24, 2025

  • Instructor: Professor Kevin A. Gould

  • Affiliation: Department of Geography, Planning and Environment

Class Organization

  1. Announcements

    • Midterm scores

    • Midterm review scheduled at Weds office hours (12:30 PM)

  2. Review topics for Discussion

    • Markets and protests at the COP 30.

  3. Key Lecture Topic: Capitalism as a Mode of Production

    • Labor

    • Accumulation

    • Contradictions and crisis

    • Review for the final exam, part 1

Academic Performance Data

  • Second Midterm Grades:

    • Mean: 70.58

    • Median: 70.88

    • Maximum: 96

    • Minimum: 36

Graph showing grades distribution

Scarcity Management through Market Mechanisms

  • Market Response Model: In theory, scarcity of environmental goods and services sets off adaptations to rising prices, leading to increased resource availability.

    • Supply and demand dynamics:

      • Demand decreases → use of substitutes → increased efficiency → recycling

      • Supply increases → search for new sources → increased output in known sources

    • Resource Scarcity Mechanisms: Prices rise, leading to exploration for new resources.

    • Source Reference: Adapted from Rees (1990), Page 39.

    • Foundational Text: Robbins et al. (2014).

Cap and Trade Explained

  • Mechanism of Cap and Trade in Emission Regulations:

    • Allows the state to determine total emissions in the market, contrasting with taxation where companies decide their own emission levels.

    • Process Overview:

    1. Government initially allocates permits to regulated emitters through:

      • Free distribution

      • Fixed price sales

      • Auctions

    2. Emitters manage operations to align with their permits:

      • Some emitters reduce operations and sell excess permits to others needing more.

      • Others purchase additional permits from efficient producers creating a permit market.

    • Source Reference: https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teachingmaterials/carbonemissions/unit6.html.

Carbon Credits at COP 30

  • At COP 30, a distinction is made between carbon credits and carbon markets while addressing climate change as humans' primary driver due to fossil fuel consumption.

  • UN Definition:

    • Climate change encompasses long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns primarily driven by human activities, especially fossil fuels like coal and oil.

Understanding Capitalism

  • Core Definition:

    • Capitalism is an economic and social system where owners of capital (capitalists) appropriate surplus generated by direct producers (workers), resulting in wealth accumulation for the owners.

    • Focus on commodity production aimed at profit generation.

    • Individuals act on self-interest influenced by competition and market forces.

    • Source Reference: Magdoff and Foster, Page 14.

Elements of Modes of Production

  • Four Key Elements Identified by Political Economy Scholars:

    1. Labor

    2. Accumulation

    3. Contradictions

    4. Crises

The Labor Process in Capitalism

  • Key Components:

    • Commodities

    • Means of Production

    • Conditions of Production

    • Labor Power

    • Surplus Value

Capital Accumulation

  • Transition Dynamics to Capitalism:

    • Primitive Accumulation:

      • Enclosure movement

      • Punishments for theft

      • Wars against autonomous communities and church land acquisition

      • African slave trade and colonial agricultural exploitation

    • Post-establishment mechanisms of accumulation include:

      • Innovation in production techniques

      • Increased circulation of capital

      • Reduction in investment in labor and environment, reflecting modern primitive accumulation.

Environmental Impact of Capitalism

  • Growth Imperative:

    • Leads to resource over-harvesting and labor exploitation imperatives.

    • Endangers life forms and capitalism itself requiring healthy labor and environments.

    • Relevant Data:

      • Global materials consumption: 100.6 billion tonnes per year

      • Breakdown of consumed materials:

      • Mineral resources: 50.8 billion tonnes

      • Fossil fuels: 10.1 billion tonnes

      • Significant waste where only 8.6% is recycled.

    • Source Reference: Circle Economy.

Over-Accumulation and Imperialism

  • Capitalist Responses:

    • Over-accumulation may prompt imperialist actions for resource extraction.

    • Example: US actions in Ukraine over mineral resources, reflecting competition.

Environmental Justice Movement

  • Emerging Struggles:

    • Indigenous communities, peasants resisting over-extraction driven by capitalist accumulation.

    • Reference: Environmental Justice Atlas (EJ Atlas).

Key Takeaways from Political Economy Approach

  • Environmental crises are inherent within capitalism, necessitating a re-evaluation of capitalist structures to address environmental issues.

Academic Readings and Next Steps

  • Final Readings:

    1. Robbins et al. (2014).

    2. Klein & Taylor. (2025).

    3. Chapter from Everything for Everyone: An Oral History of the New York Commune, 2052-2072.