Environmentalism of the rich - Book Review
Environmentalism of the Rich Massachusetts: MIT Press. 232 pages. ISBN 9780262034951, $19.95 paperback. Peter Dauvergne. 2018.
Since its explosion in the mid-1960s, environmentalism has evolved into a cultural milieu of diverse methods and motivations for protecting the environment. This ranges from so-called radicals performing civil disobedience demonstrations with a biocentrist view of nature, to consumers who purchase products with a green certification and see natural resources solely for human provisioning. Environmentalism advocates target corporations as the leaders of resource depletion and ecosystem devastation. As a response, businesses wear masks of “corporate social responsibility” to maintain harmful practices without damage to their marketability. These veils are widely trusted, likely because society depends on corporations for modern necessities. Peter Dauvergne reveals the environmental movement’s inherent hypocrisy—environmentalism of the rich permits capitalism’s blatant natural and social exploitation beneath the guise of responsibility, reinforcing exploitation via consumption. Dauvergne stipulates that global sustainability will never be achieved if our economy continues to value growth and consumerism above regeneration, equality, and holism (pg. 9). Further, he bridges contemporary struggles against corruption and inequality in developing countries to European colonization. In doing so, he exposes the origins of capitalism’s insatiable hunger for vulnerable communities with valuable resources.
Environmentalism of the Rich reflects on colonialism’s legacy pattern of discovery, profiteering, and corruption. Historical impacts to indigenous communities and ecologies are evident throughout the New World. Dauvergne uses the tale of Captain Queirós to explain how explorers ravaged indigenous peoples with “moral” intentions, relating to later efforts to capitalize on newly found resources in exchange for “economic stability”. He also tells the history of Nauru island to illustrate the reciprocal nature of economic growth, resource depletion, and corruption. For readers unfamiliar with the Southern Pacific island, Nauru is rich in phosphate of lime. Decades of intense phosphate mining and war devastated the once pristine “Pleasant Island”. Once the phosphate supply began to dwindle, the government stepped into offshore banking and the island became an economic crime safe haven. When this did not solve their financial situation, Nauru made a deal with Australia to process their asylum seekers in a new detention center. Today, the island is only a drained wasteland with a detention center holding thousands of asylum seekers and no natural water supply; “dusty and parched in the dry season, the camp is muddy and miserable in the wet season” (pg. 36). These stories help explain why the legacy of colonization is so difficult to reconcile with. Upon European “discovery”, nations were at odds with growing their people’s prosperity in exchange for their resources or facing war with vastly superior weaponry (not to mention, their populations substantially fell from diseases brought by settlers). This forever entrenched them in a cycle of unsustainable development (pg. 42). By recounting this history, Dauvergne eloquently structures the history of colonialism into a theory of why the planet’s ecosystems are collapsing and its connection to social inequality. This book is an important read for anyone working in social justice or seeking to understand the roots of systemic corruption in resource extraction.
Environmentalism of the rich, for Dauvergne, fails to question the premise of economic growth and its propensity for exploitation, and instead urges individuals to become “consumer activists” by searching for labels that prove a product or service is sustainable. NGOs and environmental advocacy groups will publicly shame companies for their practices, and businesses respond with partnerships, voluntary promises, and certifications. Businesses often put out ads that Dauvergne calls “mind bombs” which apply pro-industry research with false or misleading claims pressuring customers to exclusively buy from brands with the sticker of approval (pg. 56). This loyalty guilting supports the big companies with the monetary ability to invest in the green certification and commercialize it. The result of these stunts is more marketability for the company, earning them more revenue to grow even more. The hope is for the market—through competition and consumer awareness—to reform into something greener. However, the reality is that the market begins to reflect only the companies with enough capital to acquire that badge of responsibility, and thus slowly monopolizes even further. This is a fallacy of environmentalism of the rich; permitting corporations that cause environmental issues to capitalize on marketing themselves as sustainable in order to generate even more consumption. Further, the author reveals the glaring trend that follows these efficiency gains: more growth. Even brands that are widely seen as sustainability icons, like Patagonia, use anti-consumerist advertisements to further the consumption of their own products which they divert to more growth (pg.48).
The book highlights how environmentalism of the rich negates any small progresses made by direct-action activists. If the mainstream movement permits economic growth and consumption, there will never be global sustainability. Environmentalism of the rich wants everyone to recycle bottles, take shorter showers, and remember to turn off the light, but continue buying toys and electronics for the entire family as long as they’re “sustainably-sourced”. Although incremental victories may be won using this strategy (e.g. corporations pledging to end deforestation) appealing to the capitalist structure only undermines its propensity for negative effects. Economic growth is at odds with global sustainability. Peter Dauvergne writes this book as a call to action for the movement that, in the past, has successfully brought attention to environmental issues. In fact, the movement forced people to become aware of the word “environment” and society’s impacts on it. The intended audience is anyone who feels angst and hypocritical due to their everyday consumer habits (pg 16.). This book does not provide a strategy for the future or a “blueprint for a new environmentalism” as the audience might hope for once reaching the conclusion (pg. 211). The author is an anti-consumerist and environmental policy writer, and thus cannot expertly layout a plan for readers that crave solutions. He is, however, a consumer. It would have been helpful to provide his own methods of reconciling with the hypocrisy brought by environmentalism of the rich. Nonetheless, Dauvergne wants consumers to critically question corporate scamming and greenwashing while understanding the breadth of exploitation that has existed for centuries, only growing worse with technological advancement and rising human population.
