Category Archives: Political Economy

Whigs and Hunters

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Thompson, E.P. 1975. Whigs and Hunters: The Origin of the Black Act. New York: Pantheon Books. EP Thompson’s classic Whigs and Hunters: The Origins of the Black Act traces the confluence of property, law, and crime in a transitional moment … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Bandits, Boundaries, Forests, Historical Materialism, Historical-Geographies, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Law, Marxism, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Power, Spatiality, Terror, The State, Violence | 4 Comments

Moral Economy of the Crowd

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Thompson, E.P. 1993. Customs in Common: Studies in Traditional Popular Culture. New York: New Press. [Ch. 4 & 5] E.P. Thompson’s essay “The Moral Economy of the English Crowd” questions the usual portrayal of eighteenth century food riots as “spasmodic … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, City, Historical Materialism, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Law, Marxism, Political Economy, Power, The State, Violence | 7 Comments

Marx: Law on Thefts of Wood

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Marx, Karl. 1842. “Debates on Law on Thefts of Wood.” Rheinische Zeitung. Nos. 298, 300, 303, 305 and 307. As editor of the Rheinische Zeitung in 1842-1843, Marx found himself having to cover what he deemed the “uninspiring debates” of … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Bandits, Forests, Illegality, Karl Marx, Land, Law, Marxism, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Power, Primitive Accumulation, The State | Comments Off on Marx: Law on Thefts of Wood

Weapons of the Weak

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Scott, James. 1985. Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. New Haven: Yale University Press. James Scott’s influential Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance offers a compelling thesis on peasant politics and social change in … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Everyday Life, Hegemony, Land, Law, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Post-Colonial, Power, The State, Violence | 2 Comments

Culture of Terror, Space of Death

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Taussig, Michael. 1984. “Culture of Terror, Space of Death. Roger Casement’s Putumayo Report and the Explanation of Torture.” Comparative Studies in Society and History 26(3): 467-497. In this essay, Michael Taussig wants to explore “the mediation of the culture of … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Boundaries, Dialectics, Forests, Frontiers, Historical-Geographies, Land, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Post-Colonial, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Spatiality, Spectacle, Terror, Violence | Comments Off on Culture of Terror, Space of Death

Engendering Everyday Resistance

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Hart, Gillian. 1991. “Engendering Everyday Resistance.” Journal of Peasant Studies. 19(1): 93-121. Gillian Hart’s much-cited article “Engendering Everyday Resistance” seeks to answer why women in the Muda region of Malaysia came “to define and prosecute their interests as workers, whereas … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Everyday Life, Gender, Land, Political Economy, Post-Colonial, Power, Race & Ethnicity, The State | Comments Off on Engendering Everyday Resistance

The Antinomies of ‘Community’

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Watts, Michael J. “The Sinister Political Life of Community: Economies of Violence and Governable Spaces in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.” Creed, Gerald. The Seductions of Community: Emancipations, Oppressions, Quandaries. Santa Fe, NM: School of American Research Press. Community is often … Continue reading →

Posted in Hegemony, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Law, Michel Foucault, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Scale, Sovereignty, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | 1 Comment

Intimate Enemies in Chiapas

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Bobrow-Strain, Aaron. 2007. Intimate Enemies: Landowners, Power, and Violence in Chiapas. Durham: Duke University Press. This book has a perfect hook: What about the vilified landowners on the receiving end of the January 1, 1994, uprising by the Zapatista rebels … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Antonio Gramsci, Boundaries, Frontiers, Gender, Hegemony, Henri Lefebvre, Historical-Geographies, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Marxism, Nation/Nationalism, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Scale, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | 2 Comments

The Fate of the Forest

Posted on July 5, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Hecht, Susanna and Alexander Cockburn. 1989. The Fate of the Forest. London: Verso. The first thing that stands out from Susanna Hecht and Alexander Cockburn’s classic Fate of the Forest is its mesmerizing writing style. The prose effortlessly moves the … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Boundaries, Forests, Frontiers, Historical-Geographies, Illegality, Insurgency/Counterinsurgency, Land, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Science & Tech., The State, Violence | 2 Comments

Marxism, Culture, and Political Ecology

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Teo Ballvé

Moore, Donald. 1996. “Marxism, Culture, and Political Ecology: Environmental Struggles in Zimbabwe’s Eastern Highlands.” In Liberation Ecologies: Environment, Development, Social Movements. London: Routledge. Donald Moore sets out to critique what he sees as political ecology’s emphasis on macro-structural dynamics whereby … Continue reading →

Posted in Agriculture, Antonio Gramsci, Dialectics, Frontiers, Gender, Historical-Geographies, Land, Marxism, Nation/Nationalism, Place, Political Ecology, Political Economy, Post-Colonial, Power, Race & Ethnicity, Spatiality, Territory, The State, Violence | Comments Off on Marxism, Culture, and Political Ecology