Ecologically Unequal Exchange: Disagreements with Somerville

Abstract

ABSTRACT Somerville's rejoinder highlights some fundamental divergences between ecologically unequal exchange theory and the classical Marxist position. This brief intervention addresses a few points in his rejoinder that are particularly illustrative of the incompatibility of the two frameworks. It is argued that historical materialism should acknowledge the materiality of world trade as foundational to global inequalities and unsustainability.