[P2P-F] Fwd: Privatization of "Nature" : Vocabulary Shift ?

[Michel Bauwens]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dante-Gabryell Monson <dante.monson at gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Feb 4, 2014 at 11:28 AM
Subject: Privatization of "Nature" : Vocabulary Shift ?
To: "global-survival at googlegroups.com" <global-survival at googlegroups.com>, "
econowmix at googlegroups.com" <econowmix at googlegroups.com>


http://blog.ecosystem-services.org/2012/08/07/sharing-natures-bounty-or-managing-the-services-provided-by-natural-capital/

In an article in the
Guardian<http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/06/price-rivers-rain-greatest-privatisation?cat=commentisfree&type=article>,
a UK newspaper, George
Monbiot<http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/georgemonbiot>,
takes a hit on ecosystem services and natural capital.

He finds the current shift in vocabulary very worrying:
Nature has become *natural capital*
Natural processes have become *ecosystem services*, as they exist only to
serve us.
Ecosystems (hills, forests, river catchments, etc.) are now *green
infrastructure*
Biodiversity and habitats are now *asset classes* within an *ecosystem
market*

He basically argues that all the hype around these new terms and concepts
carries with it the privatization of nature. He uses private ownership of
land, exemplified by the enclosure of the
commons<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inclosure_Acts>,
as an illustration of that privatization process.

...

continued on

http://blog.ecosystem-services.org/2012/08/07/sharing-natures-bounty-or-managing-the-services-provided-by-natural-capital/

further reference

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/aug/06/price-rivers-rain-greatest-privatisation



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