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China as Chimney of the World: The Fossil Capital Hypothesis

Malm, Andreas LU (2012) In Organization & Environment 25(2). p.146-177
Abstract
What has caused the early 21st-century emissions explosion in China? Driving a global explosion, it appears to stand in some relation to processes of globalization, but these links have mostly remained unexplored. This article revisits some established frameworks for understanding the connection between globalization and environmental degradation and argues that they are insufficient for explaining the Chinese explosion. A new hypothesis is outlined, called "the fossil capital hypothesis." It proposes that globally mobile capital will tend to relocate production to countries with cheap and disciplined labor, but only through the accelerated consumption of fossil energy. Via three specified "effects," the inflow of global capital will... (More)
What has caused the early 21st-century emissions explosion in China? Driving a global explosion, it appears to stand in some relation to processes of globalization, but these links have mostly remained unexplored. This article revisits some established frameworks for understanding the connection between globalization and environmental degradation and argues that they are insufficient for explaining the Chinese explosion. A new hypothesis is outlined, called "the fossil capital hypothesis." It proposes that globally mobile capital will tend to relocate production to countries with cheap and disciplined labor, but only through the accelerated consumption of fossil energy. Via three specified "effects," the inflow of global capital will therefore set off massive increases in CO2 emissions. The hypothesis is applied in a brief analysis of developments in China between 2001 and 2008, and in other Asian countries after the Chinese strike wave in 2010. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
CO2 emissions, globalization, China, embodied emissions in trade, labor, fossil capital, environmental Kuznets curve in reverse
in
Organization & Environment
volume
25
issue
2
pages
146 - 177
publisher
SAGE Publications
external identifiers
  • wos:000305534200003
  • scopus:84862647362
ISSN
1552-7417
DOI
10.1177/1086026612449338
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f971cbe0-caa8-459b-b38f-b24232a50236 (old id 2890590)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 09:55:57
date last changed
2022-01-25 18:04:08
@article{f971cbe0-caa8-459b-b38f-b24232a50236,
  abstract     = {{What has caused the early 21st-century emissions explosion in China? Driving a global explosion, it appears to stand in some relation to processes of globalization, but these links have mostly remained unexplored. This article revisits some established frameworks for understanding the connection between globalization and environmental degradation and argues that they are insufficient for explaining the Chinese explosion. A new hypothesis is outlined, called "the fossil capital hypothesis." It proposes that globally mobile capital will tend to relocate production to countries with cheap and disciplined labor, but only through the accelerated consumption of fossil energy. Via three specified "effects," the inflow of global capital will therefore set off massive increases in CO2 emissions. The hypothesis is applied in a brief analysis of developments in China between 2001 and 2008, and in other Asian countries after the Chinese strike wave in 2010.}},
  author       = {{Malm, Andreas}},
  issn         = {{1552-7417}},
  keywords     = {{CO2 emissions; globalization; China; embodied emissions in trade; labor; fossil capital; environmental Kuznets curve in reverse}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{146--177}},
  publisher    = {{SAGE Publications}},
  series       = {{Organization & Environment}},
  title        = {{China as Chimney of the World: The Fossil Capital Hypothesis}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1086026612449338}},
  doi          = {{10.1177/1086026612449338}},
  volume       = {{25}},
  year         = {{2012}},
}