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Footprints in the cotton fields: The Industrial Revolution as time-space appropriation and environmental load displacement

Hornborg, Alf LU (2006) In Ecological Economics 59(1). p.74-81
Abstract
This paper offers a method for quantifying the global exchange of (natural) space and (labor) time underlying the economic success of the British textile industry in the late 18th and early 19th century. Using historical statistics on inputs of land and labor embodied in cotton and wool production, respectively, estimates are made of the amount of British land and labor that were ‘saved’ by displacing fibre production to North America. By comparing inputs of land and labor in the textile exports of England with those in some commodities imported from its colonial periphery, and juxtaposing these data with exchange rates, estimates are also made of unequal exchange. Using such methods, it is possible to bring together the Marxist concern... (More)
This paper offers a method for quantifying the global exchange of (natural) space and (labor) time underlying the economic success of the British textile industry in the late 18th and early 19th century. Using historical statistics on inputs of land and labor embodied in cotton and wool production, respectively, estimates are made of the amount of British land and labor that were ‘saved’ by displacing fibre production to North America. By comparing inputs of land and labor in the textile exports of England with those in some commodities imported from its colonial periphery, and juxtaposing these data with exchange rates, estimates are also made of unequal exchange. Using such methods, it is possible to bring together the Marxist concern with unequal exchanges of labor time, on one hand, with the more recent concern with ecological footprints, on the other. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Capital accumulation, Textile industry, Technology, Time–space appropriation, Environmental load displacement, Industrial Revolution, Unequal exchange, Embodied land, Embodied labor, Ecological footprints
in
Ecological Economics
volume
59
issue
1
pages
74 - 81
publisher
Elsevier
external identifiers
  • wos:000239780200008
  • scopus:33745966919
ISSN
0921-8009
DOI
10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.10.009
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
4612799a-ceea-4581-928c-cb6621b36af9 (old id 161581)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 16:30:37
date last changed
2022-03-30 08:25:13
@article{4612799a-ceea-4581-928c-cb6621b36af9,
  abstract     = {{This paper offers a method for quantifying the global exchange of (natural) space and (labor) time underlying the economic success of the British textile industry in the late 18th and early 19th century. Using historical statistics on inputs of land and labor embodied in cotton and wool production, respectively, estimates are made of the amount of British land and labor that were ‘saved’ by displacing fibre production to North America. By comparing inputs of land and labor in the textile exports of England with those in some commodities imported from its colonial periphery, and juxtaposing these data with exchange rates, estimates are also made of unequal exchange. Using such methods, it is possible to bring together the Marxist concern with unequal exchanges of labor time, on one hand, with the more recent concern with ecological footprints, on the other.}},
  author       = {{Hornborg, Alf}},
  issn         = {{0921-8009}},
  keywords     = {{Capital accumulation; Textile industry; Technology; Time–space appropriation; Environmental load displacement; Industrial Revolution; Unequal exchange; Embodied land; Embodied labor; Ecological footprints}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  pages        = {{74--81}},
  publisher    = {{Elsevier}},
  series       = {{Ecological Economics}},
  title        = {{Footprints in the cotton fields: The Industrial Revolution as time-space appropriation and environmental load displacement}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.10.009}},
  doi          = {{10.1016/j.ecolecon.2005.10.009}},
  volume       = {{59}},
  year         = {{2006}},
}