May 13, 2015
ECON 420
Environment and Development Economists and environmental scientists conflict over the chronic issues of environment and developments. The objectives of economic development/growth often clash with ecological fortification and sustainability goals. Accordingly, scientists have generated a huge research body over the years regarding the cultural, philosophical, economic, political, physical, and social ecological implications of the effects of economic development on the environment. However, the purpose of this paper is to discuss this subject from the angles of the following scholars and articles:
a. Uneven and Combined Development by James O’Connor.
b. Third World Critique of Western Environmentalism …show more content…
He argues that the extraction of resources and pollution results from the disturbance of the assimilative capacity of the earth caused by the “uneven growth” whereby population and industries are concentrated in towns. Similarly, the concentration of resource extraction and monoculture (agriculture)in the rural or underdeveloped regions disturbs the assimilative capacity in these regions and depletes the soil reserves as well. In “combined development,” O’Connor identifies the economic and social forms that maximize returns in a global economy. However, the aspects of “combined development” include the migration of people from poor regions (resource-depressed areas, such as the underdeveloped countries and the countryside) into developed countries and industrial urban centers as well as technology and capital outsourcing to less synchronized poor areas. For this reason, resource reduction and pollution in underdeveloped countries deteriorate. Cities in developing countries that have the worst air pollution in the world include Tehran (Iran), Ankara (Turkey), Seoul (South Korea), Bangkok (Thailand), Mexico City (Mexico), Bombay (India), Caracas (Venezuela), and Cairo …show more content…
The deep ecology is an example of movement. However, Ramachandra Guha criticizes the movement. Guha acknowledges the deep ecology philosophy, although he doubts its wellbeing in the underdeveloped nations stipulating that it fits the American civilization. The primary focus of preserving the wilderness could threaten the economic survival of most underdeveloped nations. Guha recognized four fundamental features of deep ecology concerning nature/human