Life for Sale? The Politics of Lively Commodities

Rosemary-Claire Collard and Jessica Dempsey
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Rosemary-Claire Collard: Department of Geography, University of Toronto, 100 St George Street, Toronto, ON, Canada M5S 3G3
Jessica Dempsey: School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, PO Box 3060 STN CSC, Victoria, BC, Canada V8W 3R4

Environment and Planning A, 2013, vol. 45, issue 11, 2682-2699

Abstract: When so many facets of nonhuman life are commodified daily with little challenge, this paper looks to shed light on what is objectionable about commodifying nonhuman life. As a contribution in this direction, we undertake a comparative examination of the formation of two different but equally lively, and international, commodities: Exotic pets and ecosystem carbon. In this paper we first set out to understand what characteristics of life matter in the production of the commodity. We argue that a particular mode of value-generating life predominates in each commodity circuit: in exotic pet trade, an individualized, ‘encounterable’ life; in ecosystem services, an aggregate, reproductive life. Second, we find that hierarchies between humans and other beings are highly generative in the formation and effects of lively commodities. On one hand, these hierarchies cast nonhumans in a disposable state that is integral to the functioning of exotic pet trade; on the other hand, these hierarchies are partly what ecosystem services are designed to address. Nevertheless, we find that reproduction of uneven species geographies is at work in both economies. The degree and nature of effect on the material conditions of nonhuman lives is, however, distinct, and our conclusion calls for greater attention to these differences.

Keywords: life; commodification; exotic pet trade; ecosystem services; nonhumans (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (12)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:envira:v:45:y:2013:i:11:p:2682-2699

DOI: 10.1068/a45692

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