B Longo
Biographic Data
| ID | 24652 |
|---|---|
| NAME | B Longo |
| GIVEN NAMES | B |
| FAMILY NAME | Longo |
| SIGNATURE | LONGO B |
| AFFILIATIONS | North Carolina State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-6409-8399 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 36 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 132 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 36 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Recycling paradox
The material footprints of finance in a low-growth era
As human societies continue on a growth-dependent path, there is anxiety that rising demand for minerals and materials will increase pressure on global and regional earth systems, especially in the extractive economies of global South nations. Additionally, many scholars and international organizations have raised concern that, in affluent nations, current rates of aggregate raw material consumption are presently unsustainable. These concerns hav…
Plastics, social metabolism, and the society-nature problematic
Critical sustainability science
The objective of this paper is to present a critical sustainability science research program, which is founded on two critical theoretical/philosophical traditions: critical realism and historical materialism. We elaborate these traditions to clarify what they can analytically offer to socioecological analyses in sustainability science and emphasize their prospective contributions to sustainability transitions and transformations. A critical sust…
Monopoly Capital and the Rise of the Synthetic Age
Following Harry Braverman's assertion that we must examine "by way of concrete historical specific analysis of technology...on one side and social relations on the other" in order to understand the impact of the Scientific-Technical Revolution on our daily lives, John Hedlund and Stefano B. Longo describe the explosion of the Synthetic Age of plastics, revealing the commodification of science in service of capital
Social sustainability
Sustainability science must challenge common sense
In this comment, we respond to the claim of (Bodin, Sustain Sci 16: 2151–2155, 2021) that sustainability science, as a research community, has begun to “lean to the left” in a problematic manner. On one hand, we remain unconvinced by the examples cited as indications for this tendency, and argue for caution in making such judgements. On the other hand, we hold that that there may be reasons for seemingly “left leaning” positions which are scienti…
Environmental threats and activism against extractive industries
Nutrient Overloading in the Chesapeake Bay
We examine socioecological drivers of nutrient overloading and eutrophication in the Chesapeake Bay associated with poultry production on the Delmarva Peninsula. We use a social metabolic analysis—rooted in a political-economy perspective—that highlights the interchange of matter and energy and the inextricable links within and between social and ecological systems, illuminating the social structural processes contributing to ecological changes. …
Global labor value chains, commodification, and the socioecological structure of severe exploitation. A case study of the Thai seafood sector
We utilize perspectives in environmental sociology and politicaleconomy to examine relationships between human exploitationand ecological degradation. Specifically, we apply global laborvalue chains and the tragedy of the commodity to analyze severelabor exploitation in Thai capturefisheries. Our analysis suggeststhat severe labor exploitation has played a significant role inlowering the market value of the Thai seafood sector as anadaptation to …
Energy and the Environment
Research has highlighted the relationship between production expansion and the creation of sacrifice zones in advanced capitalist economies. Yet, less attention has focused on the establishment of such regions within authoritarian, state-socialist countries. We draw theoretical and conceptual insights from treadmill of production theory and the Gramscian theory of hegemony to delineate the interaction between legitimation processes used by author…
The Tragedy of the Commodity
Winner of the 2017 Paul Sweezy Marxist Sociology Book Award from the American Sociological Association Although humans have long depended on oceans and aquatic ecosystems for sustenance and trade, only recently has human influence on these resources dramatically increased, transforming and undermining oceanic environments throughout the world. Marine ecosystems are in a crisis that is global in scope, rapid in pace, and colossal in scale. In The …
Opportunities to improve energy use in urban wastewater treatment
Wastewater treatment is an essential public service that has a major impact on energy use in the urban water cycle, thus receiving increasing attention in context of the Water-Energy Nexus. Understanding the current energy use for wastewater is an essential step to design reliable policies promoting a more efficient use of resources. This paper develops a pan European estimation of electricity use for the treatment of wastewater, based on a datas…
Examining the effect of economic development, region, and time period on the fisheries footprints of nations (1961–2010)
Anthropogenic activities are impacting marine systems, and the future sustainability of many global fisheries are in serious question. Our analysis draws on prior research in environmental sociology and food systems to better understand the association between economic development and the ecological footprint of fisheries. We provide a series of models to make comparisons across all nations, distinguishing between less-affluent nations and afflue…
Metabolic Rifts and the Ecological Crisis
In analyzing the relations between human societies and the larger biophysical world, Karl Marx employed a dialectical triadic scheme of “the universal metabolism of nature,” the “social metabolism,” and the metabolic rift. He incorporated this metabolic approach within his critique of political economy, allowing him to assess the historical interchanges and interpenetrations of society and ecological systems. Given its endless pursuit of accumula…
The bottom line
Land–Sea Ecological Rifts
Increasing rates of nitrogen and phosphorus application have caused severe damage to aquatic systems, as rivers, streams, lakes, bays, and ocean systems have been inundated with nutrient runoff. Only by addressing the metabolic rupture in the soil nutrient cycle and the contradictions of capital can we begin to mend these land–sea rifts
Politics, the State, and Sea Level Rise
Treadmill of production theory offers a perspective for understanding the relationship between modern social institutions and environmental sustainability. We use this approach to analyze North Carolina’s Coastal Resource Commission (CRC), a state agency charged with overseeing economic development and environmental concerns on the coast. Data from CRC meetings provide insights into the policy-formation process and related policy outcomes associa…
Socio-structural drivers, fisheries footprints, and seafood consumption
Animals in the world
The connections between nonhuman animals and human societies have become an increasingly prominent topic of sociological research over the past decade. A focus on animals in sociological research raises a variety of conceptual and epistemological challenges, since sociological methods and theories were developed to analyze humans. We outline these challenges and elaborate a realist approach to animal studies, which focuses on the materiality of t…
An Ocean of Troubles
We advance marine sociology to analyze the human dimensions of ocean systems. Human societies are fundamentally linked to marine systems and are transforming oceanic conditions in dramatic ways, resulting in socio-ecological problems. Despite the great and important possibilities in this realm, these relationships are seldom studied within sociology. This article highlights the ecological foundations of human societies, emphasizing interactions w…
The Tragedy of the Commodity
How Does Information Communication Technology Affect Energy Use
In recent decades there has been considerable optimism that information communication technologies may lead to structural transformations of production, consumption, and transportation systems, helping to reduce energy consumption. Here we analyze the effects of information communication technologies on energy production and consumption as well as on the number of cars used in nations, analyzing data for 1990-2012. We find that the prevalence of …
Environmental Threats and Political Opportunities
Extant research has established important linkages between threats and social movement mobilization in a variety of political and economic settings. Yet, comparatively little attention has been paid to the relationship between environmental threats and activism. Drawing from literatures in environmental sociology and social movements, we examine the coal industry and its resultant environmental devastation in Czechoslovakia to investigate the int…
Economy “Versus” Environment
Using data from a national survey of American adults, we examine the relationships between economic, political, sociodemographic, and religious characteristics with perception of the potential for eco-catastrophe. We employ the treadmill of production theory to frame our understanding of views about ecological concerns, arguing that the treadmill discourse associated with economic development is hegemonic and fundamentally shapes public views of …
The Tragedy of the Commodity
Global labor value chains, commodification, and the socioecological structure of severe exploitation. A case study of the Thai seafood sector
We utilize perspectives in environmental sociology and politicaleconomy to examine relationships between human exploitationand ecological degradation. Specifically, we apply global laborvalue chains and the tragedy of the commodity to analyze severelabor exploitation in Thai capturefisheries. Our analysis suggeststhat severe labor exploitation has played a significant role inlowering the market value of the Thai seafood sector as anadaptation to …
The Commodification of Bluefin Tuna
Employing a political-economic approach, we examine the Atlantic bluefin tuna fisheries in the Mediterranean. In doing so, we highlight historical transformations in fishing operations given the commodification of bluefin tuna and the growth imperative of capitalism. Fieldwork in Sicily and Sardinia, in-depth interviews, and primary and secondary data inform this analysis. Within the global agro-food system, traditional trap fisheries that operat…
Agricultural Exports and the Environment
The mass consumption of agrochemicals, including manufactured fertilizers and pesticides, by industrialized agricultural systems worldwide threatens human health and the health of ecosystems. The production of these agricultural inputs is a highly energy- and capital-intensive process, and their application contributes to a variety of direct and indirect impacts on the environment. This study is an analysis of the relationships between internatio…
An Ocean of Troubles
We advance marine sociology to analyze the human dimensions of ocean systems. Human societies are fundamentally linked to marine systems and are transforming oceanic conditions in dramatic ways, resulting in socio-ecological problems. Despite the great and important possibilities in this realm, these relationships are seldom studied within sociology. This article highlights the ecological foundations of human societies, emphasizing interactions w…
Environmental threats and activism against extractive industries
Examining the effect of economic development, region, and time period on the fisheries footprints of nations (1961–2010)
Anthropogenic activities are impacting marine systems, and the future sustainability of many global fisheries are in serious question. Our analysis draws on prior research in environmental sociology and food systems to better understand the association between economic development and the ecological footprint of fisheries. We provide a series of models to make comparisons across all nations, distinguishing between less-affluent nations and afflue…
Socio-structural drivers, fisheries footprints, and seafood consumption
Animals in the world
The connections between nonhuman animals and human societies have become an increasingly prominent topic of sociological research over the past decade. A focus on animals in sociological research raises a variety of conceptual and epistemological challenges, since sociological methods and theories were developed to analyze humans. We outline these challenges and elaborate a realist approach to animal studies, which focuses on the materiality of t…
Political-Ecological Dimensions of Silvery Gibbon Conservation Efforts
An emerging subset of social scientists is becoming immersed in approaches that combine ethnographic engagement with traditional ethological/ecological studies. In these endeavors the distinction between "human worlds" and "nature" is challenged and multispecies entanglements become central aspects of anthropogenic ecologies. In this article, we examine human social interactions and efforts toward understanding the ecological condition and plight…
Global Sushi
The bluefin tuna fishery in the Mediterranean has a long history of human interaction. In recent times, this fishery has become the central source of bluefin tuna for core nations, particularly Japan. This process was set off in large part by the growth of global fish markets, driven by the valuable sushi and sashimi market, and overfishing of other bluefin stocks in other parts of the world. The transformation of this fishery from an artisanal t…
Mediterranean Rift
This article examines the social and ecological transformations in the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery during the modern era. The analysis utilizes a sociological framework that draws on theory from environmental sociology, specifically metabolic rift theory. Escalating pressure on the fishery has contributed to a host of environmental and social problems, including pushing this important fishery to the brink of collapse. Using a combination of pri…
Critical sustainability science
The objective of this paper is to present a critical sustainability science research program, which is founded on two critical theoretical/philosophical traditions: critical realism and historical materialism. We elaborate these traditions to clarify what they can analytically offer to socioecological analyses in sustainability science and emphasize their prospective contributions to sustainability transitions and transformations. A critical sust…
The bottom line
The globalization of ecologically intensive aquaculture (1984–2008)
The Tragedy of the Commodity and the Farce of AquAdvantage Salmon(R)
The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve AquAdvantage Salmon as the first genetically modified animal for human consumption. The genetic modifications allow the proprietary fish to grow at a rate twice as fast as a wild salmon, leading to greater 'efficiency' in terms of reduced costs and reduced time to market. This article provides an analysis of the ways in which AquAdvantage Salmon exemplifies capitalist market forces contro…
Politics, the State, and Sea Level Rise
Treadmill of production theory offers a perspective for understanding the relationship between modern social institutions and environmental sustainability. We use this approach to analyze North Carolina’s Coastal Resource Commission (CRC), a state agency charged with overseeing economic development and environmental concerns on the coast. Data from CRC meetings provide insights into the policy-formation process and related policy outcomes associa…
Sustainability science must challenge common sense
In this comment, we respond to the claim of (Bodin, Sustain Sci 16: 2151–2155, 2021) that sustainability science, as a research community, has begun to “lean to the left” in a problematic manner. On one hand, we remain unconvinced by the examples cited as indications for this tendency, and argue for caution in making such judgements. On the other hand, we hold that that there may be reasons for seemingly “left leaning” positions which are scienti…
Correlates of hepatitis C virus seropositivity in prison inmates
Correlates of hepatitis C virus seropositivity in prison inmates
Agricultural Exports and the Environment
The mass consumption of agrochemicals, including manufactured fertilizers and pesticides, by industrialized agricultural systems worldwide threatens human health and the health of ecosystems. The production of these agricultural inputs is a highly energy- and capital-intensive process, and their application contributes to a variety of direct and indirect impacts on the environment. This study is an analysis of the relationships between internatio…
The Tragedy of the Commodity
This article develops a critique of the tragedy of the commons theory that is frequently applied to explain fisheries decline. In its place the authors offer the tragedy of the commodity as an alternative framework that better explains resource overexploitation and environmental degradation. They use a political economic analysis to discuss the social and ecological transformations that have occurred in the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery, wit…
Global Sushi
The bluefin tuna fishery in the Mediterranean has a long history of human interaction. In recent times, this fishery has become the central source of bluefin tuna for core nations, particularly Japan. This process was set off in large part by the growth of global fish markets, driven by the valuable sushi and sashimi market, and overfishing of other bluefin stocks in other parts of the world. The transformation of this fishery from an artisanal t…
The Tragedy of the Commodity and the Farce of AquAdvantage Salmon(R)
The US Food and Drug Administration is expected to approve AquAdvantage Salmon as the first genetically modified animal for human consumption. The genetic modifications allow the proprietary fish to grow at a rate twice as fast as a wild salmon, leading to greater 'efficiency' in terms of reduced costs and reduced time to market. This article provides an analysis of the ways in which AquAdvantage Salmon exemplifies capitalist market forces contro…
Mediterranean Rift
This article examines the social and ecological transformations in the Sicilian bluefin tuna fishery during the modern era. The analysis utilizes a sociological framework that draws on theory from environmental sociology, specifically metabolic rift theory. Escalating pressure on the fishery has contributed to a host of environmental and social problems, including pushing this important fishery to the brink of collapse. Using a combination of pri…
The Commodification of Bluefin Tuna
Employing a political-economic approach, we examine the Atlantic bluefin tuna fisheries in the Mediterranean. In doing so, we highlight historical transformations in fishing operations given the commodification of bluefin tuna and the growth imperative of capitalism. Fieldwork in Sicily and Sardinia, in-depth interviews, and primary and secondary data inform this analysis. Within the global agro-food system, traditional trap fisheries that operat…
The globalization of ecologically intensive aquaculture (1984–2008)
Examining the Bases of Power, Inequality, and Human Variation
Review of Agustín Fuentes, Race, Monogamy, and Other Lies They Told You: Busting Myths About Human Nature (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012), 274 pages, $27.50, hardback.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website
Economy “Versus” Environment
Using data from a national survey of American adults, we examine the relationships between economic, political, sociodemographic, and religious characteristics with perception of the potential for eco-catastrophe. We employ the treadmill of production theory to frame our understanding of views about ecological concerns, arguing that the treadmill discourse associated with economic development is hegemonic and fundamentally shapes public views of …
Political-Ecological Dimensions of Silvery Gibbon Conservation Efforts
An emerging subset of social scientists is becoming immersed in approaches that combine ethnographic engagement with traditional ethological/ecological studies. In these endeavors the distinction between "human worlds" and "nature" is challenged and multispecies entanglements become central aspects of anthropogenic ecologies. In this article, we examine human social interactions and efforts toward understanding the ecological condition and plight…
Capitalism and the Commodification of Salmon
On February 25, 2013, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) closed the public comment period for the environmental assessment of the AquAdvantage Salmon. Their review of the first genetically modified animal for human consumption concluded with a "finding of no significant impact." Numerous fishermen, consumer safety advocates, public health officials, ecologists, and risk assessment experts submitted comments that directly challenged this …
The Tragedy of the Commodity
How Does Information Communication Technology Affect Energy Use
In recent decades there has been considerable optimism that information communication technologies may lead to structural transformations of production, consumption, and transportation systems, helping to reduce energy consumption. Here we analyze the effects of information communication technologies on energy production and consumption as well as on the number of cars used in nations, analyzing data for 1990-2012. We find that the prevalence of …
Environmental Threats and Political Opportunities
Extant research has established important linkages between threats and social movement mobilization in a variety of political and economic settings. Yet, comparatively little attention has been paid to the relationship between environmental threats and activism. Drawing from literatures in environmental sociology and social movements, we examine the coal industry and its resultant environmental devastation in Czechoslovakia to investigate the int…
An Ocean of Troubles
We advance marine sociology to analyze the human dimensions of ocean systems. Human societies are fundamentally linked to marine systems and are transforming oceanic conditions in dramatic ways, resulting in socio-ecological problems. Despite the great and important possibilities in this realm, these relationships are seldom studied within sociology. This article highlights the ecological foundations of human societies, emphasizing interactions w…
Socio-structural drivers, fisheries footprints, and seafood consumption
Animals in the world
The connections between nonhuman animals and human societies have become an increasingly prominent topic of sociological research over the past decade. A focus on animals in sociological research raises a variety of conceptual and epistemological challenges, since sociological methods and theories were developed to analyze humans. We outline these challenges and elaborate a realist approach to animal studies, which focuses on the materiality of t…
Metabolic Rifts and the Ecological Crisis
In analyzing the relations between human societies and the larger biophysical world, Karl Marx employed a dialectical triadic scheme of “the universal metabolism of nature,” the “social metabolism,” and the metabolic rift. He incorporated this metabolic approach within his critique of political economy, allowing him to assess the historical interchanges and interpenetrations of society and ecological systems. Given its endless pursuit of accumula…
The bottom line
Land–Sea Ecological Rifts
Increasing rates of nitrogen and phosphorus application have caused severe damage to aquatic systems, as rivers, streams, lakes, bays, and ocean systems have been inundated with nutrient runoff. Only by addressing the metabolic rupture in the soil nutrient cycle and the contradictions of capital can we begin to mend these land–sea rifts
Politics, the State, and Sea Level Rise
Treadmill of production theory offers a perspective for understanding the relationship between modern social institutions and environmental sustainability. We use this approach to analyze North Carolina’s Coastal Resource Commission (CRC), a state agency charged with overseeing economic development and environmental concerns on the coast. Data from CRC meetings provide insights into the policy-formation process and related policy outcomes associa…
The Tragedy of the Commodity
Winner of the 2017 Paul Sweezy Marxist Sociology Book Award from the American Sociological Association Although humans have long depended on oceans and aquatic ecosystems for sustenance and trade, only recently has human influence on these resources dramatically increased, transforming and undermining oceanic environments throughout the world. Marine ecosystems are in a crisis that is global in scope, rapid in pace, and colossal in scale. In The …
Opportunities to improve energy use in urban wastewater treatment
Wastewater treatment is an essential public service that has a major impact on energy use in the urban water cycle, thus receiving increasing attention in context of the Water-Energy Nexus. Understanding the current energy use for wastewater is an essential step to design reliable policies promoting a more efficient use of resources. This paper develops a pan European estimation of electricity use for the treatment of wastewater, based on a datas…
Examining the effect of economic development, region, and time period on the fisheries footprints of nations (1961–2010)
Anthropogenic activities are impacting marine systems, and the future sustainability of many global fisheries are in serious question. Our analysis draws on prior research in environmental sociology and food systems to better understand the association between economic development and the ecological footprint of fisheries. We provide a series of models to make comparisons across all nations, distinguishing between less-affluent nations and afflue…
Economics (19 works) · Biology (17 works) · Ecology (17 works) · Sociology (15 works) · Political science (14 works) · Politics (12 works) · Geography (10 works) · Law (10 works) · Ecology (9 works) · Fishery (9 works)