Amazon vs the Amazon
Green Capitalist Imaginaries and the Death of Biodiversity
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3833858 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Zachary Caple (0000-0002-0383-2844, Aarhus University, corresponding author), Heather Anne Swanson (0009-0003-3611-2530, Anthropology, Aarhus University) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 42-63 |
| Publication date | 2025-01-02 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Capitalism Nature Socialism (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1045-5752 • E-ISSN: 1548-3290 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10455752.2024.2410755 |
| OpenAlex | W4403544618 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 31 |
Capitalist forces shape public consciousness and, by extension, how everyday people imagine environmental matters of concern. This article investigates the historical cycling of the three most influential green imaginaries of Western neoliberalism: biodiversity, ecosystem services, and climate change. Using the Amazon rainforest and Amazon.com as icons of the clash between capitalism and nature, we investigate how shifting neoliberal fashions create opportunities for capital to evacuate place consciousness from U.S. environmental politics. The destruction of place consciousness enables corporations to damage the biosphere while minimizing political interruption. We show how place-erasure works through historical cases linked to each phase: the sustainable tropical forest sourcing of The Body Shop and Ben & Jerry’s (1990s), compensatory wetland mitigation in the Midwest (2000s), and Amazon.com’s carbon offset program (2010s-present). In our discussion of these imaginaries or “waves,” we contend that the current mainstream neoliberal climate paradigm is the most pernicious as it diverts the public's attention to the sky and away from accelerating ecological violence on the ground
Amazon rainforest · Biodiversity · Biology · Capitalism · Geography · Political science · Politics · Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development · Conservation, Biodiversity, and Resource Management · Water Governance and Infrastructure · Ecology
Neoliberal Environments
The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital
This changes everything
Down to Earth
Capitalism and Conservation
Dreamscapes of Modernity
Should We Be Wary of Mitigation Banking? Evidence Regarding the Risks Associated with this Wetland Offset Arrangement in Florida
Economic cycles and socialist policies
Natural Causes
Structural Crisis in the World-System
The neoliberalization of ecosystem services
Virtual nature, violent accumulation
Imagined communities
Brief History of Neoliberalism
The Trouble with Wilderness
Bridging knowledge divides
Neoliberalising Nature
Environmental Justice and Economic Degrowth
The Shifting Middle Ground
Publics and Counterpublics
Inside the Economy of Appearances
The spectacle of nature in the global economy of appearances
Globalization or the Age of Transition
The Politics of Possession
La Via Campesina - transforming agrarian and knowledge politics, and co-constructing a field
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 6 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |