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Making a market for sustainability : the commodification of certified palm oil

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Richardson, Ben (2015) Making a market for sustainability : the commodification of certified palm oil. New Political Economy, 20 (4). pp. 545-568. doi:10.1080/13563467.2014.923829

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2014.923829

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Abstract

In the same way there are markets for carbon, there is now a market for sustainability. Ostensibly produced as a means of conserving land in South-East Asia, a commodity called ‘certified sustainable palm oil’ has been created by the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and exchanged on its own international trading platform completely independently of the flow of physical palm oil. In this way, sustainability has acquired a precise pecuniary value and can be bought by ‘socially responsible’ companies to offset their use of conventional and potentially environmentally destructive palm oil. This is yet another instance of the commodification of nature, but of a kind largely unexplored in the literature because it has emerged without formal governmental authority. What this case adds analytically to the study of capitalism and environmentalism is two-fold. First, what is commonly described as non-state, market-driven governance must now be seen as actively market-making. Second, rather than foreclosing politics by moving outside the state and within markets, the fragile authority of the RSPO has opened space for activists and other interest groups to challenge both the regulatory mechanisms and social purpose of primary commodity governance.

Item Type: Journal Article
Subjects: H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Divisions: Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH): Sustainability, Palm oil -- Economic aspects, Commodification, Green products
Journal or Publication Title: New Political Economy
Publisher: Routledge
ISSN: 1356-3467
Official Date: 2015
Dates:
DateEvent
2015Published
23 July 2014Available
Date of first compliant deposit: 31 December 2015
Volume: 20
Number: 4
Number of Pages: 29
Page Range: pp. 545-568
DOI: 10.1080/13563467.2014.923829
Status: Peer Reviewed
Publication Status: Published
Access rights to Published version: Restricted or Subscription Access

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