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- DOI: 10.1068/a39100
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Neo-liberalising nature: processes, outcomes and effects
Castree, N
Environment and Planning A. 2008;40(1):153-173.
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Abstract
This and a previous paper review systematically a new and fast-growing geographical research literature about âneoliberalising natureâ. This literature, authored by critical geographers for the most part, is largely case study based and focuses on a range of biophysical phenomena in different parts of the contemporary world. In an attempt to take stock of what has been learnt and what is left to do, the two papers survey the literature theoretically and empirically, cognitively and normatively. Specifically, they aim to parse the critical literature on natureâs neoliberalisation with a view to answering four key questions: (1) what are the reasons why all manner of qualitatively different nonhuman phenomena in different parts of the world are being âneoliberalisedâ?; (2) what are the principal ways in which nature is neoliberalised in practice?; (3) what are the effects of natureâs neoliberalisation?; and (4) how should these effects be evaluated? Without such an effort of synthesis, this literature could remain a collection of substantively disparate, theoretically informed case studies unified only in name (by virtue of their common focus on âneoliberalâ policies). This paper addresses questions 2, 3, and 4, while the previous paper concentrated on the first. It is argued that some unresolved issues in the published literature make it very difficult for readers and future researchers in this area to draw âwiderâ lessons about process, effects, and evaluations. This is not so much a âfailingâ of the literature as a reflection of its newness and the way its constituent parts have evolved. It is argued that these issues require careful attention in future so that the âgeneralâ lessons of the literature published to date on natureâs neoliberalisation can be made clear. Where the previous paper detected some âsignals in the noiseâ viz question 1, this paper suggests that more work needs to be done viz questions 2 to 4 for any signals to be detected.