The Political Economy of Extractivism : Global Perspectives on the Seduction of Rent

"For many countries, primarily in the Global South, extractivism - the exploiting and exporting of natural resources - is big business. For those exporting countries, natural resource rents create hope and promise for development which can be a seductive force. This book explores the depth of extractivism in economies around the world. The contributions to this book investigate the connection between the political economy of extractivism and its impact on the socio-political fabric of natural resource exporting societies in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. The book engages with a comparative perspective on the persistence of extractivism in these four different world regions. The book focuses on the formative power of rents and argues that rents are seductive. The individual contributions flesh out this seductive force of rents on different political scales and how this seduction affects a variety of actors. The book investigates how these actors react to the prevalence of rent, how they align or break with specific political and economic strategies, and how myths of resource-driven development play out on the ground. The book, therefore, underlines that rent theory bridges current debates in different area communities and offers fresh insights into extractivist societies' social, economic, and political dynamics. This book will be of significant interest to readers in political economy, political science, development studies and area studies"-- Provided by publisher Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Contributors Introduction: The Political Economy of Extractivism Regionalized Discussions on Extractivism The Internal Dynamics of Extractivism: Rent The Political Economy of Extractivism Persistence of Extractivism and the Seduction of Rent: Cases Presented in this Volume Notes References Part I: Global Configurations Chapter 1: Trade, Unequal Specialization, and the Persistence of Extractivism Introduction Trade and Global Uneven Development The Necessary Emergence of Rents Unequal Specialization and Development Traps Trade, Uneven Development, and Unequal Specialization: An Empirical Assessment to Extractivism The Persistence of Extractivism The Seduction of Extractivism Conclusion Notes References Chapter 2: Rent, Profit, Mass Consumption, or the Political Economy of Taming Rent Introduction Theoretical Framework Rent as the Result of Limited Capitalist Development The Limits of the Transformative Capacity of Trade Specialization in Products with Low Price and Income Elasticities Mobilizing Rent for Overcoming Rent by Development The Promotion of Industry and the Contradictions of State Classes Strengthening Mass Incomes by Redistribution and the Political Economy of Agrarian Reform A Particular Form of Mobilization of a Rent: Export-Oriented Industrialization The Globalization of Rent Note References Part II: Actors, Strategies, and the Politics of Rent Chapter 3: Uganda’s State Class and the Politics of Oil Introduction State Class Theory Museveni’s Varying Legitimization Strategies Catering for Middle-Class Demands: Infrastructural Development and Prestige Projects Fights between the State Class and the Middle Class Over the Use and Distribution of the Anticipated Rent Conflicts in the Region between Subalterns and the State Class Conclusion Notes References Chapter 4: Extractivism and the Resurgence of the Agrarian Elite: The Case of Coal Mining in Cesar, Colombia Introduction Methodology Political Economy of Rent, Value Grabbing, and the Landowning Agrarian Elite Mining in Colombia Coal Mining and Agrarian Change in Cesar Mining, Land-Grab-Induced Displacement, and the Role of the Agrarian Elite Agrarian Change and the Resurgence of the Agrarian Elite Conclusion Notes References Chapter 5: The Patronal Politics of Regional Development Projects: Exploring Russia’s Far Eastern Rent Management Introduction Conceptual Framework Origins and Context of Zvezda Implementation through Patronal Brokers Contested Rent Management Conclusion Notes References Chapter 6: Patronage Networks and the Hope for a Better Future: Coal Mining in Indonesia Introduction Coal Mining on the Rise Murung Raya: Black Gold Lack of Improvements in Infrastructure, Basic Income, Education, and Health Services Mining in Tumbang Batubara: Promise of a Better Future Patron-Client Relationships, the Company as ‘Steward of Good Growth,’ and the Exclusion of Opponents Conclusion Notes References Part III: Rent and Societies: Legacies, Trajectories, and Inertias Chapter 7: Analyzing Rentier Societies: The Case of Venezuela Introduction From Rentier Economies and Rentier States toward the Analysis of Rentier Societies Venezuela in the 20th Century: The Rise and Fall of a Rentier Society Continuity in Change: On the Political Economy of the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela The Distribution of Rent during the Bolivarian Revolution Social Reforms and the Realignment of State the Class in Venezuela The Role of the State Class Venezuela in Crisis Conclusion Notes References Chapter 8: Wasn’t the AKP a Developmental Coalition?: The Shifting Political Settlement of the AKP Introduction Promising Economic and Political Features of the Broad Settlement of the Early AKP Distribution and Demand Policies within the Process of Structural Change in Turkey The Political Economy of Financialized External Debt Led Growth in Turkey NIS and Active Industrial Policy vs. the Seduction of Rent Conclusion References Chapter 9: Resource Boom and Social Policy in Authoritarian Regimes: A Case Study of Russia Introduction Research Design Socioeconomic Development and Resource Revenues Social Policies Framing Social Policy Public Expectations Public Perceptions and Reactions Conclusion Notes References Chapter 10: Rents Hinder Capitalism: The Rentier Middle Classes in the Middle East Introduction Rents Hinder the Emergence of Capitalist Structures and Free Markets The Arab Middle Classes are Rentier Classes par Excellence Crisis of the Rentier Model Conclusion References Conclusion: Extractivism and the Seduction of Rent Extractivism and Rent Rent Orders Society: Toward the Seduction of Rent Debunking the Myth of Development Toward the Political Economy of Rent References Index