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Sustainable Exploitation the Political Ecology of the Livestock Revolution

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Sustainable Exploitation the Political Ecology of the Livestock Revolution Sustainable exploitation The political ecology of the Livestock Revolution Dissertation submitted to attain the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) of the Faculty of Humanities University of Basel presented by Livia Boscardin from Basel BS Examiners Prof. Dr. Andrea Maihofer (University of Basel) Prof. Gary L. Francione (Rutgers University, Newark) Basel 2019 edoc.unibas.ch Genehmigt von der Philosophisch-Historischen Fakultät der Universität Basel, auf Antrag von Prof. Dr. Andrea Maihofer und Prof. Gary L. Francione. Basel, den 5. Juli 2017 Der Dekan Prof. Dr. Walter Leimgruber Cover picture: Hartmut Kiewert, »Tank«, 2010, oil on pe-tarp, 200 x 300 cm. Courtesy of the artist. Original document stored on the document server of the University of Basel edoc.unibas.ch This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of figures..............................................................................................................................v List of tables...............................................................................................................................vi Preface and acknowledgements..................................................................................................i 1 Introduction.........................................................................................................................1 1.1 Context..........................................................................................................................1 1.2 Research question, methods, and research field.............................................................2 1.3 State of research.............................................................................................................4 1.4 Relevance.......................................................................................................................5 1.5 Self-reflection and positionality.....................................................................................7 1.6 Organization of chapters..............................................................................................10 Part I.........................................................................................................................................12 2 The animal-industrial complex........................................................................................12 2.1 Political economy........................................................................................................12 2.1.1 A brief history of the complex..............................................................................14 2.1.2 Facts and figures...................................................................................................16 2.1.2.1 Production.......................................................................................................16 2.1.2.2 Killed animals.................................................................................................20 2.1.2.3 Consumption...................................................................................................21 2.1.3 Industrialization: Output.......................................................................................23 2.1.3.1 Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations......................................................23 2.1.3.2 Corporate consolidation..................................................................................25 2.1.3.3 Bodies and species..........................................................................................27 2.1.4 Industrialization: Input..........................................................................................28 2.1.4.1 Feeding capital................................................................................................29 2.1.4.2 Genetics and pharmaceuticals.........................................................................31 2.1.4.3 Subsidies and the power of lobbies.................................................................33 2.1.5 The fishing industry..............................................................................................35 2.2 Animals and violence...................................................................................................37 2.2.1 Cruel conditions....................................................................................................37 2.2.2 Specialization until worthlessness.........................................................................39 2.2.3 Overpowering.......................................................................................................40 2.2.4 Killing...................................................................................................................41 2.2.5 Systemic violence.................................................................................................41 2.3 Ecological hoofprint: Crossing of planetary boundaries..............................................42 2.3.1 Climate change.....................................................................................................44 2.3.2 Change in biosphere integrity...............................................................................47 2.3.3 Land-system change.............................................................................................47 i 2.3.4 Biogeochemical flows...........................................................................................48 2.3.5 Ocean acidification...............................................................................................50 2.3.6 Freshwater use......................................................................................................50 2.3.7 Other boundaries...................................................................................................52 2.4 Societal aspects............................................................................................................53 2.4.1 Hunger and water-stress........................................................................................53 2.4.2 Colonization and meat grabbing...........................................................................55 2.4.3 Climate injustice...................................................................................................56 2.4.4 Brutal work...........................................................................................................57 2.4.5 Health issues.........................................................................................................59 2.4.5.1 Feed production..............................................................................................59 2.4.5.2 Animal production..........................................................................................59 2.4.5.3 Consumption...................................................................................................61 Part II........................................................................................................................................62 3 Dealing with distractions: Green capitalism...................................................................62 3.1 From sustainable development to green economy........................................................62 3.2 Naturalizing control and capitalism.............................................................................64 3.2.1 The racist and imperial origins of ecology............................................................64 3.2.2 Natural and social systems....................................................................................66 3.2.3 Modernization theory and development................................................................69 3.2.4 Imperial sustainable development.........................................................................71 3.2.5 “Unsustainable” population versus Imperial mode of living.................................72 3.3 Controlling and capitalizing on nature.........................................................................74 3.3.1 Ecological modernization theory..........................................................................74 3.3.2 Neoliberalization of nature...................................................................................76 3.3.3 Nature as a market................................................................................................77 3.3.4 Sustainable intensification....................................................................................79 3.4 Ecological contradictions and evasion.........................................................................81 4 Methods.............................................................................................................................85 4.1 Sociological discourse analysis....................................................................................85 4.2 Applied methods..........................................................................................................87 4.2.1 Self-reflection.......................................................................................................87 4.2.2 Sample..................................................................................................................88 4.2.2.1 Choice of data and access...............................................................................88 4.2.2.1.1 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