ABSTRACT
The chapter opens with an analysis of Georges Bataille’s concept of an economy of “expenditure”. Using Bataille’s concept, we then analyse the material base of human societies, and the sources of materials and energy. These forms and areas of analysis are the basis of an entire current of ecological economics and are exemplified by the works of the Vienna Institute of Social Ecology. Third, we explore the literature that proposes an analysis of world history as a sequence of hegemonic configurations. We aim to demonstrate that specific conditions of production and consumption of biomass can be linked to the different hegemonic configurations which have appeared since the sixteenth century: the United Provinces, the United Kingdom, and lastly, the United States. Finally, we look at ongoing transformations in the world of agriculture and more widely in the sources and uses of biomass.
