ABSTRACT
In conventional Western thought, ‘nature’ and ‘society’ have been perceived as separate categories, justifying distinct analytical approaches. Studies of ecosystems, land use, and human–environment relations have gravitated towards natural science, while studies of social structures have remained couched in social science. In several ways, and for many reasons, this dichotomy is currently being challenged. It has become increasingly obvious not only that the biophysical constitution of landscapes to a large extent is a product of social processes, but also that the organization of social systems to a large extent relies on the distribution of biophysical resources. This recursivity between natural and societal systems has taken many forms over the course of human history, yet appears to have been increasingly ignored in the context of globalized, capitalist extractivism. This chapter reviews some of the main ways in which the management of land and land-based resources can serve as strategies for social domination, from more obvious cases of local land tenure through the political demarcation of national and colonial boundaries to unequal global flows of natural resources. In examining such strategies, it is important to identify not only measurable net transfers of energy, materials, hectare yields, or labour time, but also the specific symbolic and ideological images by which unequal exchanges are represented as reciprocal and fair.
