Global economy, culture, and unequal ecological exchange in late modernity

Human organizations and the natural environment have numerous mismatches that exacerbate ecological problems. In late modernity, it is more severe, due to pollution exposure inequalities connected to wealth disparities and devastating incursions into ecosystems. Social, economic, and political processes have become intertwined with environmental problems which are evident on both local and global levels. We explore four major themes: (1) scale of environmental degradation varies by position in the global economy; (2) mismatches between global economies and small-scale ecologies; (3) recursive patterns of environmental exploitation, occurring on multiple levels; and (4) mismatches between environmental problems and institutions that could address them.