The
definition of the imperial mode of living highlights not only the inequality
within the global political economy, but also how the wealth in the capitalist
centres, the Global North, depends on the labour and poverty of the peoples in
the periphery, the Global South, as well as the relentless destruction of
nature. ‘The core idea of the concept is that everyday life in the capitalist
centres is essentially made possible by shaping social relations and
society-nature relations elsewhere, i.e. by means of (in principle) unlimited
access to labour power, natural resources and sinks – ecosystems (such as
rainforests and oceans in the case of CO2) that absorb more of a particular
substance than they emit into their environment – on a global scale’
(PP.39-40). Thus, the maintenance of our lifestyles in the Global North depends
on utter violence and deprivation in the Global South continuing with a logic
of colonialism, which has been part and parcel of capitalism from its very
emergence.
Assessing
the current state of affairs through the lens of the imperial mode of living
allows Brand and Wissen to make a number of key contributions to our
understanding of today’s global political economy. First, while many political
economists hail the rise of emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia, India,
China and South Africa (BRICS) as a progressive challenge to established
capitalist powers, Brand and Wissen unmask it as simply a further deepening of
the imperial mode of living. ‘In the wake of the economic rise of China, India
or Brazil, their growing middle and upper classes are increasingly adopting the
imperial mode of living’ (P.116). There may be a challenge to the dominant
geopolitical order, the dynamics underpinning the global political economy remain, however,
the same.
Second, nothing expresses the inner contradiction of the imperial mode of life more clearly than the current ecological crisis. It is ‘a clear indication that the global North’s norms of production and consumption, which evolved with capitalism and have now become universal, can be maintained in their ecologically modernized form only at the cost of ever more violence, ecological destruction and human suffering, and, at that, in an ever-smaller part of the world’ (P.8). Brand and Wissen at the same time are sceptical that so-called green new deals (GNDs) based on green economic growth and green capitalism provide an adequate response. ‘It is an overly bold hope to assume that an “absolute decoupling” of growth from resource use and environmental impact is possible under capitalism’ (P.167). Instead, GNDs are simply yet another attempt to overcome the crisis of the imperial mode of living by deepening it further.
Third,
they draw out well how the working classes of the capitalist centres are
structurally depending on, and benefitting from, the imperial mode of living.
Importantly, they are not a kind of ‘labour aristocracy’ which consciously
participates in the exploitation of peoples in the Global South to benefit
themselves. Rather, ‘the integration of workers in the global North into the
imperial mode of living has always been a subaltern relationship’ (P.XX). Structurally
their participation in the mode of living can only be secured by deepening it.
Unsurprisingly, the imperial mode of living is rarely questioned by them
(P.105).
Fourth,
they provide first ideas about an alternative, a solidary mode of living based
on different power and socio-ecological relations. ‘A solidary mode of living
must recognize the fundamental vulnerability of human and non-human life and
create forms of living together that are not based on making the lives of many
or even only a few people precarious, or that similarly endanger nature’
(P.199). This would also require a more drastic questioning of existing
production forms including a ‘discussion about dismantling and converting
unsustainable economic sectors, such as the defence and automotive industries,
secured by appropriate labour market and socio-ecological industrial policies’
(P.214).
There
are some limits to Brand and Wissen’s arguments. While they mention on a number
of occasions the need to pay special attention to the patriarchal and
racial forms of oppression structuring the imperial mode of living, they hardly
explore these dynamics in any great detail. Moreover, their discussion of a
‘solidary mode of living’ does not go beyond some first, rough ideas of what
could be part of such a mode of living. Nevertheless, filling the gaps on the
implications of patriarchy and racism can also be regarded as a challenge to be
taken on by others. Equally, exploring a solidary mode of living cannot be
simply the task of two academic researchers. Only collective reflective and practical
experiments can bring us forward in this respect.
What the Imperial Mode of Living has clearly done is providing us with a conceptual lens, which allows us to explore the current multiple global crises and contradictions in a way, which forces us to focus on exploitation of people and expropriation of nature. A must-read for everyone interested in understanding our current (global) situation and what must be done to change it for the better!
Andreas Bieler
Personal website: http://andreasbieler.net
19 January 2021
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