Starting at the Beginning: Extractive Economies as the Unexamined Origins of Global Commodity Chains

Abstract

This chapter relates Bunker's innovative view of nature, raw materials and political economy to the “global commodity chains” (GCCs) approach. The chapter contends that his view of the importance of primary material extraction, shipping, and energy used in various “transformations” of these crucial products can be fruitfully married to a GCCs perspective.

Citation

Smith, D.A. (2005), "Starting at the Beginning: Extractive Economies as the Unexamined Origins of Global Commodity Chains", Ciccantell, P.S., Smith, D.A. and Seidman, G. (Ed.) Nature, Raw Materials, and Political Economy (Research in Rural Sociology and Development, Vol. 10), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 141-157. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1057-1922(05)10007-9