Section Three Cotton, Cotton Everywhere, But not a Drop to Drink: Agriculture as the Villain

Abstract

Because we tend to make a close association between farming and the land, agriculture is not widely recognized for its destructive impacts to the environment and health. The shape of agricultural production is very place specific in many ways. The Soviets collectivized farms, farmers and machinery, deliberately destroying the preexisting peasant culture. The rural small farmer worldwide has been dramatically impacted by neocolonialism and globalization, with a massive out migration to cities resulting.

Citation

Cerny, A. and Edelstein, M.R. (2012), "Section Three Cotton, Cotton Everywhere, But not a Drop to Drink: Agriculture as the Villain", Edelstein, M.R., Cerny, A. and Gadaev, A. (Ed.) Disaster by Design: The Aral Sea and its Lessons for Sustainability (Research in Social Problems and Public Policy, Vol. 20), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 153-158. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0196-1152(2012)0000020019