Toward eco-justice for all - Environmental Harm: An Eco-justice Perspective - page 151

political economy is grounded in recognition of different social interests,
different forms and types of social power, and clear distinctions between
exploiter and exploited, and oppressor and oppressed. Harm varies
according to how capitalism is translated into institutional policy and
practice in particular social formations (for example, collectivist welfare
states of Scandinavia compared with individualist states like the US). It
also varies according to local and regional norms, values and cultures
relating to the environment, social inequality and species rights. The
overarching modus operandi and raison d'être of global capitalism
have dire consequences across the planet, but the specific impact will
manifest differently depending upon particular social, economic and
political context.
Environmental harm takes place within the overarching context of a
distinct global political economy. In today's world, the capitalist mode of
production presents as the foundation of global economic development,
a phenomenon that inexorably bears within it the imperative to expand,
and in so doing exploit in every way imaginable the natural and human
resources of the planet. The moments of our mutual destruction lie
within the social and technical relations of advanced capitalism. This is
especially so in regards to the causes of and responses to global warming
and climate change. Sectional class interests are overriding planetary
wellbeing and the future of all living things.
What people do in and with their lives and their environments is
dominated by the production of commodities, advances in information
technology and bio-technologies, and the exploitation of labour in
the mass production of goods and services that, in turn, demand a
high turnover rate. For example, internationally, food production is
dominated by a small number of corporations which control all parts
of the food chain (Croall, 2013). Four giant transnationals (ADM,
Bunge, Cargill, and Dreyfus) account for most of the global grain
trade. A similarly small number of corporations (such as Monsanto,
Dupont and Syngenta) control the bulk of the seed and agro-chemical
industry. At international and domestic levels, the animal food arena
is likewise dominated by a few huge companies which control the
pork, chicken, beef and lamb industries (such as Baiada Poultry and
Ingham Enterprises in Australia, which dominate the poultry industry).
These producers work hand-in-hand with commercial retailers - the
supermarkets - which themselves are heavily concentrated into a
shrinking number of large domineering companies (such as Tesco and
Sainsbury's in the UK, and Coles and Woolworths in Australia).
The bottom line for all of these corporations is profit. In the pursuit
of profit, animals are mistreated, frequently with the explicit support