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Curse or Cure? Revisiting State, Capital and Resources

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Resource Curse or Cure ?

Part of the book series: CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance ((CSEG))

Abstract

WA’s experience, as portrayed in this volume, not only highlights the changeable nature of the mining industry, the volatility of global commodity markets and the impact of global capital on people and place, it also draws into question the promise of lasting value derived from resource development as currently practiced. It is in this context that Chapter 18 revisits WA's resource boom and assesses the sustainability of resource-led development in the state, to arrive at an answer to the question of ‘curse or cure?’. Opening up the discourse beyond the dominant developmentalist narrative invites discussion on new perspectives of economic sustainability that include well-being, equity and the protection of people, culture and place.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    It is acknowledged that people outside the resource sector such as property owners and investors also gained from the resource boom. Arguably, the underlying ‘everyday financialisation’ and naturalisation of capital—a feature of the neoliberal globalisation project (Duménil and Lévy 2001)—has helped legitimate, and build political support for, resource development in the state.

  2. 2.

    The intercultural lens chosen for the purpose of this discussion is one of a number of suitable approaches (e.g. for socio-cultural perspectives see Bourdieu (1977), Habermas (2001) and Foucault (2008) and for ethico-politcal perspectives see Bauman (1999) and Critchley (2007).

  3. 3.

    Similar limitations would also apply to socio-cultural and ethico-political lenses.

  4. 4.

    Other forces not explicitly dealt with in this volume would include the financialisation of society (e.g. Lapavitsas 2011) and the marketisation of nature (e.g. Dovers 2002).

  5. 5.

    This is what Foucault (2008) describes as neoliberalism’s ‘economisation’ of society.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the feedback received from Dr Yvonne Haigh and Prof Mark Beeson on earlier drafts of this chapter, which helped us refine the arguments presented and enabled a more explicit treatment of aspects of power in discussions on neoliberalism and resource development in WA.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Social Sustainability, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

    Martin Brueckner

  2. Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

    Angela Durey

  3. John Curtin Institute of Public Policy, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

    Robyn Mayes

  4. Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

    Christof Pforr

Authors
  1. Martin Brueckner
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  2. Angela Durey
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  3. Robyn Mayes
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  4. Christof Pforr
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Brueckner .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Social Sustainability, Murdoch University, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Martin Brueckner

  2. Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Angela Durey

  3. John Curtin Inst. of Public Policy, Curtin University, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Robyn Mayes

  4. Curtin Business School, Curtin University, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Christof Pforr

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Brueckner, M., Durey, A., Mayes, R., Pforr, C. (2014). Curse or Cure? Revisiting State, Capital and Resources. In: Brueckner, M., Durey, A., Mayes, R., Pforr, C. (eds) Resource Curse or Cure ?. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-53873-5_18

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