Skip to main content

Abstract

This chapter centres on an Eco-Marxist critique of capitalism, with a special focus on the environmental effects of mineral resource exploitation in Africa. It revealed that as oil, gas, gold, copper, timber, etc. are exploited in Africa, there is an exploitative conspiracy between the multinational oil companies and government against the different poor African communities that have mineral resources in their land. The study quoted multiple negative environmental impacts of resource exploitation and the recurrence of resource curse conflicts that manifested in Niger Delta oil sites of Nigeria, gold mine areas in Ghana and South Africa as well as the copper sites in Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia as the manifestation of the people’s resistance to resource exploitation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Adeyemo, B. A. (2019). Colonial transport system in Africa: Motives, challenges and impact. African Journal of History and Archaeology, 4(1), 14–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Akashi, H. (2016). The elasticity of capital and ecological crisis. Marx-Engels Jahrbuch, 2015(1), 45–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ake, C. (1976, March). Explanatory notes on the political economy of Africa. The Journal of Modern African Studies, 14(1), 1–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Aleksandrovskaia, L., Matsenko, I., & Schultz, A. (1976). Experience and problems of nationalization in African countries. International Journal of Politics, 6(4), 66–86.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anifowose, R. (2011). Violence and politics in Nigeria: The Tiv, Yoruba and Niger Delta Experiences. Lagos: Sam Ironausi Publishers

    Google Scholar 

  • Ayoade, J. (2010). Nigeria: Positive pessimism and negative optimism. Valedictory Lecture, Faculty of the Social Sciences, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, September, 17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Badgley, C. (2014, May 19). West Africa oil boom overlooks tattered environmental safety net. The Centre for Public Integrity. Retrieved from https://publicintegrity.org/accountability/west-africa-oil-boom-overlooks-tattered-environmental-safety-net/. Accessed May 14, 2019.

  • Carrington, D. (2017, May 28). The world’s most toxic town: The terrible legacy of Zambia’s lead mines. The Guardian: Environment-Pollution. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/may/28/the-worlds-most-toxic-town-the-terrible-legacy-of-zambias-lead-mines. Accessed June 16, 2019.

  • Carter-Roberts, A. (2019, February 4). A critical assessment of Eco-Marxism: A Ghanaian case study. Retrieved from https://www.e-ir.info/2019/02/04/a-critical-assessment-of-eco-marxism-a-ghanaian-case-study/. Accessed June 18, 2019.

  • Chouquer, G. (2011). Aspects and characteristics of State-owned land in West Africa. Online Knowledge Base: Natural Resources Governance around the World. Retrieved from https://www.agter.org/bdf/en/pages/page-10.html. Accessed June 21, 2019.

  • Chuks-Ezike, C. (2018). Environmental crime liability of the Nigerian government in its oil pollution menace. Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, 2(2), 1–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deleage, J. P. (1989). Eco‐Marxist critique of Political economy. Capitalism Nature Socialism, 1(3), 15–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elbra, A. (2017). A history of Gold mining in South Africa, Ghana and Tanzania. In Governing African gold mining (pp. 67–103). London: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ekanade, O. V. (2014). The dynamics of forced neoliberalism in Nigeria since the 1980s. Journal of Retracing Africa, 1(1), 1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Emmanuel, A. Y., Jerry, C. S., & Dzigbodi, D. A. (2018). Review of environmental and health impacts of mining in Ghana. Journal of Health and Pollution, 8(17), 43–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foster, J. B., Clark, B., & York, R. (2011). The Ecological Rift: Capitalism’s War on the Earth. NYU Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foster, J. B. (2015). Marxism and ecology: Common fonts of a great Ttransition. Monthly Review, 67(7), 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Friends of the Earth International (2019, May 17). A journey through the oil spills of Ogoniland. News. Retrieved from https://www.foei.org/news/oil-spills-ogoniland-nigeria-shell [Accessed May 13, 2019]

  • Fuwape, J. A. (2003). The impacts of forest industries and wood utilization on the environment. Paper submitted to the XII World Forestry Congress 2003, Quebec City, Canada. Retrieved from http://www.fao.org/3/XII/0122-A2.htm#P28_106. Accessed August 4, 2019.

  • Gayle, J. (2015, August 1). I drank the water and ate the fish. We all did. The acid has damaged me permanently. The Guardian: Global Development. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2015/aug/01/zambia-vedanta-pollution-village-copper-mine. Accessed June 18, 2019.

  • Global Witness (2015, June). Exporting impunity: How Congo’s rainforest is illegally logged for international markets. London: Global witness Limited.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hardin, G. (1968). The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162(3859), 1243–1248.

    Google Scholar 

  • Havard Law School International Human Rights Clinic. (2016). The cost of Gold: Environmental, health and human rights consequences of Gold mining in South Africa’s West and Central Rand. Retrieved from https://hrp.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/The-Cost-of-Gold-Full-Report-Final.pdf. Accessed June 14, 2018.

  • Hilson, G., & Haselip, J. (2004). The environmental and socioeconomic performance of multinational mining companies in the developing world economy. Minerals & Energy-Raw Materials Report, 19(3), 25-47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huntington, S. P. (1993). The third wave: Democratization in the late twentieth century (Vol. 4). University of Oklahoma Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jakobsson, L. S. (2019, May 6). Copper With A Cost-Human rights and environmental risks in the mineral supply chains of ICT: A case study from Zambia. (Report No. 94). Swedwatch. Retrieved from https://swedwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/94_Zambia_190429_enkelsidor.pdf. Accessed June 14, 2019.

  • Kadafa, A. A. (2012). Environmental impacts of oil exploration and exploitation in the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Global Journal of Science Frontier Research Environment & Earth Sciences, 12(3), 19–28.

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein, N. (2015). This changes everything: Capitalism vs. the climate. Simon and Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kongwa, S. (1990). Nationalization: Lessons from Southern Africa. Africa Insight, 20(3), 189–193.

    Google Scholar 

  • Legge, L. E. L. & Zhibo, L. (2018). The environmental and social impacts of oil exploration and production on Melut basin of South Sudan. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 8(10), 197–209.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lievens, M. (2010). Towards an Eco-Marxism. Radical Philosophy Review, 13(1), 1–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Limpitlaw, D. (2011). Nationalization and mining: Lessons from Zambia. Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, 111(10), 737–737.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lungu, J. (2008). Copper mining agreements in Zambia: renegotiation or law reform? Review of African Political Economy, 35(117), 403–415.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazrui, A. A. (2002). Nkrumahism and the triple heritage in the Shadow of globalization. Draft Lecture, Mar.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mbendi. (2018). Africa: Gold Mining. Retrieved from https://mbendi.co.za/indy/ming/mingmrau.htm. Accessed June 9, 2019.

  • Mining Council South Africa (2019). Brief history of Gold mining in South Africa. Mining For Schools. Retrieved from https://www.miningforschools.co.za/lets-explore/gold/brief-history-of-gold-mining-in-sa. Accessed August 13, 2019.

  • Mwitwa, J., German, L., Muimba-Kankolongo, A., & Puntodewo, A. (2012). Governance and sustainability challenges in landscapes shaped by mining: Mining-forestry linkages and impacts in the Copper Belt of Zambia and the DR Congo. Forest Policy and Economics, 25, 19-30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nanok, J. K., & Onyango, C. O. (2017). A socio-economic and environmental analysis of the EFFECTS of oil exploration on the local community in Lokichar, Turkana County, Kenya. International Journal of Management, Economics and Social Sciences, 6(3), 144–156

    Google Scholar 

  • Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. J. (2013). Coloniality of power in postcolonial Africa. African Books Collective.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nix, S. (2019, March 21). Maps of the world’s forests: World forest cover maps and natural tree ranges. ThoughtCo., Animal and Nature. Retrieved from https://thoughtco.com/maps-of-the-worlds-forests-1343036. Accessed August 4, 2019.

  • Njoh, A. J. & Akiwumi, F. (2012). Colonial legacies, land policies and the millennium development goals: Lessons from Cameroon and Sierra Leone. Habitat International, 36, 210–218.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ntuli, M. (2018, May 24). Eco-marxism and deforestation. Pambazuka News-Land and Environment. Retrieved from https://www.pambazuka.org/land-environment/eco-marxism-and-deforestation. Accessed March 6, 2019.

  • Odukoya, A. O. (2018). Settler and non-settler colonialism in Africa. In S. O. Oloruntoba, & T. Falola (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of African politics, governance and development (pp. 173–186). New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ojakorotu, V., & Olajide, B. (2019). Ubuntu and nature: Towards reversing resource curse in Africa. Ubuntu: Journal of Conflict and Social Transformation. Special Issue September 2019, 25–46.

    Google Scholar 

  • Onimode, B. (1988). A political economy of the African crisis. London, NJ: Zed Books with the Institute for African Alternatives.

    Google Scholar 

  • Onimode, B. (1978, December). Imperialism and multinational corporations: A case study of Nigeria. Journal of Black Studies, 9(2), 207–232

    Google Scholar 

  • Osaghae, E. E. (1998). Nigeria since independence: Crippled Giant. London: Hurst & Company.

    Google Scholar 

  • Oshin, O. (1988). Developing infrastructure of exploitation: The example of colonial transport on the Bauchi Tin Fields, 1902–1914. Transafrican Journal of History, 17, 123–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osuagwu, E. S., & Olaifa, E. (2018). Effects of oil spills on fish production in the Niger Delta. PloS one, 13(10).

    Google Scholar 

  • Research and Markets (2019, April). Africa oil and gas sector Report 2019/2020. Retrieved from https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/4771797/africa-oil-and-gas-sector-report-20192020?utm_source=BW&utm_medium=PressRelease&utm_code=lfl9vn&utm_campaign=1248653+-+Africa%27s+Oil+%26+Gas+Market+2019%2f2020&utm_exec=joca220prd. Accessed May 13, 2019.

  • Rodney, W. (1973). How Europe underdeveloped Africa. Dar es Salaam: Tanzanian Publishing House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Saito, K. (2017). Marx in the anthropocene: Value, metabolic rift, and the non-cartesian dualism. Zeitschrift für kritische Sozialtheorie und Philosophie, 4(1–2), 276–295.

    Google Scholar 

  • Samndong, R. A., & Nhantumbo, I. (2015). Natural resources governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo Breaking sector walls for sustainable land use investments. International Institute for Environment and Development, Country Report February 2015. Retrieved from https://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/13578IIED.pdf. Accessed August 4, 2019.

  • Shivji, I. G. (2003, October 29–31). The rise, the fall, and the insurrection of nationalism in Africa. Address to the CODESRIA East African Regional Conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Retrieved from http://ccs.ukzn.ac.za/files/shivji.pdf. Accessed June 6, 2018.

  • Shivji, I. G. (1973). Capitalism unlimited: Public corporations in partnership with multinational corporations. Africa Review, 3(3), 359–381

    Google Scholar 

  • Statista (2020). Forest area worldwide in 2005, 2010 and 2015, by continent (in million hectares). Statista: Agriculture-Forestry. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/264665/world-forest-area-by-continent/. Accessed August 4, 2019.

  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2014, January 6). Copperbelt. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/place/Copperbelt-region-Africa. Accessed June 13, 2019.

  • Tyokumbur, E. T. (2014). Review of ecological effects of oil exploration in the Niger-Delta, Nigeria. International Journal of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, 1(4), 76–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Udofia, O. E. (1984, March). Imperialism in Africa: A case of multinational corporations. Journal of Black Studies, 14(3), 353–368.

    Google Scholar 

  • United Nations. Economic Commission for Africa. (2011). Land policy in Africa: West Africa regional assessment.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vidal, D. (2019, April 10). Zambians can pursue mining pollution claim in English courts. The Guardian: Law. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/apr/10/zambians-can-pursue-mining-pollution-claim-in-english-courts. Accessed June 18, 2019.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ojakorotu, V., Olajide, B. (2021). An Eco-Marxist Critique of Capitalism in Africa. In: Ani, K.J., Ojakorotu, V., Bribena, K. (eds) Political Economy of Resource, Human Security and Environmental Conflicts in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-2036-2_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics