Resourceful Bond

Abstract

This chapter explores the elemental in the Bond films focusing specifically on resource conflict. While the success of Bond’s missions often depends on his ability to negotiate and navigate the elemental, he also encounters these elements as an agent of Britain who works to safeguard their geopolitical interests. Through the figure of Bond, Britain is placed at the center of the gold exchange standard, African blood diamond trade, and the energy crisis of the 1970s. And in the Brosnan- and Craig-era films, Bond inserts himself into international conflicts over oil and water. Resource management is clearly gendered as women are both associated with the elements/resources and control access to them. As a result, the narratives have patriarchal significance as they convey the impression that Bond’s colonial masculinity is needed to maintain global order over the (feminine) elements.