Thought-Provoker: the commodification of environmentalism (commodification series part 2)

To recap from part 1: commodification resides alongside consumerism and the need to earn money in order to survive, as an essential foundation of a Capitalist economy.

Commodification is the process by which market potential is assigned to products, services, ideas and information. Commodification is also the process whereby solutions are created for problems that don’t really exist. For example, the medicalization of normality, and the development of gratuitous and frivolous products that are essential to no one. Therefore, commodity production is not necessarily determined by use value, instead, commodity production is based on potential exchange value. An exchange value can be assigned to anything that has a potential to produce income for the proponent of the commodity. Commodification then, is the process of creating market place niches.

Lets now turn to the commodification of environmentalism, specifically. The commodification of environmental concerns is a newly created niche which has and will continue to provide wealth for those best able to take advantage. Back in the mid and later 20th century, environmentalism was seen to be the demigod of Hippies and other Marginals of little means, who wanted to overthrow the pursuit of worthwhile and appropriate business operations. At the time, calls by these Marginals for business entities to be mindful of the damage they were causing the environment, were met with less than veiled hostility by those producers, as well as by other right-wing plaudits. Environmentalism was deemed to be highly threatening to the continuing manufacture of consumer goods.

However, over time, some entrepreneurial types came to recognize the untapped market of environmentalism that awaited the savvy operator. Indeed, a massive global industry has since sprung forward from rather challenging and seemingly inauspicious beginnings.

Lets look at the nature of modern environmentalism and the array of sub-industries that have spawned from it: there is the phenomenon of environmentalism-related university degrees and research capability devoted to environmental concerns and protection (including of course climate change), renewable energies, environmental protection groups of various types, recycling and differential waste management, businesses supplying water saving gadgets and eco-friendly building materials and chemicals etc., and there are environmental protectionist approvals, licenses and permits required to develop property.

Although environmentalism might be seen to be at loggerheads with product manufacture, it's just another part of the much bigger foundational requirement by which a Capitalist economy can proliferate---that of finding yet another niche area in which to generate profit. This then, is the commodification of environmentalism---the environmentalism industry.