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This article engages multiple perspectives to consider how forms of world-economic integration allow for developed countries to treat less developed countries as supply depots to satisfy their unsustainable resource consumption levels. Particular attention is paid to the role of ecologically unequal exchange relationships in the mode of the vertical flow of exports and the transnational organization of extraction and production in the context of foreign investment dependence. It is argued that these interrelationships in the primary sector contribute to deforestation in less developed countries. Following theoretical discussions, regression analyses are conducted to assess the validity of the proposed relationships. Results suggest that both types of integration do contribute to deforestation in less developed countries, net of other factors. Ultimately, this research suggests that the structure of the world-economy allows for developed countries to externalize their consumption-based environmental costs, which often leads to increased environmental degradation in many less developed countries.

Bridging multiple areas of sociology, the author tests hypotheses derived from foreign investment dependence theory, ecologically unequal exchange theory and world society theory in analyses of industrial organic water pollution in less-developed countries, 1980—2000. Using panel data from a variety of sources, the author proposes three hypotheses: (1) industrial organic water pollution intensity is positively associated with foreign investment in manufacturing; (2) industrial organic water pollution intensity is positively associated with overall export intensity; and (3) industrial organic water pollution intensity is negatively associated with the presence of environmental international non-governmental organizations. Further analyses investigate the impact of organic water pollution on infant mortality rates in less-developed countries. In general, findings for Prais—Winsten regression analyses with panel-corrected standard errors and generalized least squares panel regression analyses of less-developed countries confirm the tested hypotheses, and indicate that industrial organic water pollution intensity does indeed contribute to infant mortality, net of the effects of economic development, fertility rates, health expenditures and other relevant factors.

This research helps to increase our collective understanding of the complex interrelationships between foreign investment dependence and environmental degradation. Panel regresssion analyses of 35 less developed countries from 1980 to 1999 are conducted to test the hypothesis that foreign direct investment in the primary sector increases carbon dioxide emissions from agriculture production. Results confi rm the hypothesis, providing support for the theory of foreign capital dependence. Level of agriculture production and the use of tractors are also found to increase the growth of carbon dioxide emissions from this primary sector activity. Conversely, nations more likely to ratify international environmental treaties exhibit suppressed growth in emissions. These fi ndings underscore the need for social scientists to investigate the environmental impacts of both the level and transnational organization of production in different sectors as well as the overall use of relevant machinery and the environmental commitments of nation-states.

Abstract Political‐economic sociologists have long investigated the dynamics and consequences of international trade. With few exceptions, this area of inquiry ignores the possible connections between trade and environmental degradation. In contrast, environmental sociologists have made several assumptions about the environmental impacts of international trade, but the assumptions lack theoretical specificity and are thus empirically under‐investigated. Bridging these two complementary areas of macrosociology, the present study proposes and tests a structural theory of unequal ecological exchange. The theory posits that more‐developed countries externalize their consumption‐based environmental costs to less‐developed countries, which increase forms of environmental degradation within the latter. To test a key assertion of the theory, a weighted index of vertical trade is created that quantifies the relative extent to which exports are sent to more‐developed countries. Using the index, cross‐national panel analyses of deforestation, 1990–2000 are conducted to test the hypothesis that less‐developed countries with higher levels of exports sent to more‐developed countries experience greater rates of deforestation, net of other factors. Results of the analyses confirm the hypothesis, providing support for the theory of uneven ecological exchange. Additional findings correspond with other sociological studies of deforestation, particularly those that focus on the effects of rural and urban population growth as well as level of capital intensity and rate of economic development.

Objective-This study attempts to increase our understanding of the environmental impacts of the transnational organization of production in the context of foreign capital penetration. Methods-With a sample of 53 countries, panel analyses using OLS and robust regression are conducted to assess the effects of foreign direct investment in the manufacturing sector on growth in organic water pollution intensity, 1980-1995. Slope-dummy interaction variables are used to compare the effects in developed countries and less-developed countries. The tested models include a variety of relevant controls, such as domestic investment, state environmentalism, size of the manufacturing sector, and level of economic development. Results-Findings for the analyses indicate that foreign direct investment in manufacturing positively affects growth in organic water pollution intensity in less-developed countries, while the effect in developed countries is nonsignificant. Conclusions-This research illustrates the need for social scientists to investigate the environmental impacts of both the transnational organization of production and the overall scale of production in different sectors. Tables, 3, References. Adapted from the source document.

Although unsustainable natural resource consumption has recently garnered significant attention in macrosociology, empirical studies neglect to analyze the environmental impacts of different forms of international power dynamics. This study dissects international power into its various economic, military, and export dependence characteristics, and analyzes their independent effects on per-capita consumption of natural resources, measured as ecological footprints. Findings of the quantitative cross-national analyses indicate that economic power in the form of capital intensity, military technological power, and overall export dependence are the structural driving forces of per-capita resource consumption. The effects of military technological power and export dependence on percapita footprints are primarily direct, whereas the effect of capital intensity is both direct and indirect, partly mediated by its effects on levels of secondary education and domestic income inequality, both of which impact levels of per-capita consumption. The results advance our collective understanding of the complexities of international power, domestic conditions, and uneven environmental outcomes and illustrate the necessity for taking a more nuanced approach to analyses of anthropogenic degradation of the global ecological system.

What are the effects of increased stuctural integration of international trade on the environment of relatively poorer countries, particularly in the southern hemisphere? This is the key question addressed by Corey Lofdahl in his book Environmental Impacts of Globalization and Trade:A Systems Study. Given the theme for this special issue of the Journal of World-Systems Research, a discussion and evaluation of this book seems rather timely and relevant. An immediate fact of interest is that Lofdahl is not an environmental sociologist, let alone acquainted with relevant empirical works grounded in a world-systems perspective. Rather, he is trained as a political scientist, and works in the simulation and information technology sector.

The authors examine the potentially asymmetrical relationship between economic development and consumption-based and production-based CO2 emissions. They decompose economic development into economic expansions and contractions, measured separately as increases and decreases in gross domestic product per capita, and examine their unique effects on emissions. Analyzing cross-national data from 1990 to 2014, the authors find no statistical evidence of asymmetry for the overall sample. However, for a sample restricted to nations with populations larger than 10 million, the authors observe a contraction-leaning asymmetry whereby the effects of economic contraction on both emissions outcomes are larger in magnitude than the effects of economic expansion. This difference in magnitude is more pronounced for consumption-based emissions than for production-based emissions. The authors provide tentative explanations for the variations in results across the different samples and emissions measures and underscore the need for more nuanced research and deeper theorization on potential asymmetry in the relationship between economic development and anthropogenic emissions.

AbstractThis brief article considers the environmental impacts of militaries from a sociological perspective. The authors begin with an overview of treadmill of destruction theory, which highlights the expansionary tendencies and concomitant environmental consequences of militarism. This discussion is followed by a narrative assessment of military developments and expenditures, with a particular focus on the US military over the past century. Next, the authors detail the increasing environmental impacts associated with the growth and structure of militarization, and conclude by calling for future sociological research to seriously consider the environmental impacts of the world's militaries.