Département de Géographie

This paper explores the relationship between ground rent, production
and knowledge in Ecuador’s neo-structuralist, state-led project to
transform the productive matrix. Based upon insights from the Marxian
approach to the critique of political economy, we interrogate how neostructuralism
has conceptualised the relationship between ‘natural
resource income’ and ‘knowledge-based’ economic development.
The paper argues that a rent-theoretical perspective, which takes
seriously the regional unfolding of uneven geographical development
in Latin America, can highlight the limits of a national development
plan conceived according to the logic of Schumpeterian efficiency. In
doing so, the paper identifies the contradictory relationship between
natural resource exports, state-led ‘knowledge’-based development
and capital accumulation. On this basis the paper offers a historically
and empirically informed critical analysis of selective import
substitution industrialisation and vanguard science and technology
strategies designed to transition Ecuador away from primary resource
dependence.

This paper explores the relationship between ground rent, production and knowledge in Ecuador’s neo-structuralist, state-led project to transform the productive matrix. Based upon insights from the Marxian approach to the critique of political economy, we interrogate how neostructuralism has conceptualised the relationship between ‘natural resource income’ and ‘knowledge-based’ economic development. The paper argues that a rent-theoretical perspective, which takes seriously the regional unfolding of uneven geographical development in Latin America, can highlight the limits of a national development plan conceived according to the logic of Schumpeterian efficiency. In doing so, the paper identifies the contradictory relationship between natural resource exports, state-led ‘knowledge’-based development and capital accumulation. On this basis the paper offers a historically and empirically informed critical analysis of selective import substitution industrialisation and vanguard science and technology strategies designed to transition Ecuador away from primary resource dependence.

Drawing on the Marxian theory of ground rent, this paper develops an analysis of " global commodity chains " (GCCs) with agrarian roots. There is an acknowledgement that the concentrated downstream governance of primary commodity-based GCCs has created a set of " asymmetrical " power relations which blocks the transmission of value upstream towards small producers. This paper argues that this research under-specifies what is meant by value and rent, and in doing so marginalises the analysis of value production before its journey through inter-firm relations. We demonstrate the importance of theorising the value constitution of commodities produced on the land and the forces that contest the payment of ground rent and thereby shape the geography of GCCs. Based on empirical research conducted around Ecuador's " post-neolib-eral " cocoa re-activation plan, we identify the class politics and production mechanisms through which value and rent escapes the hands of a stratified network of small owner producers. Resumen: Este art ıculo desarrolla un an alisis sobre " cadenas globales de mercanc ıas " (CGM) con ra ıces agrarias utilizando la teor ıa marxista de la renta de la tierra. Existe un reconocimiento de que la gobernanza de las CGM primarias concentrada en el procesa-miento ha creado una serie de relaciones de poder " asim etricas " que bloquean la trans-misi on de valor hacia peque~ nos productores agrarios. El art ıculo plantea que esta aserci on sub-especifica lo que se entiende por valor y renta y que, al hacerlo, margina-liza el an alisis de la producci on de valor antes de su recorrido a trav es de las relaciones inter-firmas. Demostramos la importancia de teorizar la constituci on del valor de las mercanc ıas producidas en la tierra y las fuerzas que impugnan el pago de la renta de la tierra y dan de este modo forma a la geograf ıa de las CGM. Sobre la base de investi-gaci on emp ırica realizada alrededor del plan 'post-neoliberal' de Ecuador para la reacti-vaci on del cacao, identificamos las pol ıticas de clase y los mecanismos de producci on a trav es de los cuales el valor y la renta se escapan de las manos de una red estratificada de peque~ nos productores propietarios agrarios.

A B S T R A C T This paper offers a value-theoretic critique of 'post-neoliberal' energy production in Ecuador. The Ecuadorian government is attempting to end the dependence on finite hydrocarbon resources and unite energy infrastructure with industrial competitiveness through the transformation of the country's 'energy matrix'. Based on extensive field research, we argue that the project reveals the contradictions of the landlord state's attempt to mobilise circuits of ground rent and foreign debt to create cheap energy as a comparative advantage for national industrial development. Riding high on global commodity prices and tapping into a huge stream of Chinese investment , the government massively increased investment in new sources of hydroelectricity and energy infrastructure. Whilst ostensibly bringing about a reduction in energy production costs, this has come at the price of leveraging the country's natural resources (oil and minerals) and, paradoxically, creating an oversupply of hydroelectricity. Drawing on a Marxist reading of the landlord state and tracing the flows of ground rent, capital and energy we reveal how, far from the claims of post-neoliberal modernity, the project is in fact deepening resource dependence by channelling hydroelectricity towards the nascent Ecuadorian mining frontier.

À partir d’une sélection de 20 indicateurs de développement durable (DD), nous construisons deux indicateurs composites (IC) qui synthétisent respectivement les dimensions environnementales et socio-économiques du DD. Nous procédons ensuite à l’application des IC aux 25 plus grandes municipalités du Québec selon différents scénarios de classement. Nous obtenons deux principaux résultats. Premièrement, nous démontrons que les municipalités les plus durables ne sont pas nécessairement celles ayant de bonnes performances environnementales. Deuxièmement, nous démontrons qu’en moyenne : i) les plus grandes villes en termes de population obtiennent de bons scores environnementaux » et de mauvais scores socio-économiques et ii) les municipalités plus petites obtiennent de mauvais scores environnementaux qui sont compensés par des scores socio-économiques plus élevés. Nous terminons l’étude en présentant une analyse-graphique utilisant les diagrammes en radar afin d’identifier les principau...

Current research on the conservation of urban heritage is characterized by a growing number of studies that aim to describe and assess the sustainability of existing practices. We analyze 25 case studies that specifically discuss and propose sustainability indicators to assess urban heritage conservation. The analysis reveals a lack of consensus regarding the quantity, frequency of use, and type of the indicators, which calls for the development of common key indicators. We propose a strategy to select key indicators, which broadly cover the environmental, economic, and social aspects of sustainable development, as well as the basic dimension of heritage conservation. The selected indicators are those that are recognized by experts and legitimated by analyses and case studies.

Cette étude discute de l’application d’indicateurs et d’indices de développement durable dans le cadre de classements des 25 plus grandes villes québécoises. Notre analyse est basée sur l’utilisation d’indices construits à partir de 20 indicateurs socio-économiques et environnementaux et permettant de tenir compte des différents aspects du développement urbain. Les performances relatives des villes sont analysées en fonction des avantages-désavantages associés à l’utilisation d’une grille commune d’indicateurs et d’indices de développement durable. Nous discutons de trois principaux enjeux : i) la comparabilité des villes; ii) les possibilités compensatoires entre indicateurs dans le calcul des indices et iii) la pondération des indicateurs dans le calcul des indices.

This chapter focuses on the use of sustainability indicators (SI) in tourism management. We address the interpretation and use of tourism SI following their measurement. First, in terms of interpretation, we argue that the typical approach in measuring sustainability is relatively limited. It underestimates the possible compensation between socioeconomic and environmental-related indicators’ score, and overlooks the progress achieved by tourist destinations, which is a central feature of sustainability. Based on these observations, we propose that the best performing destinations with respect to sustainability are those that meet the following three performance criteria: i) they display a relatively higher score based on the indicators measurement; their environmental performance and socioeconomic performance are both high and non-compensatory and iii) they must improve over time. Second, in terms of practical use of SI, we argue that their use has been limited to promoting areas th...

How to reduce greenhouse gases emissions in urban transportation, whereas the least popular measures are generally those that are most effective? In this paper, we argue that the most effective strategies involve a trade-off between socially acceptable and economically efficient measures. In search of such trade-off, we generate several scenarios based on different combinaison of measures such as tolls, fuel taxes and bonus-malus. These scenarios where then presented to a focus group and submitted as a public survey in order to evaluate the degree of their social acceptability.