Environmental Sociology. Capitalism and the Environment

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Table of Contents

Literature Review
Methods
Results and Analysis
Conclusion
References

Capitalism results in increased production for gain in competitive markets. It creates an economic structure where the private earnings-maximization motive is at the center of its virtues and faults. The advantages of capitalism are entrenched in its striking productivity and development levels. The gain maximization sense stimulates producers to concentrate on what they can best produce and invest in modern expertise to augment effectiveness and productivity (Pemunta, 2018). The two research questions chosen for this study include: In which ways does capitalism facilitate or hinder productivity and growth? What makes capitalism blameworthy or guiltless for environmental disasters? Whilst failing to check past what appears to be the source of dissatisfaction, environmental scientists and ecologists affirm that overpopulation coupled with unrestrained industrial activity results in disasters, for instance, climatic change, water contamination, global warming, acid deposition, soil degradation, and air pollution. Population upsurge and enormous industrial output in developing and developed nations have harmful effects on the climate and the environment.

Literature Review

With international environmental degradation and social issues becoming serious, scholars started to worry about the best method of resolving the challenge (Sung & Park, 2018). In the recent past, researchers have emerged that connect capitalism to sustainability and cover the extensive notion of sustainable business practices, encompassing environmental, economic, and social ideals. For capitalists, social and ecological issues such as climatic change and environmental degradation may generate an entrepreneurial chance to solve the setback. Socially, it has been found that activism, international agreements, and innovativeness of entrepreneurs may provide ways of facilitating environmental conservation, which plays a vital role in establishing sustainable business practices and societies. Sustainability is an essential subject for comprehending and developing modern society, encompassing companies, governments, countries, and non-governmental organizations.

Profit maximization intentions generate motivation for entrepreneurs to enhance productivity on an extensive scale to optimize gains. Similar earnings increment plans facilitate economic agents to distribute resources in approaches that are favorable to dynamism and development. Obliged by competitive forces in the market, companies find it unreasonable to venture into cost-reduction expertise, which enables them to stand firm against the force that is generated by their rivals (Pemunta, 2018). This results in a virtuous sequence of efficiency, productivity, and maximization of profit.

Instances of success with respect to growth levels are many in the contemporary account of capitalism. Some evident examples of remarkable economic development in modern capitalism encompass the enormous industrial development of England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the outstanding development levels of Western Europe, the emergence of East Asian Tigers, and the growth of the Chinese leviathan. Studies show that the major dynamics of capitalism that produce its benefits also result in its problems. Capitalism requires continuous development of production to stay stable, improve living standards, and create sufficient employment for the youthful and rising population across the globe.

There is a mounting agreement that constant financial development of reputable economic structures is unsustainable. DiVito and Bohnsack (2017) carried out a mixed-method research study of twenty-four companies in the apparel sector and gathered data via structured surveys, in addition to rich, exhaustive interviews. The findings of the study offer perceptiveness to sustainable entrepreneurship that influences the allotment of resources, both external and internal to a company (such as recruitment and strategic partnership), via the making of decisions that are geared toward sustainability inclination. The authors affirm that a wide pool of studies on sustainable entrepreneurship affirms that the Schumpeterian entrepreneurial practice results in the solution of intricate social and environmental concerns and operates as a channel for industrial transformation. Sustainable entrepreneurs are dually pointed with one phase focusing on business growth and the other on sustainable development (Sung & Park, 2018). They contrast the presupposition from an economics viewpoint that entrepreneurs are propelled by self-centeredness, profit-seeking intentions, and put collective, societal concerns on the same level with individual interests.

Endeavors to reduce the environmental influence of the modern apparel sector across the entire course of production, preservation, purchase, and disposal may be stimulated by either consumption or supply (C&A, n.d.). Modification of behavior, nevertheless, demands comprehension of present clothing consumption practices. Since there is an insufficient number of studies in the field, Gwozdz, Steensen, and Müller (2017) sought to bridge the gap by focusing on patterns in the consumption, use, preservation, and disposal stages through analysis of distinctive details of 4617 consumers from 18 to 65 years of age. Examination of data established that at the lower point of the spectrum are consumers who earn little, purchase mainly budget brand attire, and the segment is least open to options that are inclined to environmentally-friendly business practices, for example, clothing collection and apparel leasing. At the opposite end is a small fragment with high earners who take part in the excessive purchase of first-class and medium fashion brands and who are much disposed to eco-friendly business models. The study shows that there are numerous potential directions for environmental interventions customized toward particular customer segments. A thorough evaluation of the actual ecological effects of different client segments may support the realization of successful behavioral interventions encouraging environmentally friendly clothing purchases (Gap Inc., n.d.a).

Eight percent of foodstuff consumed in the US is obtained from short food chains (Pensado-Leglise & Smolski, 2017). Currently, alternative food networks are in a renaissance, using an economy of closeness to rival intercontinental agri-business as well as other systems (Moggi, Bonomi, & Ricciardi, 2018). Although this is positive socially, economically, and environmentally, the overdependence on market approaches in short food chains may result in class discrimination in food consumption and allocation. The outcome has been a capitalist consumer contradiction aggravating inequity in eco-friendly agri-business networks.

An effective resolution of the inequality demands the focus on the way public strategies might influence national investment in public markets to decrease capitalist consumption concerns in short food chains. As a clarification of the argument, Pensado-Leglise and Smolski (2017) start by assessing the gains of short food chains in metropolitan food networks before explicating how forms of consumption and strategy regimes sway food availability. The authors affirm that public market systems are significant organizations for rectifying existing problems. This requires increasing public investment and shared activities that are centered on the incorporation of public food marketplaces into short food chains. Such actions, coupled with the identification of conflicts and complements, may be realized in an effective way that decreases class-anchored stratification of ensuring sustainable, locally available, organic food.

In his ethnographic study, Pemunta (2018) assesses the competing forces between capitalist unions and residents whose lands have been found suitable for oil palm generation. The capitalist alliance comprised of the World Bank, the palm oil producer referred to as Herakles Farms, and the government of Cameroon. Capitalism supporters defend the creation of a 73,000-hectare palm oil farm in forested regions of South Cameroon as a show of generosity while the local community opposes as it suffers home and lands grabbing, over and above environmental degradation. Standpoints of benevolent capitalism are contrary to views and misery of home losers and environmental dilapidation caused by the project. The arising dissonance reveals that the neoliberal discussion of capitalist benevolence is an egocentric one that benefits the authoritative at the cost of the lowly. The local community should be strengthened to negotiate with transnational corporations and regulations that distinguish instituted and applied customary land rights.

The consumption of clothing has switched from the satisfaction of basic needs of people to meet their wishes and preferences. Currently, clothing consumption considerably influences natural resources. Excessive fashion consumption is among the major causes of environmental degradation, and lack of sustainability in the apparel sector as every person consumes more than 11kg of clothes each year, which leads to the generation of about 440kg of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions per capita. In their study, Iran and Schrader (2017) stress that lessening disposed textile presents a great environmental and fiscal opportunity concerning clothing and sustainability. The promotion of alternative fashion consumption is an innovative notion that could facilitate the reduction of the overutilization of material in the apparel sector (Esprit, n.d.). Rather than always purchasing new fashion products, consumers should be encouraged to sometimes go for collaborative opportunities of possession such as gifting, lending, sharing, swapping, leasing, and renting fashion products owned by other people or buying secondhand clothes. Altering people’s attitudes toward secondhand clothes and alternative fashion consumption may lead to positive influences toward environmental conservation and sustainability (Fashion FWD, n.d.).

Methods

The researcher first identified an appropriate methodology before using it competently in the study, after which data was critically examined. This research employed both primary and secondary techniques of collecting data and a qualitative approach to data analysis. Gathering primary data was done with the aid of questionnaires that had open-ended questions (see appendix 1). The researcher first sought permission to involve participants from Old Navy Company, in the United States, from the manager by first explaining the significance of the research. The manager provided a list of employees and their email addresses.

The researcher randomly selected 30 employees from the provided list and sent electronic mails explicating the purpose of the research and requesting their contribution. Twenty-five of the employees replied with their acceptance to take part in the study hence forming the final sample for the research. Four respondents held management positions, ten were in marketing ranks, and 11 were brand associates. Questionnaires were issued to respondents who were then assured of confidentiality, free will to participate, and encouraged to successfully complete all seven questions. Questions in the questionnaire sought to assess the effects of capitalism on the environment. Secondary data was collected from peer-reviewed journals from online platforms such as Google and EBSCOhost.

Results and Analysis

After data collection, the researcher clearly and proficiently discussed results and evaluated findings corresponding to research questions. All the participants stated that since the company’s brand manifesto is about the welfare of all across the globe, and that is what has directed its decisions and success for more than two decades, it is difficult to think of a world without environmental conservation. This is because human beings around the world are in one family that they should always protect; planet earth. Old Navy Company has, in the recent past, established HEART EARTH as a revelation of its dedication to sustainability and future generations by ethically sourcing and generating products that ascertain that business practices are taking care of the planet and all consumers.

The participants affirmed that to ensure sustainability and environmental conservation, Old Navy Company has created two major objectives that it seeks to realize by 2022, and which are centered on where the organization has the greatest influence. The two objectives are to achieve 100% cotton that guarantees to source sustainably and to ensure 100% denim that has been made using water-saving techniques. The company sells more than 27,000 jeans each day, which makes the scope of sustainability and environmental conservation objectives around cotton and denim noteworthy. Old Navy Company collaborates with the Better Cotton Initiative nonprofit organization to make sure that fibers utilized are for the benefit of consumers, producers, and the surrounding environment. Farmers under the Better Cotton Initiative are committed to the efficient utilization of water, care for the well-being of natural habitats and soil, and minimization of the effects of risky crop protection methods. The organization encourages the utilization of advanced irrigation practices and the reduction of fertilizers.

To achieve the denim goal, Old Navy is enhancing water-saving methods and expertise that will not just demand minimal water in the washing of the jeans but will also ensure that water sources are left and maintained clean. The company is convinced of the necessity to treat the world in the same manner that people desire to be handled. Efforts of every person are significant in the preservation of the planet and its valuable resources. Everyone has the responsibility of making sure generations to come to have access to uncontaminated energy, water, and air.

Capitalism pushes organizations to prioritize profits over the majority of other concerns. Therefore, companies endeavor to decrease costs by practices such as waste dumping rather than recycling. The production itself is dependent on utilization. Devoid of adequate consumption that generates the increased necessity for production, the sequence may become paralyzed. Utilization acts as the opposite end of a successful cycle of production. Nevertheless, while capitalism provokes remarkable levels of productivity, it pushes production towards augmented utilization to create a situation where the progression is not obstructed (Sung & Park, 2018). Consequently, mass utilization, consumerism does not just arise as a cultural occurrence but is entrenched in the central ideologies of capitalism as a financial system. Increased consumption translates to high production, which expresses better sales and improved profitability that may be re-utilized to support the sustainability of the company or organization (Gap Inc., n.d.b). When the carrying capacity of the universe cannot uphold continuous production and consumption, a contradiction arises.

For a company to successfully reconcile the problem of upholding a capitalist set-up that satisfies projected rates of development while containing environmental risks, it should consider two suppositions concerning the nature and forces of capitalism (Igiebor, 2014). The first proposition is that organizations in a capitalist situation face great pressure to reduce prices since if they fail to, their rivals will do so and attain a competitive benefit. Although cost reduction lowers the profits of a company, it is left in a position where it can reinvest in its continued growth and avoid being driven out of the market. A suitable approach to reducing costs involves the projection of some expenses onto the environment. For example, throwing cans of soft drinks on the environment, which may reduce costs, is tantamount to being uncaring of its negative effect on other people. Since the market practices in capitalism do not offer an effective way of preventing such behavior that could result in environmental degradation, there is a need for a company to advocate non-market interventions by the government or other stakeholders (Clark, Auerbach, & Longo, 2018).

The second proposition is that the cost of non-renewable resources in a capitalist situation is set about moderately short-range horizons with nearly no consideration of future impact. The level of greenhouse gas emissions into the environment has risen tremendously from around 1995, attributable to mounting economic growth in nations that usually consume considerable resources such as gas, textile, and oil. Low pricing of non-renewable natural resources happens because of their future negative impact not being considered in practices of production and consumption (Pemunta, 2018). The consequence is that consumers tend to overuse non-renewable natural resources.

Governments on their own are hesitant to embark on measures that could decrease the profit levels of companies in support of future negative effects on the environment. On the contrary, governments are fully oblivious to the ecological hazards surrounding industrial settings in their respective countries. Therefore, convincing government intervention poses a great challenge. Similarly, individual companies are not motivated to oversee directives that safeguard the environment since they are obliged to maximize profits by incredible forces of market rivalry.

The promising type of non-market intervention is a social drive. In democratic countries, people have a given limit of exercising their freedom for social activism endeavors. Environmental activists in democratic nations can establish disruptive campaigns that strongly call for far more strict laws that ensure environmental conservation (DiVito & Bohnsack, 2017). In some situations, the demands of protesters lead to the government enforcing regulations on companies that promote environmental degradation and inspecting them frequently. Though this appears to be a viable alternative, the responsibility to make plans around the cause is borne by activists who organize huge public protests to compel the government and companies to seek environmental conservation practices.

Global cooperation is also vital for effective demand for environmental conservation and sustainability endeavors in capitalist settings. Nevertheless, the realization of significant international collaboration is a difficult process. Even where countries have a common interest in preventing environmental degradation, most of them are hesitant to decrease carbon emissions willingly (Pemunta, 2018). The Paris Agreement on Climate Change, where more than 190 nations approved the first international, officially binding worldwide climate accord, is a very strong stride toward global collaboration for the protection of the environment.

Conclusion

Gain optimization endeavors of capitalists encourage producers to center on what they can maximally produce and invest in increasing productivity sometimes without considering the ensuing negative effects on sustainability and the environment. Market forces under capitalism do not offer adequate motivation for environmental conservation measures. Companies are continually threatened by intense rivalry in the market to reduce costs and maximize profits. In such occurrences, the environment falls prey to the uncontrollable market activities of the capitalist approach of production. Devoid of the involvement of non-market players such as the government, global agreements, and activists, capitalism as a financial system cannot protect the environment and guarantee sustainability practices. The management of Old Navy Company should collaborate with their major competitors to identify areas that could help them to improve their practices with regard to environmental conservation and sustainability endeavors. Future research should focus on how companies can establish dynamic practices and modify their initial unsustainable approaches to sustainable processes over time while also upholding environmental conservation.

References

C&A. (n.d.). Making sustainable fashion the new normal: Global sustainability report 2017. Web.

Clark, B., Auerbach, D., & Longo, S. B. (2018). The bottom line: Capital’s production of social inequalities and environmental degradation. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 8(4), 562-569. Web.

DiVito, L., & Bohnsack, R. (2017). Entrepreneurial orientation and its effect on sustainability decision tradeoffs: The case of sustainable fashion firms. Journal of Business Venturing, 32(5), 569-587. Web.

Esprit. (n.d.). Sustainability report. Web.

Fashion FWD. (n.d.). Sustainability report 2018. Web.

Gap Inc. (n.d.a). Global sustainability report 2017. Web.

Gap Inc. (n.d.b). 2018 global sustainability report. Web.

Gwozdz, W., Steensen, K., & Müller, T. (2017). An environmental perspective on clothing consumption: Consumer segments and their behavioral patterns. Sustainability, 9(5), 1-27. Web.

Igiebor, G. (2014). Impact of global capitalism on the environment of developing economies: The case of Nigeria. The Korean Journal of Policy Studies, 29(3), 79-100.

Iran, S., & Schrader, U. (2017). Collaborative fashion consumption and its environmental effects. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, 21(4), 468-482. Web.

Moggi, S., Bonomi, S., & Ricciardi, F. (2018). Against food waste: CSR for the social and environmental impact through a network-based organizational model. Sustainability, 10(10), 1-19. Web.

Pemunta, N. V. (2018). The logic of benevolent capitalism: The duplicity of Sithe Global Sustainable Oils Cameroon land grab and deforestation scheme as a sustainable investment. International Journal of Global Environmental Issues, 17(1), 80-109. Web.

Pensado-Leglise, M., & Smolski, A. (2017). An eco-egalitarian solution to the capitalist consumer paradox: Integrating short food chains and public market systems. Agriculture, 7(9), 1-15. Web.

Sung, C., & Park, J. (2018). Sustainability orientation and entrepreneurship orientation: Is there a tradeoff relationship between them? Sustainability, 10(2), 1-14. Web.

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