Growth, Power and Time: Developing a Deeper Understanding of Anthropogenic Drivers of Carbon Dioxide Emissions from 1960-2015

摘要

This dissertation uses data from the World Bank and hierarchical linear modeling approaches in order to further develop our understanding of the relationships between ecological rationality, international inequality, and carbon dioxide emissions in the global economy from 1960 to 2015. In order to do so I draw from sociological theories concerning international inequality and the impact of socio-economic processes on the quality environment. I use measures of world system position and draw from W.E.B. Du Bois and others in using colonial legacies in order to measure international inequality. Doing so, I find that a nations position in the international economy significantly limits or facilitates the ability of that nation the reduce the impact of economic activity of carbon dioxide emissions. Further, by emphasizing the work of W.E.B. Du Bois I theoretically highlight the racialized nature of international inequality in the colonial period, as well as in the contemporary era. Ultimately, my findings suggest that processes of economic accumulation require the existence of both international inequality and environmental degradation, and that such a requirement makes the possibility of a truly sustainable society unlikely absent some notable change to social and economic structures.