India, Palm Oil, and Ecologically Unequal Exchange A Cross-national Analysis of Forest Loss

• Published in: Sociological perspectives Vol. 63; no. 2; pp. 312 - 332
• Main Authors: Sommer, Jamie M., Restivo, Michael, Shandra, John M.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA Sage Publications, Inc 01.04.2020; SAGE Publications; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Cross cultural studies; Deforestation; Economic growth; Environmental Degradation: Exposure, Exchange, and Identity Formation; Exports; Extraction; Industrialization; International comparisons; Low income groups; Petroleum; Positioning; Social exchange theory; Trading; Vegetable oils; India; ecologically unequal exchange; forest loss; India; palm oil
• ISSN: 0731-1214; 1533-8673
• DOI: 10.1177/0731121419888645

Drawing on ecologically unequal exchange theory and previous research, we assess whether palm exports from low- and middle-income nations to India increase forest loss in exporting nations. Using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression for a sample of 91 low- and middleincome nations, we find support for our main hypothesis that palm exports sent from low- and middle-income nations to India are related to increased forest loss in the exporting nations. Our findings refine and expand upon ecologically unequal exchange theory by demonstrating that India, a middle-income nation, nevertheless is capable of positioning itself favorably in trading opportunities with other low- and middle-income nations. As India meets its needs for palm oil from abroad which is central to its economic growth and industrialization, their low- and middle-income trading partners bear more of the burden of environmental harms from the extraction and export of palm oil.