Depleted community

Uneven development & its locations

Unevenness represents the condition for a transition from one declining mode of production to another rising, more progressive mode. In general terms, then, uneven development can relate to differential growth of sectors, geographical processes, classes and regions at the global, regional, national, sub-national and local level. Uneven development has been named as one of the causes of depleted communities.

As shown in the picture (which bases development on literacy, life expectancy, education, and standards of living), uneven development is not only a local and regional issue. It appears on a regional level within national economies as well as on a global scale between different national economies. In this latter context, one form that it takes is the continued differentiation between underdeveloped and advanced economies, usually identified as the problem of underdevelopment. Depleted communities can be found in developed and underdeveloped countries. Uneven development leads to a decline in economic output which then leads to a drop in social capital by lowering life expectancy, education level and income, creating depleted communities. Certain areas, like Sub-Saharan Africa (as shown in the map) directly experience the majority of the consequences of industrialization, geographic differences, and capitalism, in comparison to other African countries, with the proliferation of depleted communities. This directly affects their material quality of life as well as the regional social issues, like lifespan and education, which affects quality of life.

Causes of uneven development

Unevenness was a term expanded upon by Karl Marx and many of his followers as a product of the inefficiencies of capitalism as well as other factors such as the "differences of aptitude between individuals, the differences of fertility between animals or soils, [and] innumerable accidents of human life or the cycle of nature". They said these "were responsible for uneven development in production". In other words, unevenness develops as a result of many material factors that may rise from capitalism, but it may also be the result of changing consumer tastes. Society is changing in a way that has leisure goods becoming a top priority and where new goods can quickly become more valuable than or replace the need for other goods. The imperative of growth impels the firm constantly to seek out new investment opportunities wherever they are to be found. It is a consequence of the effort on the part of many firms to create or to rush into those spheres in which a margin of profitability exists that allows them to capture new profit and growth opportunities. As the diffusion of the product occurs and growth speeds up, there is a ‘shaking out’ process by which many of the smaller firms disappear (exit) and the available market is concentrated in the remaining firms. Because of this, areas that were very good in creating the old good can decline in economic output, leading to a variety of social implications, like poverty and inequality. The area that cannot create new goods at an affordable price experiences an uneven level of production, success, and equality. These areas are called depleted communities.

On a broader spectrum, "in spatial terms, unevenness has been associated with theories of unequal exchange and forms of core- periphery dominance. This is in part because of their grounding in progressive Third World nationalism" The implications of this can be drastic, as the geographic differences that may benefit or harm areas by providing them with natural resources ask the respective areas to "constantly compete endlessly with one another to attract investment. In the process they tend to amplify unevenness, allowing capital to play one local or regional or national class configuration off against others". These considerations are especially important during periods of economic stagnation and volatility, when both the uneven and combined features of capitalist development are typically accentuated Thus the gains and losses that specific communities face as the result of success in the economic market may create regional tensions and rash attempts to level the playing field. Regions seeking capitalistic gains may develop depleted communities in the long run. Uneven development has been responsible for many conflicts in the past including the stealing of land from one nation, as is prominent in the history of Africa, and wars over land and natural resources, which are prevalent in areas like Sub-Saharan Africa. These geographic differences can destroy the environment and the social structures those areas inhibit, threatening the depleted communities into becoming not just economically depleted, but socially depleted as well. In a world of uneven development, choices and capabilities can be determined by “logic of capital [instead of by] social choice".

Capitalism's effects on development and community

In examining the general character of the process of capitalist development as it has appeared historically across many different countries over a long period of time, one of its most striking characteristics is the phenomenon of uneven development. Capitalism lacks a certain amount of regulation by the government, allowing development to succeed in areas experiencing capitalistic, and therefore private, gains. Marx says a major contradiction of capitalism is the simultaneous emergence of concentrations of wealth and capital (for capitalists), on the one hand, and poverty and oppression on the other. Thus depleted communities represent these concentrations of poverty and oppression even though they may have experienced capitalist wealth in the past. The concentrations of wealth and power change every day in a capitalist society, however in areas experiencing the negative effects of uneven development "disparities are continually reproduced by the process of development. Uneven development, in this sense, is an intrinsic or inherent property of the economic process. Far from being merely transitory, it appears to be a pervasive and permanent condition". Thus, the boom and bust cycle of capitalism can actually have long-lasting effects on unfortunate bystanders, creating depleted communities in its wake.

Another reason why the inefficiencies of capitalism may perpetuate uneven development, and thus depleted communities, can be because labor is constantly replaced by new labor-saving technologies and machinery. With intensified automation, the rate of profit tends to fall. Since capitalists cannot ‘cheat in exchange’ - i.e., consistently buy other inputs, especially capital goods, from each other at a cost less than their value - the increases in value that are the prerequisite for commodity production and exchange must emanate from workers. This simply means, in class terms, that capitalists can’t exploit other capitalists; but they can systematically exploit workers. Thus the capitalist-worker problem is perpetuated. Moreover, in places that are generally benefiting from this temporary growth in output must face the inevitable phase of devaluation that follows a good after new technologies (already displacing workers) produce new goods, devaluing the old. Thus an area that specialized in one good and invested many resources into it can really fail after the good is devalued. This can bring unemployment to the area, leading to a loss of income and widespread poverty, symptoms of a depleted community. There are many examples of over accumulation and devaluation throughout history. Measured as the world economy, capitalism has suffered sporadic eruptions during the periods 1815-48, 1873–96, 1917–48 and 1974–present. It can be said that the rise of financial markets during periods of capitalist overproduction crisis amplify unevenness, which result in the creation of more depleted communities. Depleted communities are bound to form wherever capitalism does because overproduction is deemed " a permanent tendency under capitalism". Overaccumulation...leads to a situation in which goods cannot be brought to market profitably, leaving capital to pile up without being put back into new productive investment. Other symptoms include unused plant and equipment; huge gluts of unsold commodities; an unusually large number of unemployed workers; and the rise of speculative financial markets, particularly in shares and real estate. When an economy reaches the stage of overaccumulation, it becomes difficult to bring together all these resources -surplus capital and labour- in a profitable way to meet social needs. These are all indicative of a depleted community forming and showing the symptoms of urban decay. These depleted communities, due to urban decay, have lost their economic rationale of space and simultaneously endangered their social relations of place.

Capitalist public policy

Often, like in the social policy advocated for in South Africa, people protest and demand deregulation. Types of deregulation include the elimination of subsidies to reduce government ‘interference’ in the market and privatization. The issue with removing subsidies is that the people who previously depended on subsidized goods, such as education, may not be able to afford very necessary services. "More and more poor people cannot afford [these] deregulation of services lead[ing] to further impoverishment and widening inequality", which leads to the proliferation of depleted communities. Privatization can lead to a loss of jobs after not being protected by the government. Deregulation, as it leads the market into a free-for-all, also has the problem in that “it may release resources from inefficient activities without necessarily directing them toward their most competitive uses”. Thus, the economic progress that one expects from letting businesses maximize sales does not necessarily ensue from either privatization or deregulation. Because these policies result in a decline of efficiency in the market, as well as lead to the loss of jobs, communities like the ones in South Africa have turned into depleted communities and experience a lower quality of life as a result of lower income capital and a lack of basic services. Government policy has also encouraged the flight of businesses and jobs from cities to surrounding suburban communities and beyond [in the US].

China

China is a politically communist country that allows a high amount of government intervention in the economy. However, even amongst this communist system "The gulf between rich and poor in China is affecting growth by deterring consumption and holding down productivity, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme.". These "differences in income are matched by disparities in social welfare, education and elderly care", creating ingredients for depleted communities to form. Parallel to the theory of depleted communities, "Economic growth has benefited even the poorest groups in society [however]... Urban residents enjoy far higher levels of government funding than those in the countryside, making areas in the country side depleted communities relative to their counterparts in the city. Even with these depleted communities, China is surging ahead in production. Few U.S. producers can compete with China’s state-supported producers, and as a result some key products like the “rebar” used to reinforce concrete are no longer produced at all in America. China even produces 10 times as much as the United States. Still, "While Beijing and Shanghai have reached the development level of countries such as Cyprus and Portugal, provinces such as south-western Guizhou are comparable to Namibia or Botswana". Life expectancy in Guizhou is a decade shorter than in Beijing; child mortality in Qinghai is seven times as high as in the capital; and illiteracy in Gansu five times more common. Spending also varies widely: the average public funding rate per student for primary and junior middle schools in Shanghai was about 10 times that of central Henan province. This is an example of how uneven development can arise from countries that don’t practice capitalism, and still experience a growth of depleted communities, like south-western Guizhou, in the process.

South Africa

South Africa, in comparison to China’s communist economy, is a mixed economy like the United States and also has a high rate of income inequality by having the "widest gap between rich and poor". It was within a colonial setting that the emerging South African capitalist class entrenched and extended the racially exclusive system to increase its opportunities for profit and " as capitalism increasingly dominated precapitalist society, employers necessarily exploited the cheap labour pool ever more thoroughly, hence the formalisation of migrant labour through formal apartheid bantustans". Regarding unevenness, [there has been a] "‘Disproportion in production’... evident through its class/racial/gendered/geographical form. Dating to the early 19th century, there were periods of local capitalist crisis characterised by excessive debt and financial speculation, geopolitical machinations and overaccumulation", key ingredients for a depleted community. In South Africa, many goods and services have been subsidized, including education and the cost of building houses. Measures of deregulation may have a negative impact especially to the needy and those who come from the disadvantaged communities Privatization has led to a loss of jobs. "Other consequences of privatization in South Africa include:

halfway houses - restructuring, corporatization, public-private partnerships, which are often part of a softening-up process for privatisation or, as the African National Congress (ANC) calls it, ‘managed liberalization’. "[This]municipal drive for profitability has led to an enormous social crisis. In Soweto, an average of 20,000 homes a month were having their electricity disconnected for non-payment. Since 1999, in Cape Town, more than 100,000 households have had their water cut off. There have been angry demonstrations all over the country". In addition, "The pauperisation of the natives, the pauperisation of the small white farmers, the Native Problem and the poor white problem, not only hamper but bar the way for the development of the country". These social issues like poverty, lack of basic services, and increasing symptoms of urban decay, are all qualities of depleted communities that have paid the consequences of an inefficient market system.

United States

The United States, a mixed economy, has experienced many economic fluctuations since its creation, and even to in the present. According to Forbes, the United States has lost an average of 50,000 manufacturing jobs per month since China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Economic fluctuations have taken their toll on local regions. For example, " In the 1980s [El Paso's] economy created jobs 80 percent faster than did the U.S. economy". However, by 1993, it was "[poor] relative to the rest of the country, with chronically higher unemployment and lower earnings" El Paso is a prime example of a depleted community because of a declining rate of human capital resulting from a declining economy. Because it experienced such extreme fluctuations, it has become a hub of social inequalities driven by poverty and a lack of economic standing, a depleted community. In the United States, like South Africa, race also plays an important role in the structure of a community. Racial composition of neighbourhoods has long been at the centre of public policy and private practice in the creation and destruction of communities and in determining access to the elements of the good life, however defined. During the 1990s, disparities between cities and suburbs remained virtually unchanged... and concentrated poverty has grown during these years as well. Racial disparities between cities and suburbs and racial segregation in general persist as dominant features of metropolitan area, showing that depleted communities often affect certain racial groups in America. There are multiple social implications. Health disparities may constitute the most concrete disadvantages associated with the spatial and racial divide in urban areas and they manifest themselves quite early in life. Access to clean air and water, exposure to lead paint, stress, obesity, smoking habits, diet, social isolation, proximity to hospitals and other medical treatment facilities, and availability of health insurance all vary by neighbourhood and contribute to long-established disparities in health and wellness.

Possible solutions in dealing with depleted communities

The Human Development Report argues that pressing ahead in providing basic healthcare, education and welfare to all Chinese citizens will boost the country's economy in the face of the global slowdown. It is also important to study the long-term effects of privatization and deregulation, as well as fully understand the benefits of subsidizing goods, before acting. The long-term effect may actually reduce economic efficiency by creating government-aid dependent communities, like depleted communities. Privatization can only work in countries with a strong institutional framework and "privatisation in practice may actually be antithetical to market liberalization". The uneven development of metropolitan America is a direct result largely of a range of policy decisions made by public officials and policy-related actions taken in the private and non-profit sectors. Policy decisions could be made to alter that pattern of development. Government policy has also encouraged the flight of businesses and jobs from cities to surrounding suburban communities and beyond [in the US]. Financial incentives including infrastructure investments, tax abatements and depreciation allowances favouring new equipment over reinvestment in existing facilities all have contributed to the deindustrialisation and disinvestment of urban communities, thus creating depleted communities. Thus, government spending on the infrastructures of declining communities, or depleted communities, instead of investing in new hotspots, can help. Because "capitalism does, of course, manage to generate fairly long periods of growth before its internal contradictions become overwhelming", it is also important not to assume that the boom-and bust patterns inherent in capitalism will boost a depleted community into prosperity. Even if that area does eventually experience growth, it can be to the detriment of other areas nearby. "Indeed, when overaccumulation becomes widespread, extreme forms of devaluation are invariably resisted (or deflected) by whatever local, regional, national or international alliances exist or are formed in specific geographical areas under pressure... to different regions and nations". "It is this process which forces people to organise defensively along lines of turf", causing further social problems for depelted communities. As for an economic approach, for many countries including South Africa, " there is no place for industrial development and growth, until the internal need is studied and supplied, the level of internal consumptionraised, and the whole internal market systematically developed"