The Global Green and Low-carbon Agenda and New Concepts for Studies of Agrarian Politics Concerning Land

Abstract

This article discusses the origin and key elements of the concepts ‘green grabbing’ and ‘exclusion.’ In so doing, it evaluates them as new analytical tools for studies of agrarian politics concerning land as the low-carbon and green agenda rises to prominence. The article also presents them as alternatives to the Marxist approach of capital accumulation. In exploring the concepts’ origins, the article presents major ideas that underpin the global low-carbon and green agenda and the approaches to agrarian studies, particularly those that work on nature and environmental issues, which provide conceptual tools for analyses of the ideas. The article demonstrates that the concepts of green grabbing and exclusion were brought about through a combination of at least three approaches, including the Marxist political economy, political ecology and post-structuralist views and reveals changes in the question central to agrarian studies. It implies incorporating ecological views which respond to new challenges to agrarian societies, such as the prevalence of green and low-carbon activities, into the discussion.