The Ecology of an Agrarian Question Ecological Crises and the Coming of Age of Capitalism in Vrancea
The Ecology of an Agrarian Question Ecological Crises and the Coming of Age of Capitalism in Vrancea

Summary/Abstract: “Let us begin with the obvious. The Agrarian Question is also the Question of Nature, and, therefore, it is also the Question of Ecological Crises in the modern world” (Moore 2008, 57). But it is not because it is obvious that the ecological dimension of the agrarian question has been omitted in the literature until now. The focus on the political role of peasantry and on the emergence of new class struggles as capitalism made its way in the rural concealed the ecology from ‘The Agrarian Question’. This study traces the ecological implications of the development of capitalism in Vrancea region, Romania, from mid-18th century until the present day. It shows that the capitalist transition in the countryside also means a change of socio-ecological relations, namely a change of the social representation of Nature, a change of the modes of appropriating Nature, and a change of the institutions that govern economic action in the natural environment. All these changes are visible in the dynamics of the common property regime in Vrancea as market relations changed in the region. The study concludes that the ecological consequences of an agrarian question can be addressed systematically following the dynamics in the property regimes. Such a systematic analysis can help to better fathom transnational politics for agriculture and their implications for the natural environment in world-wide capitalism.

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