https://doi.org/10.37815/rte.v37n1.1169
Original articles
La
dinámica del despojo
Edward Dommen=
1 <=
/span>https://orcid.org/0009-0=
002-4177-7548
1Retired Senior Economist, United Nations Trade and Development (UNCT=
AD), Geneva, Switzerland
Sent:Â Â Â Â Â 2024/05/21 Accepted:Â Â Â Â Â Â 2025/05=
/07 Published: Â Â Â Â Â 2025/06/30Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Abstract This article takes established findings of
economic research as its starting point to discuss social justice principles
and the dynamics of dispossession that deny many people, as well as entire
communities, realization and enjoyment of social justice. Several key themes are identified and
analyzed in three sections. The first section presents fundamental principl=
es
of social justice, particularly those relevant to economic ethics, and shows
that sustainable development embodies these principles. It then distinguish=
es
between individualism, society and community, arguing that community provid=
es
the most effective framework within which to apply the identified principle=
s.
The second section examines the dynamics of dispossession that underpin
virtually any form of economy. The third section describes countermeasures =
that
have been recommended throughout history. The conclusions emphasize the dyn=
amic
of most economies that wealth or power, left to their own devices, attract =
yet
more wealth or power at the expense of the poor and powerless. The essential
remedy is to defuse the dynamics of dispossession. Conscious collective
countermeasures are indispensable in order to restore to the deprived the
freedom and prosperity of which these processes deprive them. However, these
countermeasures require further elaboration and political action to be put =
into
practice. =
Keywords: s=
ocial
justice, sustainable development, cumulative causation, periphery, the poor,
poverty, Prebisch-Singer Thesis. Summary: Introductio=
n, Fundamental Principles of Social Justice, The Inexorable Dynami=
cs
of Dispossession, Countermeasures, Conclusions. How to cite: Dommen, E. =
(2025).
The Dynamics of Dispossession. Revista
Tecnológica - Espol, 37(1), 44-55. Resumen Este artÃculo se origina de l=
os
hallazgos de la investigación económica con el fin de analizar los princi=
pios
de justicia social y las dinámicas de desposesión que niegan a muchas per=
sonas,
asà como a comunidades enteras, la realización y el disfrute de la justic=
ia
social. Para este objetivo, se identifican varios temas clave que fueron
analizados en tres secciones. En la primera sección se presentan los princ=
ipios
fundamentales de justicia social, relevantes para la ética económica; se
evidencia que el desarrollo sostenible los resume. Luego, se diferencia ent=
re
individualismo, sociedad y comunidad; esta última proporciona el marco más
eficaz para aplicar los principios identificados. En la segunda sección se
describen las dinámicas de desposesión que impulsan cualquier forma de
economÃa. Finalmente, en la tercera sección se explican las contramedidas
recomendadas a lo largo de la historia. Posterior al análisis, las conclus=
iones
enfatizan la dinámica de la riqueza o el poder de la mayorÃa de las econo=
mÃas, que
por sà mismas, atraen aún más riqueza y poder a expensas de los pobres e
indefensos. El remedio esencial es desactivar las dinámicas de desposesió=
n. Por
ello, las contramedidas colectivas conscientes son indispensables para
restaurar la libertad y la prosperidad que estos procesos privan a los
desposeÃdos. Sin embargo, estas requieren mayor elaboración y acción pol=
Ãtica
para su implementación.
Introduction
You are=
reading a review of technology. Technology is=
the application of scientific
knowledge for practical purposes.[1] In
that spirit, this article takes established findings of economic research as
its starting point. It does not describe new scientific research. Part 2
describes the practical issues to which we want to apply these findings. Pa=
rt 3
describes the policy measures which need to be taken in the light of  Part 2 to achieve the objectives presen=
ted in
Part 1.
<= o:p>
Fund=
amental
Principles of Social Justice
T=
o meet
one's own needs without compromising the ability of others to meet theirs i=
s a
principle deeply rooted in many of the world's major ethical traditions. It=
is
often traced back to the Hippocratic oath of the third century AD, but even
earlier, it is reflected in a Biblical commandment often mistranslated into
English as "Thou shalt not steal" (Exodus 20:15). The original te=
rm
more accurately refers to the unjust appropriation of what rightfully belon=
gs
to others, specifically actions that compromise others' ability to meet the=
ir
own needs. As the eighteenth-century North American social thinker and acti=
vist
John Woolman (1763) <=
/span>observed: "If we trace =
an
unrighteous claim … proved by sufficient seals and witnesses, this gives =
not
the claimant a right, for that which is opposite to righteousness is
wrong".
<= o:p>
T=
his
essential principle is restated in one of the foundational documents of the
French Revolution, The Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen =
(1789),
which affirms: "Liberty consists in being able to do anything that does
not harm others" (Article 4).
<= o:p>
T=
he World
Commission on Environment and Development (1987), in its report "Our
Common Future"[2]
essentially established the concept of sustainable development. Its definit=
ion
reflects the principle in its opening sentence, though it oddly restricts i=
t to
relations between present and future generations. However, the report corre=
cts
this in the very next sentence, which highlights "the essential needs =
of
the world's poor[3], to which overriding priori=
ty
should be given". This is indisputably a matter of relations within the
present generation, the primary concern of this article. <=
o:p> Soci=
ety S=
ome
thinkers view society as a mere aggregate of individuals (Rousseau,<=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:FR'>
<= o:p>
M=
argaret
Thatcher, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990, was even
blunter: "There is no such thing as society", continuing "Th=
ere
are individual men and women and there are families" (Thatc=
her,
1987). Her statement echoes the ideas of Jeremy Bentham, who asserted (1780,
chap.1): "The interest of the community then is, what? — the sum of =
the
interests of the several members who compose it". Bentham, founder of =
the
utilitarian school of economics, championed the slogan "The greatest
happiness of the greatest number" (Bentham, 1776, Preface), which impl=
ies
"Tough luck for the rest." Individualism is still at the base of
economics as taught in universities today.
<= o:p>
I=
n the
Bible, the invitation to "love your neighbour as
yourself" appears three times (Leviticus 19.18, Matthew 22.39, Mark
12.31). The word 'as' can be read in two ways. Firstly, it may be understoo=
d as
"Love your neighbour as much as yourself&q=
uot;
or "… in the same way that you love yourself" This interpretati=
on
aligns with the individualist perspective described previously.
Comm=
unity
A=
lternatively,
as can be interpreted to mean
"Love your neighbour because he is a part =
of
yourself". This is the position of the poet John Donne (1624):
<= o:p>
No man is an
island, entire of itself; <=
i>e
<= o:p>
<= o:p>
<=
span
style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'>Â 'I am because you are' is another phras=
e which
can be read in two ways:
<= o:p>
1.
You
are the cause of what I am
2.
My
purpose is to attend to your needs
<= o:p>
I=
n the
first sense, we all share the same ecosphere; regardless of who you may be,
your actions help shape the conditions that shape me. In countless ways, ot=
hers
contribute to the person I have become.
I=
n the
second sense, the phrase becomes a call to action. Our vocation, our
calling, indeed our very reason f=
or
being on earth at all, is to respond to the needs of our neighbour,
particularly those who cannot cope without us. That is what the Brundtland
definition of sustainable development alludes to when it refers to the
overriding priority that must be given to the essential needs of the world's
poor. The French version of the definition emphasises<=
/span>
the point: instead of using the nondescript word' poor', it uses 'démuni', i.e. deprived or defen=
celess.
<= o:p>
J=
ohn Calvin
(1509-1564) was a Protestant reformer who paid significant attention to soc=
ial
and economic justice. He stated: "Since God has joined the whole human
race into one unit, the aim is that the welfare and conservation of all mus=
t be
a concern of each one of us. In s=
hort,
any violence, harm, or trouble that wounds our neighbo=
ur
is forbidden to us. If we can do something to preserve the life of our neighbour, we must faithfully work at it, either by
providing the things which are needed or by avoiding whatever does the
opposite. Likewise, if they are in any danger or perplexity, we must help a=
nd
support[5]
them." (<=
span
lang=3DEN-US style=3D'mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>Calvin, Institutes, 2=
.8.39).
<= o:p>
I=
n Sermon<=
/span> 53 on 1Tim 6.17-19, Calvin
further speaks of mon
prochain qui a faute de moi- roughly, I must lend my neighbour a ha=
nd
inasmuch as I am missing from their toolkit. The essential point is that we=
are
called to help our neighbours meet the needs th=
ey
themselves consider they have, no=
t, like
the International Monetary Fund or the World Bank, to provide for the needs=
we
think they ought to have.
<= o:p>
T=
he word
'community' has a vast range of meanings. One key aspect of the concept is =
the
idea of boundaries. Every communi=
ty
draws a line between 'we' and 'they'. 'We', the insiders, are considered ri=
ght
and superior. 'They' are inferior and often morally reprehensible. This pat=
tern
recurs throughout history. For example, in the 20th century,
right-thinking people considered the unemployed to be idle slackers =
(Pickard, 1919). Colonialism was built upon the belief that the colonised were savages who needed managing —colonisers, often believing themselves well-meaning, =
saw it
as their duty to "civilise" them. In =
recent
times, Israel has described its Palestinian neighbours=
as animals.
<= o:p>
H=
istory is
an unending succession of tribal, civil and international wars, including
religious persecutions. The Brundtland definition of sustainable development
seeks to transcend this mindset. Its emphasis on giving overriding priority=
to
the essential needs of the world's poor carries a profound implication: that
the whole of humanity forms a single community. This idea follows in the
footsteps of Calvin, who declared, "We must share with each other to
uphold the community of the whole human race" (Calvin, 1564, Exodus 22.25).
<= o:p>
T=
he call to
transcend boundaries is reflected in several incidents recounted in the New
Testament. One of its most powerful illustrations is the parable of the Good
Samaritan (
<= o:p>
S=
imilarly,
the Devonshire Declaration, a British document of 1923 signed by the Duke of
Devonshire as Colonial Secretary, stated: "His Majesty's Government th=
ink
it necessary definitely to record their considered opinion that the interes=
ts
of the African natives must be paramount …" Although originally inte=
nded
for a narrow context—namely, to suppress the political claims of Indian a=
nd
Arab communities in Kenya and preserve colonial dominance—the phrase took=
on
new life. By the mid-20th century, as decolonisation
became inevitable, young colonial officers were taught to treat it as a bro=
ad,
principled directive: "The interests of the natives are paramount".
<= o:p>
H=
elping the
defenceless and the poor must be given priority=
over
everything. By definition, they have no reserves or alternatives to fall ba=
ck
on. Those who are not poor can afford to wait; the poor cannot.
<= o:p>
L=
iberation
theology, a movement within Latin American Catholicism, developed in the 19=
60s
driven by this concern. The Catholic institution, however, absorbed the not=
ion
into its social teaching in a moderate form, adopting the phrase
"preferential option for the poor".[6]
<= o:p>
The =
Inexorable
Dynamics of Dispossession
A popular dictum of the time appears several times in the Bible pith=
ily
and accurately describing the dynamics of most economic systems (there are
exceptions, like the "subsistence affluence"[7] of traditional South Pacific island economies).
The verse reads : "To those who have, more will be given, and they will have more
than enough; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be t=
aken
away" (Matthew 13.12).Â
The Jubilee
The biblical concept of the Jubilee, described
in Leviticus 25.8-13 and likely written in t=
he
middle of the 5th century BC, illustrates this mechanism. It
involves three elements:
1. Cancellation of debts
2. Return of the land to its or=
iginal
owners
3. Freedom for the slaves
These measures address a recurring econom=
ic
cycle in which the poor are stripped of even the little they possess. The
Jubilee scenario assumes that a peasant household, which is under normal
conditions, can only meet its basic needs. However, disruption such as illn=
ess
in the family, drought or bad weather can throw this balance into crisis. In
order to survive, the family must borrow. However, in good times, the land
could produce only enough for subsistence. Now, on top of current needs, the
family has to face the extra burden of repaying the debt, so it falls
inexorably further into debt. Unable to repay, it must sell some of its lan=
d.
With even less land now, it no longer has any prospect of breaking even.
Of course, once the Jubilee has reset the
counters to 0, the mechanism starts off again, and sooner or later, the
operation will have to be repeated - every 50 years, Leviticus theatrically
proclaims.
The mechanism
The divergence between the rich and poor =
is
causally linked. The wealth of the rich increases at the expense of the poo=
r.
To illustrate this, consider an area in which everyone is equally prosperou=
s.
Due to some catalyst, one place becomes more prosperous than the others. Th=
is
new wealth attracts various factors of production: capital is drawn to inve=
st,
entrepreneurs migrate to exploit new opportunities, and labour
follows, attracted by higher wages and better prospects. All this increases
income and opportunities that strengthen the appeal of the place. Meanwhile,
the brighter, more adventurous people are leaving the periphery to seek the=
ir
fortune in the new growing hub. People =
in the
periphery with capital to spare see the advantage of investing it in the
centre, where the prospects of profit are more promising, so the periphery =
is
starved of new investment. In many economic activities, there are economies=
of
scale, making it increasingly cheaper to expand them. All in all, the centre sucks life out =
of the
periphery.
That illustration is geographical. The sa=
me
argument can be applied to class or social situations. The children of the =
rich
have access to greater formal and informal educational opportunities; their
playmates, classmates and neighbours are simila=
rly
advantaged. Thus, they have access to a better network of people who can ad=
vise
them, offer them jobs or point them toward opportunities. They will not suf=
fer
the humiliations of being regarded as inferior, which, in itself, leads the=
m to
see themselves as inferior and behave accordingly. Better educated in what
makes for good health and better able to afford it, they are likely to be m=
ore
effective in their work and to live longer.[10]
Wheels within wheels: since there is more
profit to be made in selling cures for the illnesses of the rich than for t=
hose
of the poor, pharmaceutical research concentrates on the former. As a resul=
t,
the health and life expectancy of the rich continue to improve relative to =
that
of the poor since the medicines to treat the latter's illnesses are simply =
not
being developed.
The backwash effects we have just describ=
ed are
mitigated by spread effects that function in an opposite direction. Insofar=
as
people, enterprises, and public authorities spend where they are, a range of
activities develops to meet their on-the-spot needs. Prosperity spreads
outwards, but more thinly the further it gets from its
source. At a certain distance, the spread effec=
ts are
outweighed by the backwash effects.[11]
Gunnar Myrdal (1957) sums up how the mech=
anism
works:
My starting point is the assertion that the notion=
of
stable equilibrium is normally a false analogy to choose when constructing =
the
theory to explain the changes in the social system… Behind this idea is a=
nother
and still more basic assumption, namely that a change will regularly call f=
or a
reaction in the system in the form of changes which on the whole go in the
opposite direction to the first change.
The idea I want to expound … is that, on the con=
trary,
in the normal case, there is no such tendency towards automatic self-stabilisation in the social system. The system is by =
itself
not moving towards any sort of balance between forces but is constantly on =
the
move away from such a situation. In the normal case, a change does not call
forth countervailing changes but, instead, supporting changes which move the
system in the same direction as the first change, but much further. Because=
of
circular causation, a social process tends to become cumulative and often to
gather speed at an accelerating rate.
Myrdal generalised a
conception of the economy that had been applied to relations between rich a=
nd
poor countries described as the centre and the periphery of the world econo=
my,
and known as dependency theory.
In 1964, the United Nations Conference on=
Trade
and Development (UNCTAD) was created to focus specifically on North-South T=
rade
from this perspective. Raúl Prebisch, an Argen=
tinian
economist, was a leading figure in analysing and
explaining this kind of economic dynamic. The name "Prebisch-Singer
Thesis" was given to an analysis of the particular macro-economic dyna=
mics
of trade between a commodity-exporting periphery and a centre importing tho=
se
commodities since each of them had published a study of the question in 194=
9,
coming to similar conclusions. Hans Singer was working at the time in the
United Nations Department of Economic Affairs in New York; his study,
therefore, appeared without the author's name, as was UN practice (UN DESA,
1949). In the same year, Raúl Prebisch publish=
ed his
corresponding paper as Executive Director of the freshly founded UN Economic Commission for Latin America (EC=
LA) (Prebisch, 1949).
Prebisch was logically appointed the first secretary-general of UNCTAD. Its
secretariat was located in Geneva so that it could dialogue constructively =
with
GATT, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which had successfully
nurtured the prosperity of developed economies by fostering spread effects
through trade among them. The acc=
ession
of several peripheral countries to independence in the early 1960s made the
developed countries (to use the terminology of the time) aware of the issue
and, uniquely, willing to explore solutions to it. In the 1960s, dialectics
were recognised as a fruitful means of explorin=
g an
issue (regrettably for the progress of the social sciences, they went out of
fashion after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989).
In 1976, Prebisch
published a paper, "A Critique of Peripheral Capitalism", =
summing
up his work over the years. We shall draw on it to outline his thesis. It g=
ives
a detailed account of the process of creation of surplus and its primary
appropriation by the upper strata through the power derived from their ownership of the means of
production and its secondary appropriation by the middle strata (Prebisch,
1976, p.4).
The penetration of the production technology of th=
e centres plays a dominant role in peripheral developme=
nt.
The rise in productivity that accompanies it brings changes in the structur=
e of
society [in both the centre and the periphery], in the course of which the
upper income strata increase their power by concentrating most of the means=
of
production in their own hands, with the result that they have institutional
capacity for primary appropriation of the fruits of technological progress.=
The
middle income strata [in both the centre and the periphery] also strengthen
their position as they expand with the development of industry and other
related activities, but the lower strata remained largely excluded… The
so-called free play of economic forces is in fact subordinated to these pow=
er
relations and the interests and stimuli which govern them (Ibid, p.12)
Justine Masika Biham=
ba,
an internationally known human rights activist based in the Eastern Congo,
describes the brutal way the process is working in that region: "Easte=
rn
Congo has been ravaged by war for three decades. One main reason is that th=
is
region, and in particular the province of North Kivu, is rich in raw materi=
als.
In particular, there are immense reserves of coltan, an essential mineral f=
or
the batteries used in cell phones and electric cars. For our people, this
wealth is a curse. More than a hundred armed groups wage war against each o=
ther
to control these resources, which are then sold to multinationals via neighbouring countries. Western governments turn a bl=
ind
eye to the origin of these minerals, which are indispensable to their
industries. This probably explains why this war remains largely ignored by =
the
international community".[14]
Brutality is a widespread feature of the
process we are describing. According to local folk memory, the forced labourers who built Oaxaca's Dominican church in the =
late
16th century were required to bring two eggs to work every day- not to feed
themselves but to strengthen the mortar of the building against
earthquakes. In the same vein, the
interior of the Franciscan church in Quito is richly decorated with gold.
"The ownership of the means of produ=
ction
enables the upper strata to be the first to lay hands on a large part of the
fruits… A smaller share then passes to the middle strata." (Prebisch,
1976, p.10). Â Prebisch
stresses the role of power in the appropriation of resources. Myrdal's gent=
eel
presentation of the same processes refers to primary and secondary
appropriation neutrally as 'backwash' and 'spread effects', avoiding the ne=
ed
to explain that the spread effects keep the fruits of appropriation within =
the
circle of winners.
John Woolman (1720-1772) was born and liv=
ed in
the British colonies of North America, i.e. the periphery of the world econ=
omy
of his day. His Plea for the Poor foreshadows the arguments Prebisch developed a couple of centuries later (Woolman, 1763). Indeed, its opening p=
aragraph
sums them up, including due attention to secondary appropriation: "Wea=
lth
desired for its own sake obstructs the increase of virtue, and large
possessions in the hands of selfish men have a bad tendency, for by their m=
eans
too small a number of people are employed in things useful; and therefore t=
hey,
or some of them, are necessitated to labour too=
hard,
while others would want business to earn their bread were not employments
invented which, having no real use, serve only to please the vain mind.&quo=
t;
"Oppression in the extreme appears
terrible, but oppression in more refined appearances remains to be oppressi=
on,
and where the smallest degree of it is cherished, it grows stronger and more
extensive"
"Three phenomena are typical of the
periphery and help to explain the inadequate rate of capital formation. Pow=
er
relations appear in them all: in the excessive consumption indulged in by t=
he
upper strata, which would be inexplicable without the inequitable distribut=
ion
deriving from those relationships; in the spurious absorption of labour, influenced above all by the power of the midd=
le
strata; and in the disproportionate incomes the centre=
s
extract through the play of power relations at the international level.&quo=
t; (Prebisch, 1976, p.14=
)
John Woolman stresses the role of power in
shaping economic relations: "Wealth is attended with power, by which
bargains and proceedings contrary to universal righteousness are supported;=
and
here oppression, carried on with worldly policy and order, clothes itself w=
ith
the name of justice …" (Woolman,=
1763,
Chap.10)
Prebisch follows in Woolman's footsteps when he stresses the role of consume=
rist
aspirations in driving the cumulative process of appropriation at the expen=
se
of the dispossessed: "which have their root in self-pleasing, this spi=
rit,
thus separating from universal love, seeks help from that power which stand=
s in
the separation; and whatever name it hath, it still desires to defend the
treasures thus gotten. This is like a chain where the end of one link enclo=
ses
the end of another. The rising up of a desire to attain wealth is the
beginning. This desire being cherished moves to action, and riches thus got=
ten
please self, and while self hath a life in them it desires to have them
defended."
We have seen that consumption, if not outright consumerism, is a maj=
or
factor driving the mechanism. Moderating the urge to consume can at least
mitigate it. "Were all superfluities and the desire of outward greatne=
ss
laid aside and the right use of things universally attended to, such a numb=
er
of people might be employed in things useful that moderate labour
with the blessing of heaven would answer all good purposes relating to peop=
le
and their animals, and a sufficient number have leisure to attend on proper
affairs of civil society" (Woolman, 1763,
Chap.2). Furthermore, "their
example in avoiding superfluities tends to incite others to moderation"=
; (Woolman, 1763,
Chap.1
The Jubilee myth is rooted in the biblical notion of the Sabbath, wh=
ich
involves rest and letting go. On the weekly Sabbath, people do not work. The
sabbatical year extends its principle to the marginali=
sed,
and not only the human ones: "Six years thou shalt sow thy land, and s=
halt
gather in the fruits thereof: but the seventh year thou shalt let it
rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave
the beasts of the field shall eat" (Exodus 23.10-11=
).
The urge for economic growth fuels the mechanism, as does consumeris=
m.
One response has been the growth of the décroissan=
ce
movement in Europe. The word is often rendered in English as de-growth, but
this translation captures only part of its meaning. DÃ=
©croissance
is not simply the opposite of growth but rather something different from it=
(Dommen, B. & Dommen, E., 2016<=
span
lang=3DFR style=3D'mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:Calibr=
i;
mso-ansi-language:FR;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>). Policy-makers tend to take
the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the primary measure of growth, but it includes only a subset of activities, ignoring several which =
are
invaluable to human welfare (UNDAT, 1974).
When Western Samoa became independent in 1962, it refused to calcula=
te
its GDP on the grounds that doing so would distract attention - and human
resources - from its own democratically determined priorities. However, it =
did
not stop experts from international organisations
from estimating it themselves for their own purposes.
There have been some clumsy efforts to address the shortcomings of G=
DP,
such as UNDP's Human Development Index.[17]
We have seen that prioritising the essen=
tial
needs of the world's most deprived is a key feature of sustainable developm=
ent.
This calls not only for restraint but for redistribution. "Men who have
large possessions and live in the spirit of charity, who carefully inspect =
the
circumstance of those who occupy their estates, and regardless of the custo=
ms
of the times regulate their demands agreeable to universal love, these, by
being righteous on principle, do good to the poor without placing it as an =
act
of bounty. While industrious, frugal people are borne down with poverty and
oppressed with too much labour in useful things=
, the
way to apply money without promoting pride and vanity remains open to such =
who
truly sympathise with them in their various
difficulties" (Woolman, 1763, Chap.1).
Calvin insisted that the rich were ministers to the poor. "All =
rich
people, when they have the means to do good, are clearly there as God's
deputies, and they must do their job, which is to help their neighbours to live." (Calvin, Sermon 141 on Deuteronomy 24.19-22.)
Ambrose (339-397), one of the four fathers of the Roman Catholic Chu=
rch,
places his idea in the perspective of the dynamics described in this paper =
when
he says, "If you have two pairs of sandals and your neighbour
is barefoot, you should not give him one but return one to him."
In 1996, UNCTAD launched a BioTrade Init=
iative
in line with its founding ideals. Its objectives include the sustainable us=
e of
resources, the fair and equitable sharing of benefits, and community
empowerment. The initiative is alive and well. (UNCTAD, 2024)
Migration[18]
Migration is a natural consequence of the processes of appropriation=
and
dispossession inherent in the functioning of the world economy. When people=
are
deprived of their means of livelihood, it is normal for them to follow them=
to
where they were taken. If countries receiving migration flows do not=
want=
them, they <=
span
lang=3DEN-CA style=3D'mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt;mso-fareast-font-family:Cal=
ibri;
mso-ansi-language:EN-CA;mso-fareast-language:EN-US'>could refrain from
stripping the source countries of their resources or, failing that, return
their means of livelihood to them. Those who migrate could then make good u=
se
of their resources at home without leaving their kith and kin in search of
them. "Inhabitants of rich and happy countries don't emigrate." <=
/span>(d’Épinay, 1831) Furthermore, migrants tend to be more adventurous and more resilie=
nt
than their stay-at-home neighbours. Those who a=
rrive
at their destination are also likely to be in better health than the averag=
e:
good health helps to survive the journey. These are precisely the kind of
people who stimulate the dynamism of the place where they are. The place fr=
om
which they emigrate loses that asset; the country of destination acquires i=
t.
Thus, migration feeds the dynamic of dispossession. On the other hand, in so
far as migrants send remittances home they mitigate the process.
<= o:p>
Conclusion
T=
he natural
dynamic of most economies is that wealth or power left to their own devices
attract yet more at the expense of the poor and powerless. The essential re=
medy
is to defuse the dynamics of dispossession.
<= o:p>
T=
he process
is systemic. Individual actions may change their style or temper its intens=
ity
but not the essence of its operation. Conscious collective countermeasures =
are
indispensable in order to restore to the deprived the freedom and prosperit=
y of
which these processes deprive them.
<= o:p>
T=
his brief
and necessarily schematic summary overview of the dynamics of dispossession
identifies several key themes for responses and countermeasures. They of co=
urse
require further elaboration and and political a=
ction
if they are to be put into practice.
Refe=
rences
Bentham, Je=
remy
(1776). Â A Fragment on Government.
Bentham, Je=
remy
(1780). An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation<=
/span>
Calvin, John
(1564). Commentary on the books o=
f Moses
Calvin, John
(1564), Exodus 22.25
Calvin, Joh=
n.
Institutes of the Christian Religion, numerous editions
Calvin, Joh=
n. Sermon 53 on 1 Timothy 6.17-19<=
span
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Calvin, Joh=
n.
Sermons on Deutero=
nomy.
d’Épinay, Adrien (=
1831). MémoireÂ
des colons de l’Ã=
®le
Maurice, 16 février 1831.
Dommen, Bridget =
& Dommen, Edouard (2016). <=
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ard
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Dommen, Edw=
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tu »,
Diogène, 3-4 (n° =
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ene-2011-3-page-44.htm
Myrdal, Gunnar (1=
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Myrdal, Gun=
nar
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th.
Myrdal, Gun=
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York, Pantheon.
Pickard, Be=
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76). A
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Rousseau,
Jean-Jacques ( 1762). Du contrat social,
Thatcher, M=
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lang=3DEN-US style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;color:windowtext;mso-ansi-language:E=
N-US;
text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>https://www.margaretthatcher.org/=
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UN DESA (19=
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-shared-prosperity-through-biodiversity-friendly-trade
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Woolman, Jo=
hn
(1793). A plea for the poor or=
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 Â
World commi=
ssion on
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=3D0&version=3D1®isterDownload=3D1
[1] https://www.google.com/search?q=3Dtechnology+definition+english
[2] The Report is commonly known as “the Brundtland
Reportâ€; that is how we shall refer to it henceforth.
[3] We shall return later to the word ‘poor’.
[4] The name
varies between languages.
[5] Calvin uses the word ‘subvenir’ which is asso=
ciated
with the classical notion of ‘subsidii’ - troops held in reserve until =
called
upon. The concept is embodied politically in the subsidiarity principle.
[6] â€The phrase ‘preferential option for the poor=
’ was
first used in 1968 by the superior general of the Jesuits, Father Pedro Arr=
upe,
in a letter to his order. The term was later picked up by the Catholic bish=
ops
of Latin America.†(Dault, 2015)
[7] The phrase was coined by E.K. Fisk (1962)
[8] In fact, the Jubilee is a brilliant piece of spec=
ious
communication. The Jewish elites had been deported to Babylon at the end of=
the
6th century. Their land had been taken over by the peasants who
cultivated and looked after it. When the elites were allowed to return over
half a century later, they wanted their land back. They invented this
convincing tale to legitimate their claim.
[9] This section is drawn from Dommen (2003), chap.=
2.
[10] These examples can be found in Myrdal (1944) and My=
rdal
(1968).
[11] The previous paragraphs are drawn from Dommen (2014).
[12] Gunnar Myrdal was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Economics 1975.=
[13] Incidentally, the Wikipedia article ‘Latin American liberation theologyâ=
€™
describes ECLA, albeit one the the official regional commissions of the Uni=
ted
Nations, as a “leftist think tankâ€!
[14]
[15] Luke =
19.46
[16] The term is Gunnar Myrdal’s.
[18]
5
The Dynamics of Disposses=
sion