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The friction of the mundane: on the problematic marketization of the carbon stored by trees in the tropics

Ehrenstein, V; (2018) The friction of the mundane: on the problematic marketization of the carbon stored by trees in the tropics. Journal of Cultural Economy , 11 (5) pp. 404-419. 10.1080/17530350.2018.1461675. Green open access

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Abstract

Carbon dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels is a major concern of our times. There is now a political agreement that these emissions must decrease. So far one way forward has been to design and maintain carbon markets. As part of this process, trees in the tropics have been enrolled in peculiar transactions: actions such as reforesting a land of degraded savannah or preserving a piece of forest can produce tradable emission credits to offset against CO2 emissions in distant locations. Based on a multi-sited investigation of carbon offsetting, including fieldwork in the Congo, the paper presents a journey across different marketization sites where the enrolment of forest carbon into market exchanges can be seen to be at stake. Several operations are foregrounded, from United Nations negotiations and the measurement of carbon stocks, to business venture and legal work. The paper proposes a focus on the mundane that attends to details and frictions. This provides a deflationary story of the marketization of forest carbon, a story of contingencies and unexpected ramifications.

Type: Article
Title: The friction of the mundane: on the problematic marketization of the carbon stored by trees in the tropics
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1080/17530350.2018.1461675
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17530350.2018.1461675
Language: English
Additional information: This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions.
Keywords: Problematic marketization, mundane, anthropocene, carbon offsets, tropical forests, social study of markets
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10114367
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