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Interrogating the Treadmill of Production

Some Questions I Still Want to Know about and Am Not Afraid to Ask

University of Wisconsin

This commentary on "Interrogating the Treadmill of Production" by Gould, Pellow, and Schnaiberg takes up the challenge, invited by the article itself, of asking some of the questions that still seem unanswered by the model. Among the questions asked are: Why not refer to capitalism instead of the treadmill and to workers/owners instead of producers? Why is the temporal priority of production over consumption taken as its logical primacy? Why is sustainability equated with no growth? What are the specific reasons for denying that a green capitalism (a green treadmill?) is possible? Why is it that no alternative system is offered, as Marxists would offer socialism as an alternative to capitalism? What would constitute empirical evidence for/against the treadmill thesis? Arewe really running in place? It is suggested that these key questions still need to be answered if the treadmill theory is to be compelling to sociologists both inside and outside environmental sociology.

Key Words: environmental sociology • capitalism • consumption • ecological destruction

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