Dear Students,
Your final essay paper will address either a specific global commodity chain; or some aspect of one or more commodity chains (such as extraction/production, labor, transportation/distribution,consumption, disposal, nature/environmental/climate impacts, public health impacts, gender/race, migration/refugees, politics/policy, etc.); or a signature disease (such as HIV/AIDS, COVID, etc.) within the framework of negative externalities, Karl Polanyi’s Paradox, and the implications for what possibly/potentially should be done about it.
You have lots of leeway to be creative and to pursue your interests. For example, a past student focused on #2 pencils and another on cosmetics, but you can do anything: labor/class/race/gender/migration, minerals, food, apparel/fashion, any kind of product, nature/environment/climate/disasters, politics/policies–it’s totally up to you.
I recommend the following essay structure:
Paragraph #1 (some version of the following)
Negative externalities
Karl Polanyi’s Paradox (as described in GPCC; not Michael Polanyi’s Paradox)
Global commodity chains
Brief overview of your topic within the above framework
Continued paragraphs: discussion of your specific topic.
Final/summary paragraph: Summary of your topic in view of (1) Karl Polanyi’s Paradox; (2) negative externalities; and (3) challenges of internalizing costs.
1000 or more words of narrative text (no maximum word count); college standards of writing; In-text citations required; enforcement of FIU penalties for plagiarism and A.I. or other automatically generated text.
Double-spaced 11 or 12-point Times New Roman font; in-text citations; references section; Chicago, MLA, or APA format.
Due on Canvas by the date and time listed on syllabus. Late papers will not be accepted (25+% Turnitin.com score suggests possible plagiarism.)
If you want to focus on Covid-19 (or any other “signature” disease), scroll down for guidelines.
Covid-19 or another signature disease
Paragraph #1: What defines a “signature disease” of a specific historical time and pattern of geographic connections?
How do signature diseases pertain to global commodity chains, negative externalities, Karl Polanyi’s Paradox (as described in GPCC; not Michael Polanyi’s Paradox),
Continuing paragraphs:
Describe the possible cause and transmission of the specific signature disease in terms of the relationships between (1) culture and disease; (2) cities and disease; (3) environmental change and disease; and (4) human ecology and disease.
Final/summary paragraph: How is the disease signature; what is its relationship to global commodity chains; and how does it pertain to Karl Polanyi’s Paradox and negative externalities? In that context, what are the arguments for healthcare as a global public good and human right versus healthcare as an individual, commodified choice?
1000 or more words of narrative text (no maximum word count); college standards of writing; In-text citations required; enforcement of FIU penalties for plagiarism and A.I. or other automatically generated text.
Double-spaced 11 or 12-point Times New Roman font; in-text citations; references section; Chicago, MLA, or APA format.
Due via turnitin.com on Canvas by the date and time listed on syllabus. Late papers will not be accepted (25+% Turnitin.com score suggests possible plagiarism.)
Global Commodity Chain Examples (see also the course syllabus)
“The Palm Oil Effect”
https://www.vogue.com/projects/13535833/palm-oil-controversy-beauty-products-ingredient-sourcing-deforestation-climate-change/Links to an external site.
“Big oil is in trouble. Its plan: Flood Africa with plastic”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/30/climate/oil-kenya-africa-plastics-trade.htmlLinks to an external site.
“Commodifying Nature”
http://www.uky.edu/~tmute2/nature-society/password-protect/ENS201-2015-lecture-PDFs/ENS201-commodification-CCs-shrimp.pdfLinks to an external site.
“’Food Chains’ Looks at The Real Cost of Your Cheap Tomatoes”
https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/11/food-chains-film-sanjay-rawal-tomatoes-immokalee/Links to an external site.
“Migrant Workers in U.S. Seafood Industry”
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/jun/08/us-seafood-workers-abuse-immgration-temporary-laborLinks to an external site.
“Factory Farms: Animal Cruelty, Labor Exploitation”
https://sraproject.org/factory-farms-abuse-animals/Links to an external site.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/05/11/i-had-to-wear-pampers-many-poultry-industry-workers-allegedly-cant-even-take-bathroom-breaks/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5535e7aaa7c1Links to an external site.
“Suburban Lawns”
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/the-suburban-lawn-enemy-of-lakes-oc-2009-08-19/Links to an external site.
“Exploited Indian Child Cotton Workers”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-16639391Links to an external site.
“Bangladesh Factory Fire and Workers”
http://theconversation.com/five-years-after-deadly-factory-fire-bangladeshs-garment-workers-are-still-vulnerable-88027Links to an external site.
“Ugly Beautiful? Counting the Cost of the Global Fashion Industry”
http://geography.org.uk/download/GA_GeogCrewe.pdfLinks to an external site.
“Domestic Workers Abuse/Exploitation”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAl-ckZRDMELinks to an external site.
“Janitorial Workers Abuse/Exploitation”
https://corporate.univision.com/corporate/press/2015/06/18/univision-exposes-sexual-abuse-of-women-working-in-the-janitorial-industry-rape-on-the-night-shift-violacion-de-un-sueno-jornada-nocturna-airs-saturday-june-20-2015/Links to an external site.
“The World’s Trash Crisis, and Why Americans Are Oblivious”
http://www.latimes.com/world/global-development/la-fg-global-trash-20160422-20160421-snap-htmlstory.htmlLinks to an external site.
The Concept of Externalities
Externality: “a cost or benefit caused by a producer that is not financially incurred or received by that producer. An externality can be both positive or negative and can stem from either the production or consumption of a good or service” (https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/externality.aspLinks to an external site. )
(Negative) externality: “a side effect or consequence of an industrial or commercial activity that affects other parties without this being reflected in the cost of the goods or services involved, such as the pollination of surrounding crops by bees kept for honey” (Oxford Languages)
Internalizing negative externalities (cost internalization, sustainability)
https://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-stuffLinks to an external site.
https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/external.htmLinks to an external site.
https://www.quora.com/What-does-internalizing-the-externality-meanLinks to an external site.
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Internalising-externalities-continuum_fig1_325565534Links to an external site.
https://www.sustain.ucla.edu/about-us/what-is-sustainability/Links to an external site.
https://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2011/02/07/the-most-expensive-garbage-in-the-world/Links to an external site.
Negative externalities: Examples
“The story of stuff”
https://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-stuff/Links to an external site. (video, 22 minutes)
Vehicles/driving
https://ideas.4brad.com/calculating-all-externalities-drivingLinks to an external site.
Garbage
https://welkerswikinomics.com/blog/2011/02/07/the-most-expensive-garbage-in-the-world/Links to an external site.
Suburban lawns
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/news-blog/the-suburban-lawn-enemy-of-lakes-oc-2009-08-19/Links to an external site.
Chemical industries
https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/economics/negative-externalities/Links to an external site.
Fracking
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/poor-communities-bear-greatest-burden-from-fracking/Links to an external site.
Palm oíl
https://www.fix.com/blog/how-palm-oil-affects-the-environment/Links to an external site.
Industrial agriculture
https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/hidden-costs-industrial-agricultureLinks to an external site.
