TY - JOUR AU - Smith, Chad L. AU - Hooks, Gregory AU - Lengefeld, Michael PY - 2020/08/20 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Treadmills of Production and Destruction in the Anthropocene: Coca Production and Gold Mining in Colombia and Peru JF - Journal of World-Systems Research JA - JWSR VL - 26 IS - 2 SE - Special Issue: World-Systems Analysis in the Anthropocene DO - 10.5195/jwsr.2020.981 UR - https://jwsr.pitt.edu/ojs/jwsr/article/view/981 SP - 231-262 AB - <p>Human activities in Latin American countries have resulted in past and ongoing deforestation located in the Amazon and the Andes.&nbsp; Demonstrative of this new Anthropocene Epoch, the illegal production of cocaine stands as a major driver of these environmental outcomes in these countries; however, in recent years the extraction of illegal gold has yielded larger export values than that of cocaine.&nbsp; The consequences of these practices have far-reaching environmental, economic, and social consequences.&nbsp; Using a critical realist perspective, we investigate and analyze how, when, and under what conditions the treadmills of production and destruction are absent, present, and thriving in Colombia and Peru.&nbsp; The implications of these relationships are grave as both the Amazon and the Andes are undergoing extensive transformations – damage that represents the Anthropocene Epoch in which human activities are driving ecological systems toward “tipping points”.&nbsp; We find that the two treadmills operate differently within each country and that treadmills are not ubiquitous but are, instead, contingent.&nbsp; We underscore the fact that when present, both types of treadmills have the ability to engage in social and environmental destructions, sometimes violently so.</p> ER -