The debate on the subsumption of nature and its contributions to studies of urban metabolism: Theoretical reflections for a research agenda

Abstract

In the interdisciplinary field of Political Ecology, the debate on the subsumption of nature has gained recent relevance. This debate has at its heart the ways in which capital subordinates nature to guarantee its increasing accumulation. The initial studies focused on agrarian issues, such as genetic improvements to guarantee greater agricultural productivity, or extractive activities, such as technologies for mineral exploration, only recently being expanded to other issues, such as the energy transition and carbon credits. Studies of urban metabolism, inserted in the field of Urban Political Ecology, on the other hand, allow us to understand the ways in which capital appropriates nature through urbanization processes. Recently, the idea that we are facing the transition from an industrial urban metabolism to a financial urban metabolism has been proposed in the literature, which imposes new logics of space production and complex forms of subsumption of nature. Starting from a systematic review of the literature on the subsumption of nature, in dialogue with classic and recent texts on urban metabolism, the article aims to contribute with theoretical formulations that foster a research agenda dedicated to understanding the ways in which nature is subsumed (subordinated) by capital in the face of contemporary logics of urbanization, guided by the neoliberal agenda that defines associations between the financial sector, real estate and infrastructure.