Abstract
Who pays for the prosperity in the Global North? This seems to be the main central question posed by Stephan Lessenich in Living Well at Others’ Expense (2019). Lessenich is a well-cited Sociologist in Germany who is also the new director of the Institute for Social Research at the University of Frankfurt. Prior to his arrival at the Institute for Social Research, Lessenich was the predecessor to the Sociology chair which was previously occupied by Ulrich Beck (1944–2015) at the University of Munich, whom he also makes a brief dedication to in this book. Readers and potential reviewers should note that the book was translated from German into English, which may, at times, pose problems for some lay non-academic readers. Nevertheless, the book does contain a detailed reference notes section at the end which should help even non-academic lay readers navigate in some unfamiliar sociological jargon. The book is also recommended for those teaching Introduction to Sociology and Political Science or need a succinct-written book for upper-level undergraduate courses that highlight topics like Globalization, World System theory, and Environmental Sociology.
In chapter 1 titled ‘Next to Us, the Deluge’, Lessenich provides gruesome accounts of environmental devastation which occurred in the Brazilian city of Rio Doce in 2015 after a mining dam failed and spilled over into neighboring communities killing several dozen people. There are several pages in which Lessenich provides specific detailed examples of the accident in Rio Doce and the devastating damage it did to both nature and inhabitants living near the dam. Other similar descriptive examples are used by Lessenich throughout the chapter to highlight the shift of material production and waste toward Global South countries. Lessenich wants to make it clear that consumption behavior in the Global North has ramifications for the environment in the Global South. In the final pages of chapter 1, Lessenich also highlights the growth of global inequalities in the 21st century which also leads toward a small theoretical departure toward his theory of externalization.
In the next chapter, Lessenich starts it with the following sentence: ‘The “externalization society” is not a 21st-century phenomenon’. He draws on several historical examples in which the global capitalist system during the last 500 years has continued to transform more unevenly rather than evenly over time. Lessenich also further illuminates his theory of externalization and what he calls the externalized society. Here he devotes some time explaining what he means by externalization, habitus, the exploitation mechanism, and structural dimensions that shed light to what he calls the ‘Global-North-South Polarity’. In the same chapter, Lessenich also addresses some psychological patterns related to externalization. What Lessenich describes here in the chapter as the ‘psychological profile of the externalization society’ seems to align with actions stemming in the Global North that relate to the phenomenon of outsourcing, dissociation, and diversion. In short, Lessenich seems to suggest that these should also be seen as psychological behavioral traits in which ‘externalization’ of the Global North appears also in the habitus of individuals and the culture-at-large which increasingly, other than occasional individual donations made to charities, disassociates itself psychologically from the Global South.
In chapter 3, the book takes a turn towards writings by two important first generation Frankfurt school theorists Horkheimer and Adorno. Influenced by both of these, Lessenich posits that in the 21th century the process of externalization committed by the Global North toward the Global South in many ways contradicts the entire enlightenment project in respect toward universally. Hence, on page 56, Lessenich argues that counter to the universality principle embraced by European Enlightenment emerges the praxis that ‘Life in societies in the Global North is based precisely on the principle that not everyone can live this way – and that the negative effects of this life are to be borne by the societies of the Global South’. This is followed by examples such as the Global North outsourcing their farming of soybeans and palm oil via extensive land grabbing in the Global South which has caused environmental devastation in countries such as Brazil, Argentina, and Indonesia. In addition to this example, Lessenich points to several natural resources being ruthlessly extracted such as sand, shrimp, and the export of electronic trash to countries of the Global South.
In Chapter 4, Lessenich addresses some of the contradictions associated with globalization as it pertains to mobility and tourism between the Global North and the Global South. One of the arguments he makes throughout this chapter is that globalization may have provided citizens with new sets of freedoms, yet, on the other hand, citizens in the regions of the Global South ‘have seen their options cut back’. This point is backed up by Lessenich with tourist statistics illustrating the magnitude of travel habits among citizens in the Global North, as well as the Chinese middle class which seeks out new global vacation destinations. In short, citizens of the Global North increasingly enjoy the prospects of travel or what Lessenich calls ‘global recreational colonialism’. Another issue which Lessenich raises in the chapter is the issue of border controls and the legal weight of passports between the Global North and the Global South. He points to measures from the visa-freedom index produced by Mau which highlights the symbolic power and weight of passports in different countries. In short, holders of passports in the Global North can travel almost anywhere, while citizens of countries like Somalia, Iraq, and Pakistan are severely limited and barred from attaining tourist visas in most countries of the Global North. Lessenich expands from there and includes the topic of citizenship rights and how some have already attained rights tied to their citizenship what he describes as ‘birthright lottery’, while others are denied rights because they have acquired the so-called wrong citizenship. Besides the topics of mobility, tourism, and citizenship rights, Lessenich includes a discussion on climate change and how the attempt to externalize pollution to the Global South has produced a ‘boomerang effect’.
In the final chapter, Lessenich gives a summary to several topics and issues addressed in the previous chapters of the book. Here he seems to make use of his externalization thesis of the Global North as a way to re-capture the growth of new global social inequalities in the world system. One of these he mentioned is the system of unequal exchange that has historically occurred between countries located on the axis of the Global North or the Global South. Another he re-addresses in the chapter is the issue of the global mobility gap which provides more movement for some and limitations for others. In the final pages of the chapter, Lessenich also gives suggestions about how social change might come about. One argument he makes is that there needs to be a move toward ‘collective acceptance’ of many of these inconvenient truths illustrated by the externalization and continued ambivalence between the Global North and the Global South. Another argument made by Lessenich points to the need for ‘collective empowerment’, which is reflected in many global social movements attempting to further expand entitlements and rights across the globe. He also advocates for what he calls a ‘dual redistribution’ which would reflect the attempt to expand entitlement struggles globally rather than just nationally.
Finally, the following book written by Lessenich seems to make a significant contribution to World Systems theory with his own externalization thesis. Lessenich argues that this externalization also illuminates the divide between the Global North and Global South on a variety of levels, including psychological externalization represented by new forms of social enclosures brought about by global capitalism. Although, at times, some of the chapters do repeat themes which did not need to be repeated, overall, it is an intellectually stimulating book that deserves a larger readership outside of Europe.