Narratives of strongscarcitystrong understanding the ‘global resource.pdf

r e p a P g n i k r o W Narratives of scarcity: understanding the ‘global resource grab’ Ian Scoones, Rebecca Smalley, Ruth Hall, Dzodzi Tsikata February 2014 Working Paper 076 Abstract Global resource scarcity has become a central policy concern, with predictions of rising populations, natural resource depletion and hunger. Resulting narratives of scarcity drive behaviour and justify actions to harness resources considered ‘under-utilised’, leading to contestations over rights and entitlements and producing new scarcities. Yet scarcity is contingent, contextual and above all political. We present an analysis of three framings – absolute scarcity, relative scarcity and political scarcity – associated with the intellectual traditions of Malthus, Ricardo and Marx,