Thorstein Veblen

Abstract

This article investigates the writings of American institutional economist Thorstein Bunde Veblen (1857-1929) on capitalism and environment. The two main queries concern (a) Veblen’s stand on natural resource utilization as a consequence of capitalism and (b) its current relevance to environmental sociology. Veblen’s theories of conspicuous consumption, absentee ownership, and natural resource exploitation are examined from several of his seminal contributions. The article concludes that Veblen’s pioneering analysis of wasteful use of natural resources and emulative consumerism is essential to environmental sociology and timely because of current environmental crises. Future research is suggested in two areas: (a) applying Veblen’s theoretical approaches to the ecological aspects of capitalism and (b) comparing Veblen with other classical theorists such as Marx and Weber within the subfield of environmental sociology.