Resource geography III: Rentier natures and the renewal of class struggle

Abstract

There is renewed attention to the importance of rent to understanding capitalist resource geographies. In this report, I ground these discussions in Marx’s theory of “ground rent” and specifically the role of the landlord class as owners of natural forces demanding a “share” of the social surplus (as distinct from the capitalist and working classes). I review emergent literature about three key kinds of rentiers—private landowners, landlord states, and capitalist resource rentiers. I suggest the category of capitalist resource rentier confounds a Marxist class analysis centered on capitalists as the owners of the means of production.