ABSTRACT

All processes of commodification are different. Some “succeed” better than others. Because the neoliberal era has witnessed an unprecedented expansion in theoretical ambitions for commodification (whether commodification of species, biodiversity, security, public services, water, ideas, genomic information, climate benefit and so forth), paying attention to the particularities and resistances associated with each attempted commodification process has never been more important. Using the example of climate service markets, this chapter proposes and demonstrates one method for breaking down into bite-sized chunks the radical efforts at
commensuration characteristic of neoliberal commodification, so that accounts of the relevant actors, methodologies, institutions, contradiction and outcomes can be more easily organized. Applying this tool – performative equations – helps explain why the failures of climate service markets go far beyond those of more
traditional markets. more