Industrial meat production, labour process and ecological systems

Addressing the climate crisis and its impact on jobs has been the focus of much trade union action for a just transition but there has been less emphasis on the role that labour can play in addressing environmental crises. The meat production industry is an example of a global industry that impacts on global warming, human and animal health and the wider environmental crisis. This paper examines how the meat production industry functions as a global industry, contributing to increased health risks for consumers and workers and as a major emitter of greenhouse gases. This paper uses the concept of subsumption and Marx’s framework of displacements; to show how ecological contradictions underpin current processes of capital accumulation and value creation in the meat production industry. The concept of subsumption is useful as a way of starting to understand the processes that draw human and ’more than human (MTHS)’ labour into an ecological industry, such as the meat industry. The displacement analysis highlights potential risks for its continued development, which presents opportunities to explore environmental justice in the context of global food security as a public good, working at both local and global levels.