Book Description
In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy. For the first time in human history, he observes, more is no longer synonymous with better -- indeed, for many of us, they have become almost opposites. McKibben puts forward a new way to think about the things we buy, the food we eat, the energy we use, and the money that pays for it all. Our purchases, he says, need not be at odds with the things we truly value. McKibbens animating idea is that we need to move beyond growth as the paramount economic ideal and pursue prosperity in a more local direction, with cities, suburbs, and regions producing more of their own food, generating more of their own energy, and even creating more of their own culture and entertainment. He shows this concept blossoming around the world with striking results, from the burgeoning economies of India and China to the more mature societies of Europe and New England. For those who worry about environmental threats, he offers a route out of the worst of those problems; for those who wonder if there isnt something more to life than buying, he provides the insight to think about ones life as an individual and as a member of a larger community. McKibben offers a realistic, if challenging, scenario for a hopeful future. As he so eloquently shows, the more we nurture the essential humanity of our economy, the more we will recapture our own.
Customer Reviews:
If You Care for the Earth.......2007-09-29
This book is a must for anyone who wants to make a change to save the earth. The author has insight and experience about how our present course of living will lead to the destruction of the world as we know it. It's real, but there is hope and Mr McKibben shares that hope with the reader.
Useful Inefficiencies.......2007-08-29
McKibben is one of our best modern thinkers on environmentalism and conservation, ever since debuting with his classic "The End of Nature" in 1989. In this new book he has largely tackled mainstream economic theory and how it has inflicted worldwide damage on the environment and on human communities. Standard development economics suffers from an unyielding focus on efficiencies and consumption, but this more often than not leads to widespread damage and unhappiness. Planners and politicians focus obsessively on per capita utility and efficiency, and vehemently disdain anything that may reduce efficiency for some individuals but may very well improve communities and the planet. McKibben's great contribution here is his coverage of new studies of human happiness. Especially in America, we have passed the point of gaining any more happiness from increased consumption of things, and we have become largely unhappy over the ensuing loss of community and nature. A new worldwide understanding of how economics really works has become imperative - more is no longer better.
McKibben has located many useful examples around the world of communities practicing new sustainable development strategies with demonstrated benefits for all involved. Unfortunately, the areas in which such great things are happening have particular political and economic conditions that make such experiments beneficial (including the American location McKibben covers most often - politically distinctive rural Vermont). The underlying flaw in this book is that McKibben must resort to pretty wishful idealism when applying these local success stories to the world economic system. A related problem is that the second half of the book, where the rubber should be meeting the road in realistically applying the local to the global, largely degenerates into repetitive descriptions of benefits in lieu of real prescriptions for change. However, McKibben definitely deserves credit for explaining in an accessible way all the tragic flaws of mainstream economic theory (see the books and articles he cites for the real lowdown), and it's about time us regular folks resisted the power players - for the benefit of ourselves and our larger community. [~doomsdayer520~]
Turbines and Prayer Wheels.......2007-08-06
This is a wonderful book that swings your emotions from despair to joy and back. I marveled over the story of the village of Gorasin in Bangladesh where the people said no to pesticides after living with their devastating effects and the village has become an organic oases. That is the theme of the book, communities with members from near or far working together to make lives better.
McKibben mentions Heifer International, one of my favorite organizations, and their impact on one man in China with the donation of 48 rabbits and lots of technical advice and the wave of change in his community because of his successful rabbit enterprise.
A group called Future Generations trained some villagers in Tibet and the villagers devised and installed a system that carried water "through a series of split-bamboo pipes, and then through a turbine that used the dynamo from a junked car. A hydrology expert could have helped them build a more efficient system, but all the locals knew how to repair this setup."".....(Also, the hydrology expert might not have thought to use the water pouring out of the turbine to spin a prayer wheel.)"
World community - helping local people meld the old and the new.
But, McKibben asserts, it is time for the haves of the world to share more than knowledge, it is time to cut back on what we use. "Most obviously, if the rich world began making less extreme demands on the planet, poor countries would have more physical margin to work with - a little slack. ...If we Americans can use less coal and gas and oil, we'll in effect free some of the atmosphere to absorb the carbon that the poor world must emit to meet basic needs."
There is so much more in this book to ponder and act on, put it high on your reading list.
Quite a scary future.......2007-07-23
Wow, makes me want to move to Vermont and become an organic farmer. I found this book to bring up some very good points about our current unsustainable economic situation. Over the past 300 years we have created an economic "machine" based on efficiency and production that will be very hard to change intentionally. McKibben offers some ideas on what the new New Deal will need to be if we want to continue a sustainable economy, which includes taking everything back to a local scale. Food, work, consumer goods need to develop inside the community where one lives. Less efficiency, more community and "neighborliness". It's a great idea. I just wonder if people will choose this before the collapse of our current system or try to figure something out after it's too late. I pesimistically think the latter.
Growing Smaller.......2007-07-11
The main premise of this book is that the local economy is the deeper economy. Thus the healthier and wealthier community. Bill McKibben hardly ever deals in the abstract, rather he is constantly giving examples and providing illustrations of how this type of economy gets practiced locally. He describes the little experiments of living locally . . . such as one winter how he canned all of his food ahead of time and only ate things within a local radius. His goal is to make a connection between the local community and the economy. He spends a good portion of his time sharing about the relationships he has formed in his quest to shop and consume on a local scale. Consequently, the value of relationships in driving and sustaining a healthy economy are focused on a lot. It's not some over-romanticized look back into the past and the way things used to be. Rather it's an imaginative redreaming of how one can exist both in urban and suburban settings at a local level, valuing relationships and health over fast and easy. The book is extremely insightful and a moderately easy read. And well worth it.
Book Description
This Second Edition of
Communication for Development in the Third World builds on the framework provided by the earlier edition. However, this edition is organized conceptually where the first edition was organized historically.
It is updated to include the literature on development and communications from the 1990s and integrate it with the theory and practice of development communication.
Praise for the
First Edition:
`The book's worthiness as an excellent decade-by-decade analysis of the theory and practice of DC by a Third World scholar who has not only learnt about problems of development from books but has experienced them. No school is better than the school of life. The book is an excellent study' -
Media Development
Book Description
Americans have been conditioned to appreciate, cheer, and serve economic growth. Brian Czech argues that, while economic growth was a good thing for much of American history, somewhere along the way it turned bad, depleting resources, polluting the environment, and threatening posterity. Yet growth remains a top priority of the public and polity. In this revolutionary manifesto, Czech knocks economic growth off the pedestal of American ideology. Seeking nothing less than a fundamental change in public opinion, Czech makes a bold plea for castigating society's biggest spenders and sets the stage for the "steady state revolution."
Czech offers a sophisticated yet accessible critique of the principles of economic growth theory and the fallacious extension of these principles into the "pop economics" of Julian Simon and others. He points with hope to the new discipline of ecological economics, which prescribes the steady state economy as a sustainable alternative to economic growth.
Czech explores the psychological underpinnings of our consumer culture by synthesizing theories of Charles Darwin, Thorstein Veblen, and Abraham Maslow. Speaking to ordinary American citizens, he urges us to recognize conspicuous consumers for who they are--bad citizens who are liquidating our grandkids' future. Combining insights from economics, psychology, and ecology with a large dose of common sense, Czech drafts a blueprint for a more satisfying and sustainable society. His ideas reach deeply into our everyday lives as he asks us to re-examine our perspectives on everything from our shopping habits to romance.
From his perspective as a wildlife ecologist, Czech draws revealing parallels between the economy of nature and the human economy. His style is lively, easy to read, humorous, and bound to be controversial. Czech will provoke all of us to ask when we will stop the runaway train of economic growth. His book answers the question, "How do we do it?"
Customer Reviews:
Slow down that train.......2005-11-03
This book is an excellent introduction to the steady state economy. The idea of the steady state economy has been around for decades, but I think it may finally be gaining some traction (note the recent appearance of an article by ecological economist Herman Daly in Scientific American).
Czech is a lively writer. I especially liked the chapter giving responses to the cornucopian Julian Simon's arguments. Part of the problem I see with modern environmentalism is that it spends nearly all of its time preaching to the converted, with the result that evidence and arguments against truly wrongheaded ideas don't get properly developed. This book takes on the best arguments that the mainstream economists have to offer, and demolishes them. Bravo!
I appreciated Czech's suggestion to use the phrase "economic bloating" instead of economic growth. Words do count in this kind of high-stakes contest.
Czech's ideas about using social disapproval to influence the consumption habits of the top 1% of society (the liquidating class) are interesting. I like the fact that it puts the influence of women on public opinion front and center. Whether it will really work or not, I'm not sure, but it might be worth trying.
Czech talks about investment being bad because it will just waste more. I don't agree with this. I think the problem is that due to the enormous externalities in our economic system, resources are not being allocated correctly. This is what causes the waste, not investment as such. Investment in something that will provide long-lasting benefits or help in the conversion to a steady-state economy is GOOD, not bad. Czech also contrasts "bad" investment with "good" contributions to charity. I think he is correct that charity is more likely to benefit society, but this is not always true. Some charities engage in poorly-thought-out schemes that only encourage population growth beyond what an area can sustain. This helps no one in the long run.
This book does more harm than good.......2004-10-25
While the first part of the book provides compelling reasons for re-examining how we view economic policy, you can find all the same arguments better explained within the introduction of Herman Daly's excellent book Beyond Growth. Czech adds nothing to Daly in repeating him, and the second part of Czech's book is dangerous in its ignorance. Czech basically says that the more something costs, the more it wastes; and therefore the best thing to do to stop waste is to villify spending. He gives several extravagant examples of luxury by members of the upper classes as proof that they waste far more per capita than normal people and thus (psychological) class warfare (though he doesn't call it that) is the answer to our environmental problems.
There are SO many things wrong with this view. First, a $100 bottle of wine doesn't waste any more or less than a $6 bottle of wine, nor does more expensive organic produce cause more environmental damage than cheaper conventional produce (quite the opposite). Did Czech entirely miss Daly's explanation of the difference between quantity/growth and quality/development? Second, if the large estates that Czech chides the upper classes for saves trees and land from cookie-cutter suburban housing developments, I for one am all for them (i.e. the large estates). Third, villifying *anyone* as part of the ecological economics revolution is counter-productive, particularly in that blaming the rich for their waste ignores the hideous waste of the lower classes themselves. (So richer people have more boats, perhaps, but what classes are more likely to have a beat-up car that leaves trails of grey exhaust?) Taking personal responsibility for the greater good is key to reaching a solution -- not passing blame on others. If, for instance, ecological damage (in production, use, and disposal) is taken into account in pricing goods and services (with the proper funds going toward mitigation of the damages rather than general government coffers), then it doesn't matter WHO is doing the purchasing. Czech presents good arguments for fundamental economic reforms; but these arguments are better presented elsewhere, and Czech's proposed solutions are quite awful indeed.
Another important clue in uncovering the world we live in.......2004-05-03
Brian has really impressed with his thoughtful analysis of our economy from both an intellectual and spirtual viewpoint. Unfortunately, none of this can be easily proved, but that is the case with the most important things in our lives, all of which have a spirtual base (religion, our role in society, role in the family, etc.).
Brian has uncovered and clarified issues which have probably been rolling around in the back of many of our minds, for example the link between Darwinism, Maslow's heirarchy, and sexuality. (The real spirit of how things work is deeply embedded in our passions, sexuality, etc, and we must uncover these things to get to the root of all critical life issues). He also proposed a viewpoint of the role of the wealthy in our society, how their behavior impacts our economny and ecology, and how we all are capable of the same behavior if we had a few more dollars in our pocket, so perhaps a little better understanding of each other across "classes" is in order.
Brian only loosely alluded to the role of addiction in the behavior of the wealthy (e.g. if you have a hundred million dollars, why do you need more, what are you trying to prove, and aren't you in a position to exercize the most important human / spirtual values?). Perhaps a closer look at the role of addiction and prevalance of addictive behaviors and how they contribute to "success" and sustain destructive behaviors and ego based delusions at the expense of a more spirtual well roundedness would be in order.
Brian makes an excellent point about how a real solution requires a change in the mindset of the populace (very Jeffersonian) to be more aware and more involved in solving these problems, however he falls short with solid solutions. But then again, maybe there are no simple solutions. This book is about awareness, and it does a great job at it.
Part I by itself would have earned 5 stars.......2004-01-04
The first 106 pages of the book are well written and present a number of interesting notions about the dangers of our society's high regard for economic growth. Czech's arguments against the practicality of infinite growth (even though it may be theoretically possible according to neoclassical economists) are clear and well documented.
The underlying theme of the book is that neoclassical economists support a theory that the economy can sustain infinite growth, while the ecological economists claim that at some point, the growth will inevitably slow and then stop (more likely crash) because it is impossible in practicality to sustain growth forever. The book starts off with some interesting points about economic growth and sustainability in Part I, and then goes off the deep end in Part II as the author shares his proposed plan for achieving a 'steady-state economy.'
The plan in a nutshell: everyone should live very modestly, regardless of their income level, and whenever they notice someone else spending more money than they feel is necessary, they should immediately judge them and try to shame them into changing their ways. The goal is for society to become repulsed by conspicuous consumption to the extent that those in the financial top 1% of society are pressured to reform themselves and give their extra money away to those in need.
Although Part I is good enough to justify the purchase price, I would recommend skipping Part II in its entirety.
Rampant overspending begins with buying this book.......2003-11-19
I was drawn to this book after it was suggested as an alternative here at Amazon to a so-called "perpetual growth" tome (a book, by the way, that actually points to no such thing), but I've decided against buying Czech's book for fear of becoming an overspent American. Sorry, but I'm not contributing to the royalty check of Czech.
Average customer rating:
- An insider's view of the birth of international environmentalism
- Insightful, Interesting, but more like an autobiography.....
- Insightful, Interesting, but more like an autobiography.....
- Where on Earth are We Going?
- Disappointing
|
Where on Earth Are We Going?
Maurice Strong
Manufacturer: Texere
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 General
| Job Hunting & Careers
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Guides
| Job Hunting & Careers
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Theory
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Natural Resources
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
History & Theory
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Divination
| New Age
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Futurology
| Technology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Renewable Energy
| Technology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Environmentalism
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Professional Development
| Education
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Religion & Spirituality
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 158799092X |
Book Description
World hunger, environmental disaster, global warming, massive shifts in weather systems, the re-emergence of diseases long thought controlled, and political turmoil in a world where a barrel of water is more expensive than a barrel of oil. So says the Report to Shareholders, Earth, Inc., dated January 1, 2031 that begins, Where on earth are we going? Maurice Strong's apocalyptic prophesy for the future - unless we're lucky or wise - is a call to action for all who care about the state of the earth in the near future. Strong, the executive coordinator of the reform effort at the UN and senior advisor to the President of the World Bank, has one goal: to shape a peaceful and equitable future for all humankind. Hard-headed, practical, impassioned, Where on Earth are We Going? is a call to action by a key business and environmental player at the beginning of the 21st century that can not be ignored and will be much debated.
Customer Reviews:
An insider's view of the birth of international environmentalism .......2007-05-23
This is two books in one: an autobiographical view of how one of the world's foremost environmentalists attempted to achieve his goals, and an insider's story of how international environmentalism grew up overnight, in a frenzy of some successes and too many failures.
The book is invaluable for its vivid portrayal of the details and complexities that those less well situated are unable to write about first hand, such as 99% of the world's writers. If you want to understand the nitty gritty of how global environmentalism works and why, "Where on Earth Are We Going?" will take you there.
It will also take you to where I wanted to go in the fall of 2001, when I read the book. That's the year I made the move to working on the sustainability problem full time. I had a lot of learning to do, and Maurice Strong filled in huge gaps in my education.
He also pointed out some of the phenomena that were beginning to attract my analysis. For example, looking over my notes on the book, Maurice explained how solving the poverty problem came to be linked to solving the environmental sustainability problem. To me this has been a historical error for two reasons: One is that the environment must have the highest priority, because if it becomes uninhabitable, then no other problem matters. The second is that Homo sapiens has had the poverty problem for a long, long time--it's that difficult. To attempt to suddenly solve it now by tacking it onto the shoulders of another problem only makes that problem a harder one to solve.
Maurice was the Secretary-General of the 1972 Stockholm conference, which gave him the ultimate insider's viewpoint. He wrote that "The biggest threat to the conference was the ambivalence, even apathy, that developing countries felt toward the whole issue of the environment. From the beginning, developing countries had regarded the West's concern with `the environment' as just another fad of the industrialized countries; in their view pollution and environmental contamination were diseases of the rich.... Most of them would gladly exchange a little pollution for the benefits of economic growth."
Seeing this undercurrent, Maurice "... knew the conference would fail if we couldn't persuade the developing countries to take part. ... The key concept called for a redefinition and expansion of environment to link it directly to the economic development process and the concerns of developing countries."
This was a fateful decision. The solution to the poverty problem of unindustrialized countries was assumed to be development, and the strategy was to "link" this development to solving the environmental sustainability problem. But these are really two very different and separate problems. By linking them together, into what was soon called "sustainable development," the world's problem solvers horse traded one historically intractable problem and one brand new difficult but probably solvable problem into guess what? One big Gordian Knot of an insolvable problem.
Once the offer was made, there was no turning back. Twisted logic became the new norm, such as "The key was to insist that the needs of developing countries would be best served by treating the environment as an integral dimension of development rather than an impediment." But if a country grows economically, and that causes the environment to suffer, then that effect should be treated as "an impediment," not success. Otherwise you have apparently forgotten about the original problem.
Soon, despite the fact that the industrialized countries were producing the lion's share of pollution, "...at the opening session Prime Minister [Indira] Gandhi made what was one of the most influential speeches of the entire conference, with its theme that `poverty is the greatest polluter of all.' "
This should give you a taste of what the book has to offer. If, like me, you are trying to wrap your arms around the whole of the sustainability problem, and you want original source material, then this is one fount to drink deeply from, and find out where on earth we are going, and why.
Jack Harich
Insightful, Interesting, but more like an autobiography............2002-11-14
Well I must say, this was an interesting read to say the least. To be qiute honest this book was not what I expected from reading the backcover. Much of the book seemed like an autobiograghpy( which isn't too bad since he has lived an intersting live) and the rest was on three main issues, Globalization, the Enviroment, and Politics. Though some of the book was a little dry I found the opening and the final few chapters to be very well done. This was an enlightening book which opens doors and makes you think "Where on earth are we going?" I would give this book 3 stars but I gave the extra star for the extremely interesting facts. This book also gives you a good feeling of the structure of the U.N. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in international political science, the U.N. or interesting theories to prevent the earths head on collision with dooms day via pollution. Check it out!!!
Insightful, Interesting, but more like an autobiography............2002-11-14
Well I must say, this was an interesting read to say the least. To be qiute honest this book was not what I expected from reading the backcover. Much of the book seemed like an autobiograghpy( which isn't too bad since he has lived an intersting live) and the rest was on three main issues, Globalization, the Enviroment, and Politics. Though some of the book was a little dry I found the opening and the final few chapters to be very well done. This was an enlightening book which opens doors and makes you think "Where on earth are we going?" I would give this book 3 stars but I gave the extra star for the extremely interesting facts. This book also gives you a good feeling of the structure of the U.N. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in international political science, the U.N. or interesting theories to prevent the earths head on collision with dooms day via pollution. Check it out!!
Where on Earth are We Going?.......2001-09-20
I've seen both excited and disappointed reviews of Mr. Strong's book; I came down in the middle reaching toward both reactions. The book is the account of a life lived and answers sought with seemingly boundless verve, skill, and fairmindedness. Is is also a book that frequently frustrates the reader by never fully delivering on any of the goals it seems to set for itself. It is first and foremost an autobiography, but noone will completely understand Strong's life from it: most notably he is, to put it mildly, elliptical about the end of his first marriage. That is none of our business, of course, but it does leave a considerable gap in the story. By contrast, he gives copious detail about his many professional associates and their interactions, so that the book is also something of a social register. It is wearying to follow this cavalcade of characters, but it is clearly a measure of how much Strong enjoys his fellow beings, including those who have been difficult for him. It is also, I expect, his sincere effort to acknowledge and thank the many people who toil with great talent and commitment in business, government, and nonprofits who seldom get the public recognition that celebrities and elected leaders get. The book was also, for this reader, a foray into the life of business--a world I rarely investigate--and the account of Strong's rescue and reform of Ontario Hydro actually makes big business sound like fun--and ethical too. But this is one of Strong's great gifts: to straddle business, government, and environmental advocacy, standing lifelong for integrating them, as we all collectively must in the years ahead. So, the book is also a primer on management and organizational reform. By turns, it is also about philosophy--environmental, social, personal, spiritual, legal, economic--whatever is on Strong's horizon at any given point. As leader, facilitator, and exemplar, he has made important contributions to Earth-care and sustainability, and readers will find here many valuable ideas on these issues but no systematic and detailed exposition of them. One does find, however, such an exposition of the author's proposals for UN reform, for another of the many hats this book wears is that it is a partial history of the UN and an account of the issues and problems it confronts--that WE confront as we stumble, however resistantly, toward being a healthy world community. Strong's story takes on a special eloquence and intensity when he tells about the gift he received from a famine-stricken Sudanese woman--the book is worth reading just for this passage.
In sum, this book is a bit of a juggling act, but then juggling countless pursuits has been Strong's forte throughout his life, with the flair and genius of a real performer. If you don't expect a thorough, focussed treatment of one subject, you can surely find something of value in its abundance.
As a final note: the book would have benefitted from more proofreading than it got. There are numerous errors of syntax, punctuation, and the like--even a reversal of pages (346 & 347)--that should have been caught before publication.
Disappointing.......2001-05-25
I read this book hoping that it would be about environmentalism. Instead it is an autobiography of the author. To make matters worse it is not even a good autobiography. While the author has had an interesting life and many diversified experiences in many fields the book doesn't read well. The author, for instance, will note that he took over a new position and he'll go on for pages and pages about who he hired and how competent they were. However in these pages of lavish praise he tells the reader little, if anything, substantive about what they (or he) were doing or accomplishing. This happened over and over through the book until about two thirds of the way through I just gave up reading it. On the positive side he does convey the distrust that the third world feels towards the western nations on environmental issues and discusses ways and bringing the two together. Unfortunately, the book has too many faults and too few virtues.
Average customer rating:
|
Environmental Ethics: Concepts, Policy, and Theory
Joseph R. DesJardins
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Ethics & Morality
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Journalism
| Writing
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
Newspapers & Magazines
| Writing
| Reference
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Animal Ecology
| Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Ecology
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Environmentalism
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Natural Resources
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Reference
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World
-
Bioregionalism
-
Ecology of a Changing Planet (3rd Edition)
-
An Invitation to Environmental Philosophy
-
Watersheds 4: Ten Cases in Environmental Ethics
ASIN: 1559349867 |
Book Description
This exciting anthology emphasizes ethical issues in environmental policy while providing balanced coverage of theoretical perspectives and applied environmental topics.
Book Description
The most difficult questions of sustainability are not about technology; they are about values. Answers to such questions cannot be found by asking the "experts," but can only be resolved in the political arena. In The Local Politics of Global Sustainability, author Thomas Prugh, with Robert Costanza and Herman Daly, two ofthe leading thinkers in the field of ecological economics, explore the kind of politics that can help enable us to achieve a sustainable world of our choice, rather than one imposed by external forces.
The authors begin by considering the biophysical and economic dimensions of the environmental crisis, and tracing the crisis in political discourse and our public lives to its roots. They then offer an in-depth examination of the elements of a re-energized political system that could lead to the development of more sustainable communities. Based on a type of self-governance that political scientist Benjamin Barber calls "strong democracy," the politics is one of engagement rather than consignment, empowering citizens by directly involving them in community decisionmaking. After describing how it should work, the authors provide examples of communities that are experimenting with various features of strong democratic systems.
The Local Politics of Global Sustainability explains in engaging, accessible prose the crucial biophysical, economic, and social issues involved with achieving sustainability. It offers a readable exploration of the political implications of ecological economics and will be an essential work for anyone involved in that field, as well as for students and scholars in environmental politics and policy, and anyone concerned with the theory and practical applications of the concept of sustainable development.
Customer Reviews:
Looking for a workable change agent........2000-12-05
This book could eventually be one of the most important ever published within the environmental community if it encourages environmental activists to shift their approach from confrontation to "principled" negotiation. Environmental activists for most of the past thirty years have tended to confront their adversaries using "hard" negotiation as described in Getting To Yes by Fisher and Ury. This was the style implied by Herman Daly's early writings.
If "names" such as Robert Costanza and Herman Daly can shift their thinking away from confrontation and toward working with non-environmentalists as collective problem-solvers, there is no end to the possibilites. Interestingly, they endorse the process of public deliberation or what Benjamin Barber calls "strong" democracy. They are dsicovering, as many of us already know, that citizens engaged in deliberation naturally tend to gravitate toward "sustainable" concepts. Hence, if we can create forums for strong democracy in our communities, pro-environmental thinking will follow.
In this manner, public deliberation can foster "principled" negotiation where all of us look for win/win solutions and treat each other with respect. Or, we can continue to confront and litigate each other and/or wait for big brother to impose a resolution. Are we, as "ordinary" citizens, up to the challenge. Prugh et al imply we are. Those of us in the "front lines" of community development know we are. Happy reading!!
More interesting to theorists than activists.......2000-04-11
This book is a quick read, essentially an application of Barber's Strong Democracy treatise to the idea of sustainable development. It defines sustainable development as the reorientation of the economic system to accommodate inherent natural limits on energy use, waste sinks, etc. The authors point out there may be many different paths humanity may choose into the future: increasing maldistribution of resources or increasing global equity; increasing loss of biodiversity or reduced destruction of the biosphere; a bleak and degrading future or a more promising one. They posit that a move towards a strong democratic structure, with wider and deeper participation in the political system, would be a crucial step towards a more promising future.
I found the book interesting, though a little light on examples: there's one chapter devoted to historical examples of strong(er) democracy. On the other hand, the book offers some ideas about how to get there from here, how to move incrementally towards stronger democracy. The author's proposal to create the democratic foundation for a sustainable future is the major focus of the book: it would be interesting to explore in greater detail those aspects of modern culture that mitigate against popular participation, and those that might be brought into play to support it. How does the increasing homogenization of world culture, and the concomitant consumerization of the world's people (and the corresponding influence of advertising), undermine democratic participation? What trends, like the coop movement or the expanding NGO movement, help develop political participation? How can we shift the direction of the increasingly international economy and it's political implications as illustrated by the WTO, for example? What are the implications of modern communication/computer technologies, both positive and negative, on the ideas outlined here?
"Local Politics" doesn't attempt anything so grandiose. It's presents interesting ideas regarding strong democracy. I think it will be more interesting to theorists than activists, but many people might find something to chew on here.
Average customer rating:
|
The Enemy of Nature: The End of Capitalism or the End of the World?, Second Edition
Joel Kovel
Manufacturer: Zed Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Economic Policy & Development
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Natural Resources
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Radical Thought
| Ideologies
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Public Policy
| Political Science
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Environmentalism
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 1842778714
Release Date: 2007-12-09 |
Book Description
Capitalism and its by-products -- imperialism, war, neoliberal globalization, racism, poverty and the destruction of community -- are all playing a part in the destruction of our ecosystem. Only now are we beginning to realize the depth of the crisis and the kind of transformation which will have to occur to ensure our survival. This second, thoroughly updated, edition of The Enemy of Nature speaks to this new environmental awareness. Joel Kovel argues against claims that we can achieve a better environment through the current Western "way of being". By suggesting a radical new way forward, an integration of "red" and "green" politics, Joel Kovel offers real hope and vision for a more sustainable future.
Book Description
In rich countries, environmental problems are seen as problems of prosperity. In poor countries they are seen as problems of poverty. This is because the environmental problems in poor countries, such as lack of clean drinking water, are problems that affect them here and now, whereas in rich countries the environmental problems that people worry about most are those that-largely as a result of prosperity and economic growth-seem likely to harm mainly future generations. But what exactly are our obligations to future generations? Are these determined by their 'rights', or intergenerational justice, or equity, or 'sustainable development'? The first part of the book argues that none of these concepts provides any guidance, but that we still have a moral obligation to take account of the interests that future generations will have. And an appraisal of probable developments suggests that, while environmental problems have to be taken seriously, our main obligation to future generations is to bequeath to them a society in which there is greater respect for basic human rights than is the case today. Furthermore, generations are not homogeneous entities. Resources devoted to environmental protection cannot be used for, say, health care or education or housing, not to mention the urgent claims in poor countries for better food, sanitation, drinking water, shelter, and basic infrastructures to prevent or cure widespread disease. It cannot serve the interests of justice if the burden of protecting the environment for the benefit of posterity is born mainly by poorer people today.
Book Description
In the absence of world government, effective national policy is essential to the success of international environmental initiatives. Yet research on global environmental cooperation has proceeded without models of policy change in developing countries, where most of the world's people, land, and species are found. In this book Paul Steinberg provides a theoretical framework to explain the domestic responses of developing countries to global environmental concerns. Drawing on extensive field research, he traces the evolution of public policies to protect biological diversity in Costa Rica and Bolivia over the past four decades, to understand how these countries emerged as leaders in tropical conservation and how international institutions might support similar outcomes in other countries.
Environmental Leadership in Developing Countries explodes the myth that developing countries are too preoccupied with short-term economic growth and material survival to devote attention to global environmental concerns. Instead it offers a nuanced account of complex, decades-long efforts to create effective institutions, and analyzes the relative roles of foreign and domestic actors in this process.
Book Description
"Privatizing" public resources by creating stronger property rights is an increasingly popular environmental policy option. While advocates of these "market-based' approaches tend to f5ocus on their efficiency and ecological implications, the policies also raise important considerations of equity and distributive justice. Private Rights in Public Resources confronts these ethical implications by showing that, despite their limited attention as subjects of academic study, equity ideas have long had an influence in environmental policy. It argues that equity issues should be considered more explicitly in both the analysis and formulation of environmental policy.
Leigh Raymond investigates equity norms through original studies of two important environmental laws, the Acid Rain Title of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (CAAA) and the 1934 Taylor Grazing Act (TGA). He reviews legislative records, administrative documents, and interviews key policymakers. Confirming that much of the debate in the two programs centered on the equity or fairness of the initial allocation of property rights, he then uses the theories of John Locke, Morris Cohen and others to build a framework for identifying the competing norms of equity in play.
Raymond's study reveals that, despite the different historical and ecological settings, the political actors in the two cases struggled to reconcile similar arguments--and were able to achieve a similar synthesis of conflicting ownership ideas. He notes that the prominence of equity arguments in the debates and decisions about allocations contradict traditional views that the TGA and the CAAA simply "grandfathered" rights to existing users.
Raymond extends his analysis to ongoing national and international debates about allocations of greenhouse gas emissions. He demonstrates how ideas about equity and fairness operate in the context of global climate change, where there is less structure in the political, legal, and scientific context of the policy debate.
Books:
- Delivering Project Excellence With the Statement of Work
- Designing and Managing the Supply Chain w/ Student CD-Rom
- Enterprise Risk Management: From Incentives to Controls
- Fear Less: Real Truth About Risk, Safety, and Security in a Time of Terrorism
- Food and Beverage Cost Control
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- In the Pink: Dorothy Draper--America's Most Fabulous Decorator
- Interest Rate Models - Theory and Practice: With Smile, Inflation and Credit (Springer Finance)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Middle Sea: A History of the Mediterranean
- Once a King, Always a King: The Unmaking of a Latin King
- Light Sensing in Plants
- Looking for Life in the Universe: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
- Monday Morning Leadership: 8 Mentoring Sessions You Can't Afford to Miss
- The Art of Project Management
- Rueful Death: A China Bayles Mystery
- Applied Structural Steel Design
- Mardi Gras Treasures: Float Designs of the Golden Age
- Revenge of the Wrought-Iron Flamingos
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming
The End of Nature
Consumed: How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole
Hope, Human and Wild: True Stories of Living Lightly on the Earth (World As Home, The)
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
