Treading softly : paths to ecological order / Thomas Princen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Princen, Thomas, 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human ecology--Economic aspects.

Human ecology.

Nature--Effect of human beings on.

Nature.

Consumption (Economics)--Environmental aspects.

Consumption (Economics).

Sustainable development.

Environmental policy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (225 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"We are living beyond our means, running up debts both economic and ecological, consuming the planet's resources at rates not remotely sustainable. But it's hard to imagine a different way. How can we live without cheap goods and easy credit? How can we consume without consuming the systems that support life? How can we live well and live within our means? In Treading Softly, Thomas Princen helps us imagine an alternative. We need, he says, a new normal, a new ecological order that is actually economical with resources, that embraces limits, that sees sustainable living not as a "lifestyle" but as a long-term connection to fresh, free-flowing water, fertile soil, and healthy food." "That economies must grow is a fundamental belief among economists, politicians, and journalists. But it is rampant material growth that has brought us to this precipice. Princen argues that it is time to build an economy that is grounded in the way natural systems work; that operates as if we have just the right amount of resources rather than endless frontiers. The goal would be to live well by living well within the capacities of those resources. Society's material foundations would be grounded in the biophysical, its practices based on satisfying work, self-reliance, and restraint rather than the purchasing of goods. Princen doesn't offer a quick fix - there's no list of easy ways to save the planet to hang on the refrigerator. He gives us instead a positive, realistic sense of the possible, with an abundance of examples, concepts, and tools for imagining, then realizing, how to live within our biophysical means."--Jacket.

Contents:

Within our means

From house to home : a parable

To the heart of the beast

Only when

Principles

The elm stand

Beyond the consumer economy

It isn't easy

Work, workers, and working : toward an economy that works

Speaking of the environment : two worlds, two languages

To sustainabilize : the adaptive strategy of world view

The new normal.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-262-29057-X

0-262-26641-5

1-282-54189-7

9786612541896

0-262-26607-5

OCLC:

608691495