Privileged Goods: Commoditization and Its Impact on Environment and Society

ISBN-13: 9781566703901 / Angielski / Twarda / 1999 / 280 str.

Jack Manno

Opis

What are the obstacles in the way of effectively solving the environmental crises of our time? What can we do to overcome them? These may be two of the most important questions heading into the 21st century. Organized human societies have the ability to completely change the world. While we have excelled at building, destroying and rebuilding, we have not succeeded at conserving, preserving, and sustaining.
Priviledged Goods: Commoditization and Its Impact on Environment and Society suggests that our propensity toward environmental destruction - a tragic flaw of the modern economy - can be understood as a result of hidden economic forces. These forces drive social and economic development towards increasing mobilization of energy and material beyond what is actually needed to achieve general prosperity and meet basic human needs. The author explains the complex concept of commoditization using examples from key sectors of society.
Interdisciplinary in scope, Privileged Goods: Commoditization and Its Impact on Environment and Society will appeal to a wide variety of environmental professionals. It explains the key concepts, discusses the history of public policy, analyzes the "appropriate technology" movement of the 70s and compares it to the sustainable development movement of today.

Recenzje

"There is no doubt that the authors have compiled the most comprehensive IP manual that is available. This work is an excellent resource and a very effective tutorial guide for anyone who may participate in an IP value chain."
-Richard F. Wilson, USDA-REE-ARS-NPS-CPPVS

"…provides new insight into why economies have increasingly marginalized many aspects of nature and society."
-Ecological Economics, March 2001

"The validity of Manno's argument lies in his careful building of the relationship between commoditization and nonsustainable development. An insightful read for scholars as well as general readers."
-J. Collins, University of Arkansas, in CHOICE

"… Manno does a solid job of connecting the excesses of the commodity culture to contemporary concerns such as the oppression of women and the survival of indigenous peoples' cultures… as economics books go, this one is generally quite accessible."
o does a solid job of connecting the excesses of the commodity culture to contemporary concerns such as the oppression of women and the survival of indigenous peoples' cultures… as economics books go, this one is generally quite accessible."
-Barry Boyer, Dean of the University of Buffalo Law School, in Great Lakes United

Promo Copy
Boyer, Dean of the University of Buffalo Law School, in Great Lakes United

Promo Copy

Spis treści

Introduction
The Privileged Qualities of Commodities
The Process of Commoditization
Examples of How Commoditization Works
The Attributes of Commoditization
Conclusion
Evolution, Systems, and Commoditization
Introduction
Commoditization and Evolutionary Theory
The Natural Selection of Commodities
Commoditization and Systems
Conclusion
Commoditization and Distortion of Development
Introduction
Unfair Competition and Comparisons
Industrial or High Input Agriculture VS Low Input Agriculture
Health Care and Health Services
Environmental Pollution Control and the 4Rs
Transportation
Science and Academia
Electricity Sector (Box)
Conclusion
Systematic Oppression
Introduction
Linking Oppression and Commoditization
How to Build a Community
Conquest, Money, and Commoditization
Commoditization and the Oppression of Indigenous People
The Legacy of Colonialism in the Modern Global Economy
Commoditization and the Oppression of Women
Commoditization and Class Oppression
The Underdevelopment of Imagination
Conclusion
The Institutional Development of the Commoditized Economy
Introduction
European Foundations
Pre-industrial Commercial Institutions
The Rise of Industrialism and the Modern Economy
The American Experience
Ecology and Commoditization
Sustainable Development and the Challenge of Ecology
Ecological Principles and Economic Implications
Conclusion
Toward a Coordinated Decommoditization Strategy
Introduction
The Policy Wedges
The Role of Participatory Democracy
The Powers of Government
Steps in a Decommoditization Strategy
Decommoditization Effect on Government
Credit Policies
Building a Movement

O autorze

Manno, Jack P.