A Future Beyond Growth: Towards a Steady State Economy

ISBN-13: 9781138953024 / Angielski / Miękka / 2016 / 280 str.

Paul Twomey; Haydn Washington

Opis

There is a fundamental denial at the centre of "why" we have an environmental crisis a denial that ignores that endless physical growth on a finite planet is impossible. Nature provides the ecosystem services that support our civilisation, thus making humanity unavoidably dependent upon it. However, society continues to ignore and deny this dependence."

A Future Beyond Growth" explores the reason why the endless growth economy is fundamentally "un"sustainable and considers ways in which society can move beyond this to a steady state economy. The book brings together some of the deepest thinkers from around the world to consider how to advance "beyond growth." The main themes consider the deep problems of the current system and key aspects of a steady state economy, such as population; throughput and consumerism; ethics and equity; and policy for change. The policy section and conclusion bring together these various themes and indicates how we can move past the growth economy to a truly sustainable future.

This volume will be of great interest to students and scholars of economics, sustainability and environmental studies in general. "

Spis treści

Foreword: Setting Things Straight for the Steady State  Introduction: Why the growth economy is broken  Section 1: Population – The heresy of numbers  1. A population perspective on the steady state economy  2. Population – better not bigger  3. Nine Population Strategies to Stop Short of 9 Billion  4. Choosing a Planet of Life  Section 2: Throughput and consumerism – a key elephant in the room  5. Re-engineering Cultures to Create a Sustainable Civilization  6. Sustainable business – what should it be? Circular economy and the ‘business of subversion’  7. Peak Mining – stepping down from high resource use  Section 3: Key aspects of a steady state economy  8. What is the steady state economy?  9. The Physical Pathway to a Steady-State Economy  10. Relating the steady state economy to the circular, blue and green economies  11. The relationship between SSE and economic stability, social equity and ecological sustainability  12. The Genuine Progress Indicator: An indicator to guide the transition to a steady-state economy  13. Capitalism and the Steady State: Uneasy Bedfellows  Section 4: Ethics and a ‘message from the future’  14. Sustainable Development vs. Sustainable Biosphere  15. ‘Message from the future’  Section 5: Policy for change  16. Degrowth as a transition strategy  17. Strategies for transition to a ‘future beyond growth’  Conclusion: The endless growth myth – simplicity and complexity

O autorze

Haydn Washington is a Visiting Fellow in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies (Science) at UNSW (University of New South Wales) Australia. Paul Twomey is a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Built Environment at UNSW (University of New South Wales) Australia.