Planet dialectics: explorations in environment and development

"All effects of human action will inevitably be played out within our planet's limits; any hope of infinity is an illusion. And yet, as Wolfgang Sachs warned almost twenty years ago, environmental concerns have been assimilated into the rhetoric, dynamics and power structures of development. This classic collection of trenchant and elegant explorations addresses the crisis of the Western world's relations with nature and social justice. Examining the notions of efficiency, speed, globalization and development, Sachs shows that sustainability, truly conceived, is incompatible with the worldwide rule of economism. Planet Dialectics reveals that the Western development model is fundamentally at odds with both the quest for justice among the world's people and the aspiration to reconcile humanity and nature"--Publisher's website.

Bloomsbury Collections.

Part I. The archaeology of the development idea. Chapter 1. The archaeology of the development idea -- Part II. The shaky ground of sustainability. Chapter 2. Global ecology and the shadow of 'development' ; Chapter 3. The gospel of global efficiency ; Chapter 4. Environment and development : the story of a dangerous liaison ; Chapter 5. Sustainable development : on the political anatomy of an oxymoron -- Part III. In the image of the planet. Chapter 6. One world -- many worlds? ; Chapter 7. The blue planet : on the ambiguity of a modern icon ; Chapter 8. Globalization and sustainability -- Part IV. Ecology and equity in a post-development era. Chapter 9. Ecology, justice and the end of development ; Chapter 10. The two meanings of resource productivity ; Chapter 11. Speed limits ; Chapter 12. The power of limits : an inquiry into new models of wealth