About the Book
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.
About the Author:
Wolfgang Sachs is a researcher, writer and university teacher in the field of environment, development and globalization. His best-known works include the immensely influential Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power (Zed Books, 2010), which has been translated into numerous languages; Global Ecology: A New Arena of Political Conflict (Zed Books, 1993); Greening the North: A Post-Industrial Blueprint for Ecology and Equity (co-authored with Reinhard Loske and Manfred Linz, Zed Books, 1998); and Fair Future: Resource Conflicts, Security, and Global Justice (co-edited with Tilman Santarius, Zed Books, 2007).
Wolfgang Sachs is a researcher, writer and university teacher in the field of environment, development and globalization. His best-known works include the immensely influential Development Dictionary: A Guide to Knowledge as Power (Zed Books, 2010), which has been translated into numerous languages; Global Ecology: A New Arena of Political Conflict (Zed Books, 1993); Greening the North: A Post-Industrial Blueprint for Ecology and Equity (co-authored with Reinhard Loske and Manfred Linz, Zed Books, 1998); and Fair Future: Resource Conflicts, Security, and Global Justice (co-edited with Tilman Santarius, Zed Books, 2007).
