Review

“Sachs's ideas are dynamite. They call into question the whole phase of human activity which we are used to describing as development.” —New Internationalist

“Short, pithy and well reasoned.” —Bulletin of Science, Technology and Society

“Unique . . . the book is a scream of pain from the receiving end of a process experienced as cultural genocide.” —The Guardian (London)

Product Description

"Wolfgang Sachs has become known as one of the most thoughtful and appealing intellectuals to interrogate the world which the West has created in the latter half of the 20th century. He confronts the way in which it undermines both nature and social justice. And in order to protect the biosphere and achieve equity between human beings, he demands civilizational changes from the global consumer classes. Here for the first time, his most seminal writings, including several hitherto unpublished articles, are brought together in a single volume."--BOOK JACKET.

Book Description

Wolfgang Sachs is one of the most thoughtful intellectuals to deal with the dual crisis in the Western world's relations with nature and social justice. In this book readers will find trenchant and elegant explorations of some of the foremost issues the world faces at the beginning of the new century: efficiency--the mantra of our times; speed--the love affair with modernity; globalization--a market inevitability and the juggernaut of history?; sustainability--oxymoron as rhetoric; development--the 20th century’s great undelivered promise; limits--a new principle for the coming century.

About the Author

Wolfgang Sachs is Senior Research Fellow at the Suppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy.