book | Sustainability

A history.
April 10, 2019


book title: Sustainability
deck: A history.
author: by Jeremy Caradonna PhD
published in year: 2016

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— book description —

The word is nearly ubiquitous: at the grocery store we shop for “sustainable foods” that were produced from “sustainable agriculture.” Groups ranging from small advocacy organizations, city + state governments, and the United Nations — tout “sustainable development” as a strategy for local + global stability. And city-dwellers aim for a “sustainable lifestyle.”

The concept of sustainable resource management for human civilization — and green living — dominates today’s zeitgeist: perma-culture, renewable energy, the local food movement. But the ideas behind sustainability can be traced-back 100s of years.

In his fascinating primer, author Jeremy Caradonna PhD approaches sustainability from a historical perspective. He explores the conditions that gave it shape. He locates the under-pinnings of the movement in the 1660s, and explains its international origins.

He takes us on a journey from the emergence of:

  • sustainable yield forestry in the late 17th + 18th centuries
  • the challenges of the Industrial Revolution
  • the birth of the environmental movement
  • the balanced development effort in late 20th century

He shows how sustainability progressed to an ideal that shapes modern civilization:

  • individual lifestyles
  • government + corporate strategies
  • national + international policy

He says that while sustainability draws on ideas such as: social justice, ecological economics, and environmental conservation — it’s more than the sum of its parts. Sustainability is a way of life — plus a dynamic philosophy. This book is the history of people striving to make the world a better place to live. Caradonna helps us to deeply understand what “sustainability” means.

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on the web | pages

Jeremy Caradonna PhD | home


— notes —

* Jeremy Caradonna is Jeremy L. Caradonna PhD