The Vulnerable Planet: A Short Economic History of the Environment
With impressive historical and economic detail ranging from the industrial Revolution to modern imperialism, The Vulnerable Planet explores the reasons why a global economic system geared toward private profit has spelled vulnerability for the earth's fragile natural environment.. "Rejecting both individualistic solutions and policies that tinker at the margins, John Bellamy Foster calls for a fundamental reorganization of production on a social basis so as to make possible a sustainable and...
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Foster (sociology, U. of Oregon) writes his book partially to stress that "War, economic inequality, and third world underdevelopment... are inextricably bound to the larger question of the systematic degradation of the planet and of the conditions of life for a majority of the world's people. The failure to perceive this connection is the principal weakness of mainstream environmentalism," an idea recalling G.P. Marsh's that deforestation causes civilizational collapse. Chapters address the ecological crisis, ecological conditions before the industrial revolution, the environment at the time of the industrial revolution, expansion and conservation, imperialism and ecology, and the socialization of nature. Foster's revised version of the 1994 edition contains a new afterword, but apparently, no other changes. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Dollars and Sense A readable chronicle aimed at a general audience . . . Graceful and accessible . .
Preface71The Ecological Crisis112Ecological Conditions Before the Industrial Revolution343The Environment at the Time of the Industrial Revolution504Expansion and Conservation695Imperialism and Ecology856The Vulnerable Planet1087The Socialization of Nature125Notes143Index157
\ Action EnvironmentalHas the potential to be a political bombshell in radical circles around the world.\ \ \ \ \ Contemporary SociologyExtraordinarily well written . . .\ \ \ Dollars and SenseA readable chronicle aimed at a general audience . . . Graceful and accessible . .\ \
