Nature, Society, and Justice in the Anthropocene: Unraveling the Money-Energy-Technology Complex (New Directions in Sustainability and Society)

Nature, Society, and Justice in the Anthropocene: Unraveling the Money-Energy-Technology Complex (New Directions in Sustainability and Society)

by Alf Hornborg (Author), Alf Hornborg (Author)

Synopsis

Are money and technology the core illusions of our time? In this book, Alf Hornborg offers a fresh assessment of the inequalities and environmental degradation of the world. He shows how both mainstream and radical economists are limited by a particular worldview and, as a result, do not grasp that conventional money is at the root of many of the problems that are threatening societies, not to mention planet Earth itself. Hornborg demonstrates how market prices obscure asymmetric exchanges of resources - human labor, land, energy, materials - under a veil of fictive reciprocity. Such unequal exchange, he claims, underpins the phenomenon of technological development, which is, fundamentally, a redistribution of time and space - human labor and land - in world society. Hornborg deftly illustrates how money and technology have shaped our thinking and our social and ecological relations, with disturbing consequences. He also offers solutions for their redesign in ways that will promote justice and sustainability.

$128.52

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More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 242
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 30 Jun 2019

ISBN 10: 1108429378
ISBN 13: 9781108429375
Book Overview: Money and market prices obscure an unequal global exchange of resources, which is a prerequisite to what we perceive as technological progress.

Media Reviews
Advance praise: 'Have you ever wondered just what is the ultimate driving force behind the Anthropocene, the proposed new epoch in Earth history? It's our love of money. This book unravels the complex, profound force of money, not only to structure a global economy but also to destabilise the climate system and drive the Earth's biosphere towards its sixth great extinction event. Alf Hornborg's latest book is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand not only how a feature of everyday life that we all take for granted has the power to disrupt the functioning of an entire planet, but what we can do about it.' Willen Steffen, Copenhagen University
Author Bio
Alf Hornborg is an anthropologist and the Professor of Human Ecology at Lund University, Sweden. He is the author of The Power of the Machine, Global Ecology and Unequal Exchange, and Global Magic. He has conducted field research in Canada, Peru, and Brazil.