{"product_id":"9781856230568","title":"Gaian Economics: Living Well within Planetary Limits","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGaian Economics\u003c\/i\u003e is the second volume in the Four Keys to Sustainable Communities series and sets out to explore how we can develop healthy and abundant societies in harmony with our finite planetary resources.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eUsing contributions from a wealth of authors (including \u003ci\u003eSmall Is Beautiful\u003c\/i\u003e’s E. F. Schumacher, eco-philosopher Joanna Macy, and Rob Hopkins of the Transition movement), the editors address ways of reducing our consumption to levels that enable natural systems to self-regenerate and to do so in ways that permit a high quality of life—that we live within our means and that we live well.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSince the advent of the Scientific Revolution in the sixteenth century, humans have stood apart from the rest of nature, seeking to manipulate it for their benefit. Thus, we have learned to refer to the natural world as “the environment” and to see it, in economic terms, as little more than a bank of resources to be transformed into products for human use and pleasure. This has brought us to the brink of collapse, with natural systems straining under the weight of the population and the levels at which we are consuming.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWe are, however, on the threshold of a shift into a new way of seeing and understanding the world and our place within it—called, by some, the “Ecological Age.” It will be characterized by a new understanding of our place as a thread in the web of life, of our interconnectedness with all other living things. \u003ci\u003eGaian Economics\u003c\/i\u003e offers ways forward toward this Ecological Age, giving suggestions for how it may take shape, and how it would work.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Four Keys represent the four dimensions of sustainable design—the Worldview, the Social, the Ecological, and the Economic. This series is endorsed by UNESCO and is an official contribution to the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The other books of the series are \u003ci\u003eBeyond You and Me\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eDesigning Ecological Habitats\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Song of the Earth. \u003c\/i\u003eThe Four Keys to Sustainable Communities series was completed in 2012 and is now available in the U.S. for the first time.\u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Permanent Publications","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47053655769328,"sku":"9781856230568","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781856230568_p0.jpg?v=1763598593","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781856230568","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}